INTRODUCTION

This book details the history of the Nugent name. It has been complied from data obtained from the Internet and Family Tree Program data. The book provides facts and information within the following areas:

· Origin Of The Nugent Name

· Nugent Coat Of Arms

· Nugent Surname History

· Brief Irish History

· Nugent’s In United States

· Nugent’s In The Civil War

· Nugent Genealogy (Family Tree Program Data)

ORIGIN OF THE NUGENT NAME

Though not an indigenous Irish surname Nugent may be regarded as completely Irish today, since the Nugent’s have been important people in Ireland since the twelfth century when they came at the time of the Anglo-Norman invasion, their home country being France.

The Nugent name is thought to have originated in Normandy and bore the surname "de Nogent". They were then called do Nogent in a place called Nogent in France, where they can trace their descent back to A.D. 930.

Some say the de Nogents were exiled after invasions, others say that a duel tore the family in two, sending half of the family to Scotland, the other half to Ireland. Other genealogists believe that all Nugent’s left Normandy for Ireland, with some later choosing to settle in Scotland and England.

We do know that Nugent’s were living in Ireland during the 12th century. At that time, Sir Gilbert de Nugent made a castle in Delvin his home, which can still be visited today.

The Nugent’s were one of the Norman families, which got extensive grants of land in Ireland: theirs was in Meath and Westmeath. The descendants are found today in every walk of life and the name is frequently met with in all the provinces except Connacht. They are now numerous in Co. Cork, where a branch of the family established themselves and formed a sept in the Irish fashion: their chief resided at Aghavarten Castle, near Carrigaline.

In Irish history, the Nugent’s have chiefly distinguished themselves as soldiers. In the Dictionary of National Biography and similar works or reference no less than twelve appear as such between the years 1444 and 1862: four of these were upholders of the English interest; and eight were either rebels or supporters of the Stuart cause. Perhaps the most outstanding of these was Christopher Nugent (d. 1731), who after the siege of Limerick in 1691 took service with the French and commanded Sheldon's regiment, later known as Nugent's regiment. He took part with James II in the 1715 expedition to Scotland. In the course of his distinguished military career, he was wounded at least twelve times. John Nugent (1642-1754), fifth Earl of Westmeath, who also served with distinction in James II's Irish army and in that of France, was the last Catholic holder of the title. Many other Nugent’s were prominent among the Wild Geese in France and Austria. The Gaelic name Mac Giolla Seanain, normally anglicized Gilsenan, that of a sept belonging to Meath and Cavan, has also in some cases curiously taken the form Nugent in English. The great majority of Nugent’s, however, are of the stock referred to above.

Nugent Coat Of Arms

Nugent motto is in Latin: Decrevi
"I have determined" or "I have resolved"

The Gaelic form of the surname Nugent is Nuinseann.

Nugent Surname History

According to family historians, the Nugent’s trace their descent from Evas de Belesme, powerful Norman Baron, and Lord of the Castle, lands and tower of Belesme, Normandy, who died in the year 993AD. By his wife Godchilda, he was the father of a son named William. William, Lord of Belesme and Count of Alancon, served under Robert King of France. By his first wife Matilda, he left three sons, Fulke, Robert and William de Belesme. His second wife Adelais gave him another son Warrin de Belesme who became Lord of Damfort, Mortaign and Nogent in Normandy and Viscount of Chateaudun. Warrin died in 1026 leaving issue by his wife Millicent, the daughter and heir of Hugh, Viscount Chateaudun, of a son named Geoffry (or Geoffrey). Geoffry, Viscount Chateaudun, Lord of Montaign, Nogent and Gallardon, married Elvdic, daughter of Odo, Count of Champaigne, and had at least two sons, Hugh and Rotron de Nugent, of whom the former died young.

Rotron de Nugent (the first of the family so designated), Viscount Chateaudun, married Adeline, daughter of Nigen de Mowbray, of Picardy, and was the father by her of Geoffry, Hugh, Rotron and Fulquois de Nugent. Of these brothers, the first was created Count of Mortaign and Nogent. He commanded a division of the army of William the Conqueror in 1066. Hugh became Viscount Chateaudun, and Fulquois, who was a follower of the Norman Conqueror at the Battle of Hastings. His sons were Gilbert, Richard, Christopher and John de Nugent, of whom the last three accompanied Sir Hugh de Lacie on his expedition to Ireland in the year 1172.

