Alexander Hunter
Born1843
DiedJune 30, 1914
Resting placeArlington National Cemetery
Occupation
  • Soldier
  • civil servant
  • writer
Notable worksJohnny Reb and Billy Yank, The Women of the Debatable Land
Spouse
  • Alice A. Swain (m. 1882)
  • Filah Saunders (m. Unknown)

Alexander Hunter (1843- June 30, 1914) was an American soldier for the Confederate States Army, civil servant, and writer best known for the novels Johnny Reb and Billy Yank[1] and The Women of the Debatable Land.[2]

Early life

Alexander Hunter was born in 1843 and was a member of the Hunter family.[3] He was the son of Bushrod Hunter and Mary Frances Blow.[4] He lived during his youth at the Abingdon plantation in present-day Arlington County, Virginia and studied at private schools until the start of the American Civil War in 1861.[5]

Civil War

Alexander Hunter became a private in the Confederate Army where he served in Company A of the 17th Virginia Infantry for the first two years of the war.[6][7] Hunter was captured in 1862 but was exchanged in time to fight at Antietam.[8][9] He was paroled soon after being captured again on September 17, 1862 at Antietam and went on to participate in the Battle of Chancellorsville.[10]

Following Chancellorsville, Hunter joined Company H in the 4th Virginia Cavalry Regiment, also known as the "Black Horse Troop", on the recommendation of General Robert E. Lee.[3][6] Captured once more, he attempted escape twice and finally returned to his regiment to serve until the Confederate surrender.[11] Wounded twice during the war, Hunter was pardoned by President Andrew Johnson on September 4, 1865.[12]

Later life

Alexander Hunter, 1858-1870

Following the end of the Civil War, Hunter found that Abingdon plantation, which he had inherited, had been confiscated by the United States Tax Commissioners in 1864. He won his lands back after the (Bennett v. Hunter, 76 U.S. 326) case was decided by the Supreme Court of the United States on March 21, 1870.[13]

Hunter was employed for 40 years as a clerk in the United States General Land Office.[3][12][14] In 1877-1879, he served as a Delegate in the Virginia General Assembly and as County Clerk of Alexandria.[3][12][15]

In 1881, Hunter advertised Abingdon for sale.[16] During the same year, he sold his remaining Abingdon property at auction to the Alfred Richards Brick Company.[12] The property at Abingdon that Hunter once owned is now within Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Crystal City and the Aurora Hills section of the Aurora Highlands neighborhood.[3][17]

Hunter was married to Alice A. Swain by George Armstrong on June 22, 1882.[18] Alice Swain was a student of music at the Philadelphia Academy.[18] Hunter sued for divorce on December 10, 1894 after Swain purportedly deserted him in September 6, 1892.[19][20] He married Filah Saunders[21] after the death of his first wife in 1898.[12]

Hunter authored the story Confederate prisoners in Boston, which was published in 1900. He subsequently wrote a seven hundred page memoir Johnny Reb and Billy Yank.[22][12][16] It was published in 1905 by Neale Publishing Co.[23] His final book, The Women of the Debatable Land, was published in 1912.[2]

Death and interment

Hunter died of Tuberculosis on June 30, 1914.[24] In July 1914, he was buried in the Confederate section of Arlington National Cemetery. His gravesite is at Section 16, grave A, in Jackson Circle, within a few miles of his antebellum home at Abingdon.[11][12][16] The National Museum of American History holds within its collections the shell jacket that he wore throughout most of the Civil War.[25]

Bibliography

  • The Ancient Iron Pot (Unknown)
  • New National theater, Washington, D.C (1885)
  • Confederate prisoners in Boston (1900)
  • Johnny Reb & Billy Yank (1905)
  • The Huntsman in the South (1908)
  • The Women of the Debatable Land (1912)

Bibliography from Open Library and other sources found below.