Pedigree of the Nugent family

by Sir William Betham, the Ulster King of Arms - 1853

Genealogy of the pedigree type, written in the form of a table of ancestors, with text in English, was made to order by the duchess Giovanna (Johanna) Riario Sforza, wife to the Austrian count and roman duke, lieutenant marshal Laval Nugent. It is in a hard-cover book, consisting mostly of a schematic outline of the 85 family branches in the male and female line. It begins with Ives de Belesme (995), the Norman founder of the family and an ancestor of Fulco (1066-1090) who had together with his brothers moved to England and was the first to call himself de Nogent (or Nugent) and goes on listing their descendants of both sexes up to the time of Laval (1777-1862).

The Nugent family is a branch of the great house of Belesme, being descended from Wulke de Belsame, Lord of Nogent le Rotrou, who accompanied William the Conqueror and fought in the Battle of Hastings, October 14th 1066. The root word from which the name is derived is "gent". In the course of time No-gent became the name of a number of towns ideally situated on the banks of a river, such as Nogent-sur-Seine and Nogent-sur-Marne. Gilbert and Hugh de Nugent, cousins of the Lord of Nogent is Rotrou, founded the name and family in Ireland in the time of Henry II. They settled in Westmeath and the estate remained in the family for many generations.

Castle of Nogent le Rotrou

NOGENT-SUR-SEINE, a town of north-central France on the left bank of the Seine, 35 miles N.W. of Troyes on the Paris-Belfort line. The river at this point forms an island, which supports a stone bridge of the Itch century. The chief building is the church of St Laurent (1421- 1554). A lateral portal in the flamboyant style and the Renaissance tower at the west end are of great beauty.

Nogent-Sur-Marne Bridge

NOGENT-SUR-MARNE, a town of northern France, in the department of Seine, on a hill on the right bank of the Marne, 6 miles E. of Paris by rail. The Eastern railway here crosses the Marne valley by a viaduct 875 yds in length. Nogent has a Gothic church, with a tower of the Romanesque period, in front of which there is a monument to Watteau, who died here in 1721. The fine situation of the town gained it the name of Beaute, and Charles V built a chateau here (demolished in the 18th century) which was presented by Charles VII to Agnes Sorel with the title of Dame de Beaute. An island in the Marne to the south of the town is still known as the 'lié de Beauté. You can join the French Foreign Legion at Fort de Nogent. It is located in Nogent-sur-Marne. Below is a picture made around 1871 of the fort with its cannon.

Fort de Nogent (Near Paris)

NOGENT-LE-ROTROU, a town of northern France is 38 miles W.S.W. of Chartres by rail. In the early part of the 17th century, the overlordship was acquired by the duke of Sully, financial minister of Henry IV. In the courtyard of the hospital, originally founded at the end of the 12th century, there is a small building containing the tomb of Sully and his wife. On the hill, overlooking the town stands the château of the counts of Perche, of which the donjon dating from the first half of the 11th century is the oldest portion. To Rotrou I., founder of the château, the town owes the second part of its name.

Power and Border Lordship in Medieval France: The County of the Perche, 1000-1226 by Kathleen Thompson tells the whole story of the beginnings of the Nugent family. The Nugent’s (De Nogent) who came to England in 1066, were very probably illegitimate sons of Rotrou I de Chateaudun (1005-1049), and were left out in the cold in the succession. Geoffrey II (1033-1100) got all the goodies, and this may explain why the other "brothers" left to find fortune with William the Conqueror.

This is the first modern account to describe the emergence of the northern French county of the Perche, and the rise of a relatively minor noble family from obscure origins to princely power. The Rotrou family ruled the Perche from around the year 1000 until 1226. They took part in many of the most famous military engagements of the middle ages, from the Norman Conquest of England in 1066 to the recovery of territory from the Muslims in twelfth-century Spain. Their involvement in crusading initiatives was told in the popular poetry of the day, and they came to number the kings of France, England, Aragon and Sicily, as well as the Holy Roman Emperor, among their kinsmen.

BRIEF IRISH HISTORY

Pre-Norman Ireland

Ireland Circa 1100 AD

From 1086 to 1114, the most powerful king in Ireland was Muirchertach O'Brien. He had dealings with the Anglo-Normans and the Norwegian king, and dominated most of the country. However, Domnaill Mac Lochlainn, king of the Ui Neill, was able to hold him in check until the dynamic Turlough O'Connor, king of Connacht (1106-1156) came onto the scene. Between 1115 and 1131, Turlough destroyed the power of Munster and from 1140 threw his energies into making himself king of Ireland. With his death in 1156, supreme power passed to the king of the Ui Neill, Muirchertach Mac Lochlainn.

Mac Lochlainn allied himself with Dermot MacMurrough (Diarmait Mac Murchadha), king of Leinster, against his main opponent, Rory O'Connor (Ruaidhri O Conchobhair), king of Connacht. Mac Lochlainn held the upper hand in Ireland until his death in 1166. O'Connor along with his allies, particularly Tiernan O'Rourke, king of Breifne, as well as the Dubliners, then drove MacMurrough from Ireland. MacMurrough appealed for help to King Henry II of England and changed the course of history by doing so. This opened the door for the Norman invasion of Ireland beginning in 1169.

The Cambro-Norman Invasion of Ireland

Ireland Circa 1200 AD

Pre-Invasion

In the fifth century AD, Roman Britain collapsed, and the Anglo-Saxons invaded and settled the East, eventually to establish Germanic-speaking England. They pressed the native British groups, whom they called 'Welsh', ever westwards, into the land which would become Wales, and Cornwall. Being just across a short expanse of sea, Wales and Ireland shared an ancient connection. It was common for the Welsh to trade with the Irish and to colonize in Irish lands. When the Norsemen arrived in the 7th century, alliances were formed between the Irish, Welsh, and others to wage battle against the Norse (Vikings). By the eleventh century, the Normans (Norsemen from northern France) under William the Conqueror invaded Britain and conquered the Anglo-Saxon lands. The Normans met stiff resistance with the Welsh, who by this time had formed alliances with both the Irish and the Norse, particularly from Leinster province in Ireland. For more information about these alliances, see Pre-Norman Ireland. In the twelfth century the Welsh chieftain Rhys ap Gruffydd was holding his own among the Norman barons in South Wales, who were by now intermarrying with the Welsh. Rhys held the Cambro-Norman baron Robert FitzStephen prisoner after overrunning his estates in the 1160's. Robert, who was a cousin of Rhys through his mother Nesta (Rhys' aunt), later came to play an important role in the Invasion of Ireland.

Causes of the Invasion of Ireland

In 1152, the religious see of Dublin opted to become an Irish archbishopric, spurning the ecclesiastical rule of the Archbishop of Canterbury in England. Shortly after, when Henry II became King of England, the idea of invading Ireland resurfaced apparently as it had during the previous reigns of William the Conqueror and Henry I. Ecclesiastic reaction to the loss of the see of Dublin was taken on by Pope Adrian at the insistence of the envoys from Canterbury, who invested Henry and his successors, the right to rule Ireland and to bring about religious reformation there. However, Henry II was occupied at the outset of his career in securing his hold on England itself, and any plans of Irish invasion were on hold.

The political climate in Ireland at the time was one of inter-tribal rivalries, as it had been for centuries. In the mid-1100's a great rivalry for the high-kingship of Ireland existed between Muirchertach MacLochlainn of Tirowen and Ruairi O'Connor [Ruadrí Ua Conchobair] of Connacht. Dermot MacMurrough [Dairmait Mac Murchada], the King of Leinster, allied himself with MacLochlainn, and Dermot's greatest foe, Tiernan O'Rourke [Tighernán Ua Ruairc], King of Breifne, allied himself with O'Connor. Dermot and Tiernan were bitter rivals contending for the middle kingdom of Meath, and at one point Dermot abducted the wife of O'Rourke, thus sealing the hatred between these two kings.

In 1166 the high-king Muirchertach MacLochlainn died. Dermot MacMurrough, losing his greatest ally and protector in MacLochlainn, saw his kingdom in Leinster invaded by O'Connor and O'Rourke. On this occasion, the Ostmen (Norsemen) of Dublin also participated in ousting Dermot from his kingship in Leinster.