References

  1. ↑ Hunter, Alexander (1905). Johnny Reb and Billy Yank. New York and Washington, D.C.: The Neale Publishing Company. ISBN 1568520808. LCCN 05004283. OCLC 2234699. Retrieved June 27, 2011 – via Internet Archive.
  2. 1 2 Hunter, Alexander (1912). The women of the debatable land. Washington, D.C.: Cobden Publishing Company. Archived from the original on March 29, 2021. Retrieved March 29, 2021 – via HathiTrust Digital Library.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Abbott, Dorothea E. (October 1982). "The Hunter Family and its Connection with Arlington County" (PDF). The Arlington Historical Magazine. Arlington, Virginia: The Arlington Historical Society, Inc. 7 (2): 44–45. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 6, 2020. Retrieved March 29, 2021.
  4. ↑ "Collection: Johnny Reb and Billy Yank: Manuscript | Special Collections & Archives". archives.lib.ua.edu. Archived from the original on March 29, 2021. Retrieved March 26, 2021.
  5. ↑ Confederate Veteran Magazine Vol. XXII. Cunningham. 1914. p. 468 – via Internet Archive.
  6. 1 2 Confederate Veteran Magazine Vol. XIII. Cunningham. 1905. p. 259 – via Internet Archive.
  7. ↑ "17th Infantry Regiment". www.ranger95.com. Retrieved March 24, 2021.
  8. ↑ "Antietam: Pvt Alexander Hunter". antietam.aotw.org. Archived from the original on October 22, 2020. Retrieved March 23, 2021.
  9. ↑ ""Battle of Antietam" by Alexander Hunter (1903) – Encyclopedia Virginia". Archived from the original on March 29, 2021. Retrieved March 23, 2021.
  10. ↑ "Collection: Johnny Reb and Billy Yank: Manuscript | Special Collections & Archives". archives.lib.ua.edu. Archived from the original on March 29, 2021. Retrieved March 24, 2021.
  11. 1 2 (1) "Roster of Company A personnel - Alexandria Riflemen". 17th Virginia Infantry Regiment: Company H: The Old Dominion Rifles. stevegibson0.tripod.com. Archived from the original on August 25, 2004. Retrieved March 26, 2021.
    (2) Wallace, Lee A. (1990). 17th Virginia Infantry. Lynchburg, Virginia: H.E. Howard. p. 120. ISBN 1561900036. LCCN 91230400. OCLC 643986184. Retrieved March 29, 2021 – via Google Books.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Dodge, George (October 1999). W. Karl VanNewkirk (ed.). "The Abingdon of Alexander Hunter, Et Al." The Arlington Historical Magazine. Arlington, Virginia: The Arlington Historical Society, Inc. 11 (3): 47–51. Archived from the original on October 22, 2020. Retrieved March 26, 2021 – via Docplayer.
  13. ↑ "Bennett v. Hunter, 76 U.S. 326 (1869)". Justia Law. Archived from the original on March 14, 2021. Retrieved March 29, 2021.
  14. ↑ Culbertson, Sidney Methiot (1934). The Hunter Family of Virginia and Connections: Embracing Portions of Families of Alexander, Pearson, Chapman, Travers, Tyler, West, Grey, Smith, and Safford of Virginia. Denver, Colorado. p. 203. ISBN 9780608320328. OCLC 246177904. Retrieved March 29, 2021 – via Google Books.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) Cited in Blow, John M. "Re. Alexander Hunter, Abingdon Plantation, VA". GenForum. Ancestry.com. Archived from the original on March 19, 2012. Retrieved July 7, 2011.
  15. ↑ Clark, Charlie (June 12, 2020). "Our Man in Arlington". Falls Church News-Press Online. Archived from the original on February 20, 2021. Retrieved March 29, 2021.
  16. 1 2 3 Kevin W., Stafford, Virginia. ""The Hunter Family: Abingdon Plantation" marker". HMdb: The Historical Marker Database. Archived from the original on October 18, 2020. Retrieved March 29, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  17. ↑ "Aurora Highlands NC Plan Update" (PDF). Arlington County, Virginia: Arlington County Department of Community Planning, Housing and Development. 2008. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 23, 2015. Retrieved November 15, 2015..
  18. 1 2 "Hunter-Swain Marriage". The Bucks County Gazette. Bristol, Pennsylvania. June 29, 1882. p. 3. Retrieved September 7, 2022.
  19. ↑ "Hunter-Swain Desertion". The Washington Times. December 11, 1894. p. 2. Retrieved September 7, 2022.
  20. ↑ "Alleged Desertion". Evening Star. Washington, District of Columbia. December 11, 1894. p. 12. Retrieved September 7, 2022.
  21. ↑ "Alexander Hunter, Confederate States of America Army". www.arlingtoncemetery.net. Archived from the original on January 28, 2020. Retrieved March 26, 2021.
  22. ↑ "A Confederate Private's Account of the War". Detroit Free Press. May 27, 1905. p. 9. Retrieved September 7, 2022.
  23. ↑ The Publishers Weekly. Vol. 68. United States of America: R.R. Bowker Company. 1905.
  24. ↑ "MAJ. ALEXANDER HUNTER HEEDS CALL OF DEATH". Evening Star. Washington, District of Columbia. July 2, 1914. p. 22. Retrieved September 7, 2022.
  25. ↑ "Confederate shell jacket worn by Alex Hunter". Washington, D.C.: National Museum of American History: Behring Center. Archived from the original on February 25, 2021. Retrieved March 23, 2021.
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