The Irish King of Leinster seeks help from England

Losing his powerful allies in Ireland, it seemed evident that the ousted King of Leinster, Dermot MacMurrough, would seek assistance in Wales. The English (Norman) King, Henry II, granted Dermot permission to recruit forces to regain his kingship. Dermot formed an alliance with Richard de Clare, who was denied by King Henry to his title as Earl of Pembroke, Wales, otherwise known to history as Strongbow. Dermot promised Strongbow grants of land as well as his daughter's hand in marriage in exchange for his help. After winning Stongbow over to his cause, Dermot visited the Welsh prince of South Wales, Rhys ap Gruffydd, to gain the freedom of Robert FitzStephen, a "knight of great renown," who had been held captive by Rhys. At the request of Robert's half-brothers, David (bishop of St. David's) and Maurice FitzGerald, Robert was released on condition that he went to Ireland to assist Dermot MacMurrough.

In 1167, Dermot returned to Ireland with a small force of Welsh and Flemish under Richard FitzGodebert. With native Irish support to regain control of his homeland, Ui Ceinnsealaigh in southeast Leinster, Dermot attempted to reclaim his kingship of Leinster. He was however defeated southeast of Carlow town in 1168 by the high-king Ruairi O'Conor and his ally Tiernan O'Rourke, the same who had ousted him in 1166.

The stage is set for the Norman Invasion of Ireland

Following up on his promise of aid Robert FitzStephen landed, about the 1st of May 1169, with three ships of Norman, Welsh and Flemish forces, about 400 strong, on the southern coast of County Wexford at Bannow. The following day Maurice de Prendergast with a force of about 200 reinforced FitzStephen's group. Merging with a force of near 500 Irishmen under MacMurrough, the combined army marched toward the Norse-Irish seaport of Wexford, where battle began outside the walls of the town. Encountering the Norman mounted and armored knights and the deadly the Welsh archers, the Norse army of about 2,000 retired within their own walls. Following assaults on the walled city, the Norsemen called for terms of peace which ultimately led to their recognition, once again, of Dermot as their overlord. At this time, Dermot granted lands in Wexford to Robert FitzStephen and his half-brother Maurice FitzGerald, as well as to Harvey de Monte Marisco, an uncle of Strongbow.

Further expansion in Leinster

Dermot and FitzStephen, now with the reluctant Norsemen of Wexford at their side, next set their mark on the westernmost kingdom in Leinster, that of Ossory (Kilkenny and part of Laois). The king of Ossory, Donal MacGiolla Phadriag (later Fitzpatrick) held hostage and had blinded Dermot's eldest son Eanna. In the three-day battle, the Ossorians were routed and defeated near Freshford.

Dermot and his allies next went into north Leinster doing battle in the territories of the O'Byrnes, O'Tooles, and the lands of O'Connor of Offaly. Soon the greater forces of the high king of Ireland Ruairi O'Conor returned to Leinster, and with the interaction of the Church, the two forces sat down in negotiation at Ferns. In the Treaty of 1169, Dermot was allowed to retain the kingship of Leinster if he recognized Ruairi as the high king and if he agreed to send his foreign allies back to Wales, never to return. Dermot agreed to Ruairi's demands and gave his son O'Conchobair to Ruairi as hostage. In turn, the Norsemen at the Leinster seaport of Dublin reluctantly submitted to the terms and to Dermot's kingship.

The Arrival of Richard Strongbow, Earle of Pembroch - the Treaty broken

Toward the end of 1169, Maurice FitzGerald landed with a force of two ships. Growing more confident, and apparently eying the high-kingship of Ireland for himself, Dermot relayed a message to Strongbow to send more forces. Strongbow, after viewing the prospect of marrying Dermot's daughter and eventually becoming overlord in Leinster, sent another landing party under the command of Raymond le Gros. At the same time Strongbow was planning for his own landing force to embark. Around 1 May 1170, Raymond landed at Baginbun, near Waterford city, with a small force of about 100 setting about to secure a landing point for the arrival of Strongbow. At Baginbun, Raymond was said to have hastily built his defenses and later resisted an attack from a larger Norse-Irish army sent out from Waterford.

Strongbow arrived around 23 August 1170, with a force of about 1,000. The landing occurred at a point very near to Waterford called the Passage. The combined armies of Strongbow and Raymond le Gros advanced toward the walled city of Waterford. Two attacks on the city were repulsed before the Cambro-Norman force found a weak spot in the walls, allowing them to enter and capture the town. Forces under Dermot MacMurrough, Robert FitzStephen and Maurice FitzGerald arrived on 25 August after the fall of the city. It was there that Dermot gave his daughter, Aoife, in marriage to Earl Richard (Strongbow), fulfilling his promise and making Richard the heir-in-succession to the kingdom of Leinster. With the Treaty of 1169 broken, war with high-king Ruairi was imminent.

Turning Point at Dublin

The next target for the Norman-Irish armies in Leinster was the strategic political and trade center at Dublin. Although many of Ruairi's forces had been doing battle fighting against an O'Brien rebellion in Munster, the high king was already amassing a large army toward Dublin. The Norman-Irish armies managed to reach the southern walls of Dublin and muster an assault on the town. Even though negotiations had already begun between the Norsemen of Dublin and the combined Strongbow/MacMurrough forces, Raymond le Gros and Milo de Cogan burst into the city from different directions and routed the Ostmen of Dublin. Asculf MacTorkil, the Norse king of Dublin was forced to flee with his remaining forces by ship.

Ruairi felt betrayed and indigent about the negotiations initiated by the Ostmen of Dublin, and his armies apparently marched away. Dermot followed up the victory at Dublin by taking his forces into Meath, a territory north of Leinster which he contested in earlier years against one of his greatest enemies, Tiernan O'Rourke. Dermot may have hoped to seek revenge on his old enemy, who had been instrumental in ousting him in 1166, and defeating him on his return in 1168.

The Irish Reaction

Up to this time, many of the other Irish kings and leaders felt the Normans were simply aiding Dermot in his "private" feud with O'Connor, the high-king. However, this all changed on Dermot MacMurrough's death in May 1171 and with the accession of Strongbow to the kingship of Leinster. This event caused great concern among the native Irish leaders. How could a foreigner so easily establish himself as king of an Irish province? In reaction, the tribes of Leinster rose in revolt and high-king Ruairi called on the Irish provincial kings to drive out the foreigner.

Initially the Irish-Norse campaign to oust the Normans was successful. Dermot MacCarthy of Desmond recaptured Waterford. The Norsemen of Wexford captured FitzStephen. A large Norse fleet under MacTorkil returned to lay siege on Dublin, while Ruairi's army was approaching Dublin by land.

However, the Norse attacked Dublin before the arrival of Ruairi's forces and although at first successful, were counter attacked and outflanked by the superior cavalry and archers of Milo de Cogan and his brother Richard. The joint armies of Ruairi, 60,000 strong, laid siege to Dublin during the months of July and August. As their supplies began to run out, the besieged Normans made a surprise attack on the forces of Ruairi. Demonstrating their supremacy in arms, the Norman forces routed and dispersed Ruairi's armies. Ruairi withdrew to his native Connacht, high-king in name only.

The Arrival of Henry II

Strongbow went on to retake Wexford and Waterford, as well as defeat the Ossorians who were being aided by O'Brien of Limerick. The other leaders in Leinster soon submitted.

By this time, Henry II had noted the successes of the Cambro-Norman forces and feared a rival Norman state in Ireland. In October 1171, Henry arrived with a large army to assume control of the situation, and to set himself up in the role of the protector against the marauding Norman barons. Strongbow offered to surrender his Irish conquests to Henry and pay him homage. Henry in return granted the kingdom of Leinster to the Earl, and kept Dublin, Waterford and Wexford for himself. All but the Irish kingdoms of mid and west Ulster, and likely Connacht, agreed to the authority given to Henry by the Pope and to the peace he offered in Ireland. In the move the Irish kings were substituting one overlord for another, retaining full possession of and jurisdiction over their original territories and paying tributes to Henry which were no heavier than those they formerly paid to the Irish high-king.

From the book "The History and Antiquities of the City of Dublin", by Walter Harris, Esq., comes this alphabetical list of "such English adventurers as arrived in Ireland during the first sixteen years from the invasion of the English, collected partly from Maurice Regan and Giraldus Cambrensis, two contemporary writers, and partly from records."

Gilbert Nugent is listed as on of the English adventurers.

Territorial History Meath Westmeath, Ireland

Delvin, County Westmeath, Ireland

The Roman geographer Ptolemy lived about the year 140. His chart of Hibernia (Ireland) is the basis for what little is known about the early inhabitants of the island. The information on this page includes extracts from Samuel Lewis' publication in 1837 called "A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland," which includes references to the early tribes and settlements mentioned in Ptolemy's original work.

The Eblani, whose territory also extended over Dublin and Kildare, are mentioned by Ptolemy as being settled in this county. According to the native divisions, it formed part of one of the five kingdoms into which Ireland was partitioned, and was known by the name of Mithe, Methe, Media or Midia, perhaps from its central situation. It was afterwards divided into two parts, Oireamhoin, or "the eastern country," which comprehended the portion now known as by the name of Meath; and Eireamhoin, or "the western country," comprehending the present counties of Westmeath and Longford, with parts of Cavan, Kildare, and the King's county. The prince of East Meath was O'Nial, hereditary chieftain of Caelman or Clancolman, who is distinguished in the native annals by the name of the southern O'Nial. The district surrounding the hill of Taragh was originally called Magh Breagh. On this hill, called also Teamor, from Teaghmor, "the great house," was held the general assembly of the states of the kingdom, which met triennially, from a very early period to the end of the sixth century. Here was preserved the Labheireg, or "stone of destiny," on which the monarchs of Ireland were placed at their inauguration, and which, after having been removed to Scotland, was carried away by Edward I, among other trophies of his victory, to Westminster, where it still remains. This part of Ireland suffered severely by the invasions of the Danes.

Sir Gilbert de Nugent 1st Lord of Delvin

The daughter of Hugh de Lacy married Sir Gilbert de Nugent. Hugh de Lacy & Sir Gilbert de Nugent were actually related. Hugh de Lacy put Gilbert de Nugent into Westmeath and granted him the lands of Westmeath, North Meath and part of Cavan. In those days, it was hard to know where the boundaries actually were. Sir Gilbert de Nugent went to Delvin where he built his first castle which is still standing. This was the first Nugent stronghold. Subsequently they built another bigger castle close by. They continued to be the owners of Westmeath and a lot more land around from that date onwards without a break. They had the title Baron Delvin and Earl of Delvin. There is still an Earl of Delvin and Northwest Meath who has not lived in Ireland for over 100 years. They live in Devonshire in England and are still the head of the Nugent family.

Twelve generations after de Lacy & de Nugent - coming into the end of the 15^th century - the 12^th Baron Delvin built the castle at Ross. This was the most northern part of any Norman influence in this part of the world. Beyond that the O'Rourkes & O'Reillys were still strong and as you got further north the O'Donnells and O'Neills - who were particularly strong - so that the Normans never really touched Northern Ireland at all - until they became integrated.

One of the most important properties that the Nugent’s owned was the Abbey at Fore. The Abbey is very much a part of Nugent history because each generation was involved in it. Many Bishops of Meath and Abbots of Fore were Nugent’s. During the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII, again because of Norman trouble, this time proved to be a very unpleasant for the Nugent’s. The then Baron of Delvin had to depose his own brother, who was Bishop William Nugent of Fore Abbey. Those were his orders - he had to do it, whether he liked it or not.

The Bishop took all his belongings and went to live with his cousin at Farrenconnell. He brought with him the original crozier that was used in Fore Abbey. It remained at Farrenconnell until recent times and is now in the National Museum in Dublin. It is a very interesting relic made of bronze. The head is all that is left - the staff does not exist. The crozier is so used that the bronze crest is worn away on the top where the Bishops thumbs were on it. The crest was beautifully crafted. There were designs of ram's heads and tiny little horns on the ram's head. It was used in the old days in Farrenconnell as a holy relic and used also to get the truth out of people. It seemed to be far better than swearing on the Bible.

In 1621, Lord Delvin was created Baron of Westmeath. The oldest title is Earl of Delvin and the new one Earl of Westmeath. There is a third title which goes with the family - Baroney of Fore.

The Nugent’s are very proud of the fact that the only man to defeat Cromwell in pitched battle was Myles O'Reilly in 1649. He defended the Bridge of Finea for a day and finally died after the battle had raged for a whole day. He was slain by a Scotsman who came fresh to the fray.

In 17^th century at the time of the Battle of the Boyne, again the Nugent’s got it very wrong. One of the contemporary accounts says in fact that the Nugent men from Westmeath had turned the tide of battle in favor of King James and they thought they had won and that the day was over. Actually, the Orange men rallied and James's side sat back as they did not think they were going to be countered attacked, so they lost the battle. At that stage, the Nugent’s had consolidated a lot of their property in Westmeath - right into Cavan. They owned a lot of land on the other side of Lough Sheelin, all Mullahoran and down into Kilcogy and Ballymachugh. Because of the battle of the Boyne, they had some land taken back off them.

Oliver Nugent of Bobsgrove and Catherine O'Reilly produce Robert Nugent, who was born in 1703. It was Robert Nugent who planted all the trees at Farrenconnell and laid out the whole place and he built the bog road where you cross out to Tonagh. He landscaped the whole property. That is why he called it "Bobsgrove" after Robert Nugent who did the planting and all the old trees date from the middle of the 18^th century. That was the common thing in those days to call your property after yourself or your wife, or a mixture of the two. After another couple of generations, we get to Christopher Nugent. Around the beginning of the 18^th century and he fought in the Battle of Waterloo. Christopher had a number of sons but only one, his youngest son, Mervyn St. George, who was a general in the British army produced a son.

Castle of Sir. Gilbert de Nugent

This castle is said to have been built in 1181 by Hugh de Lacy, Lord of Meath, for his brother-in-law, Sir Gilbert de Nugent who resided in it for some time before building the neighboring "Castle of Clonyn". The second castle was burnt at Cromwell's approach during the parliamentary war.

Sir Gilbert De Nogent, came to Ireland in 1171 with Hugh de Lacy, who became Norman Lord of Meath. Gilbert settled on land at Delvin, in the modern county of Westmeath and was granted the title Baron of Delvin.

The families involvement with Cavan began in the 1500s, when the power of the Clan Mahon O’Reillys began to decline. Clan Mahon at this time extended deep into the modern counties of Meath and Westmeath. When the Tudors came to power in England they used the Anglo Norman lords of Leinster to limit the power of the Gaelic clans. The Nugent, along with the Plunketts, another Anglo Norman family began to push Clan Mahon back to the modern borders of county Cavan in the early 1500s.

In 1532 Richard Nugent, 12th Baron of Delvin (the Black Baron) built Ross Castle on the southern shore of Lough Sheelin on the site of an earlier O’Reilly castle. The 13th Baron also Richard was killed in a skirmish near Finea in 1559. Before his death, he had been granted a lease on confiscated church land in Cavan. By the time of the Plantation of Ulster, the Nugent’s had extensive lands in south Cavan including most of the modern parishes of Ballymachugh and Mullahoran.

The family remained Catholic in the decades after the plantation of Ulster and they went on acquiring land in Cavan, including one large grant to Christopher the 14th Baron for holding Finea for the Crown, during the nine year war (1594-1603). Like the rest of the catholic Anglo Norman families, they backed the Catholic side in the 1641-53 war, and as a result, they lost most of their lands in Cavan.

One branch of the family continued to live and own land in Cavan, at Farrenconnell, in Mountnugent parish, not far from Ross Castle. It was this branch that gave its name to the parish and village of Mount Nugent. The most famous of them was Major General Sir Oliver Nugent who commanded the famous 36th Ulster division in the first world war. The last Nugent to live at Farrenconnell died in the 1980s.

The pictures of this 900 year old castle were made March 1999 during a visit made to Ireland by Angie Nugent Farrar.

Nugent Castle

Nugent Castle Side View

Nugent Castle Interior

NUGENT’S COME TO UNITED STATES

Most of these Anglo-Norman families were tricked, in the time of Elizabeth, into giving up control of their lands in Ireland, they being Catholic, or she simply seized them. The family estates were declared forfeit after the Battle of Boyne on July 12, 1690 and many left for America or were forced into indenture ship.

Early Migration Trails

From the Pee Dee River Valley, NC to Cole's Creek and Curtis Landing

The pioneers to the new "Natchez Country" would leave the Pee Dee River area of SC/NC and travel about 200 miles using pack-horses to the Holston RIver in northeastern Tennessee. They traveled via the South Carolina State Road (North) on the Warriors Path. They continued on the Catawba Trail to the Wilderness Road Fort near Kingsport, Tennessee. (Some of the present day towns and cities they would pass through were: Cheraws, SC; Wadesboro, NC; New Salem, NC; Lenoir, NC; Blowing Rock, NC; Boone, NC; Hampton, TN; Johnson City, TN; and Kingsport, TN. The automobile driving distance today would be over 250 miles.)

Flatboat

At the Wilderness Road Fort they secured/built flat boats. The flat boats were sturdy with one end enclosed for protection from the elements. The flat boat had to be designed to allow for the women, children, food, bedding and household items. They had to transport a milk cow, chickens, horses, hunting dogs and farm implements. Once aboard the flat boats they followed the Holston River to the Tennessee River which they entered near Knoxville, TN. (They traveled near present day towns of Surgoinsville, TN; Chalk Level, TN: Cherokee Lake; Buffalo Springs, TN; and Mascot, TN)

Indian attacks were a frequent occurrence. The pioneers always had to be prepared. The women often steered the boats while the men fought the Indians. Some used chairs as shields, holding against their chests as protection from the Indian arrows. Following the Tennessee River they reached the Ohio River near Paducah, KY. (On this leg they traveled near present day towns of Dayton, TN; Chattanooga, TN; Scottsboro, AL; Guntersville, AL; Decatur, AL; Florence, AL; Savannah,TN; Perryville, TN; Sycamore Landing, TN; Eva, TN; Aurora, KY; and Lake City, KY) From Paducah the flat boats floated down the Ohio River where they entered the Mississippi near Cairo, IL. (This is near present day Metropolis, IL; and about 30 miles south of Cape Girardeau, MO).

At Cairo, IL the flat boats embarked on the "mercy" of the mighty Mississippi River for the rest of the journey to the "Natchez Country." (They traveled near present day towns like Hayti, MO; Cathursville, MO; Heloise, TN; Osceloa, AR; Memphis, TN; Helena, AR; Rosedale, MS; Greenville, MS; Lake Providence, LA; and Vicksburg, MS) South of Rodney one group of pioneers steered the flat boats into Boyd's Creek (now Cole's Creek) for the 15 mile trip to Curtis Landing on the South Fork of Cole's Creek. Other pioneers continued on to Natchez or Wilkinson County steering their flat boats up St. Catherine's Creek, the Homochitto River or Buffalo River.

These pioneers had made a trip of approximately 1400 miles by flat boat on water. The total miles traveled by horse-pack and flat boat would be about 1650-1700 miles.

Upon arrival it was necessary to fell trees and build log houses quickly. Fields needed to be cleared and cultivated. The survival for the first year was dependent on the family's ability to fish and hunt. Squirrel, deer, ducks, and wild turkey were the family's fresh meat.

One of the pioneer families who had a British land grant in Jefferson County included James Cole who arrived October, 1772 with the paperwork finalized in 1776. Richard Curtis who arrived in 1780.

Matthew Nugent probably used this route to relocate from Brunswick, NC area to the Natchez, Adams County, MS area. Matthew came with his wife, Isabel Macbray and his sons, Edmond and Matthew and his daughters Marie and Dorothy and their husbands, Gabriel Martin and Gerald Brandon. Gabriel's brother Zachariah Martin traveled with them.

In 1779, an expedition under Don Bernardo de Galvez, Spanish governor of Louisiana Territory, captured the British Fort in Natchez. After the fall of the British at Baton Rouge, General Galvez negotiated the surrender of the English Fort Panmure in Natchez on September 21, 1779. The Spanish, with generous land grants, gave the residents opportunity to move to Opelousas Post in early 1780. After a decade at Opelousas Post, the Nugent family moved to Rapides Post about 1790. Dorothy and her husband Gerald Brandon stayed in Mississippi when the rest of the family relocated to Louisiana.

Louisiana The Early Years

The French owned Louisiana from 1682 to 1763 and Natchitoches was an important outpost, guarding the Red River boundary from the Spanish, who built their fort, Los Adais, only thirteen miles to the west. Traffic, though sporadic, increased through the Rapides area. Etienne Layssard, an Indian trader, was one of the first Frenchmen recorded as residing near the rapids. He and his four sons arrived from French Ohio country sometime during the early eighteenth century. Etienne and his sons knew many Indian languages, which gave them a •decided advantage in trade with the Indians from whom they secured pelts, tallow, furs, and bear oil, which netted fine profits in Europe.

After Spain made good its claim in 1769 with Governor O'Reilly's arrival in the colony, Etienne became Estevan Layssard and was given a franchise to trade with the Indians in the area. He was named commandant of El Rapido, the post established in the pinehills on the north bank of the river. O'Reilly sent Eduardo Nugent and Juan Kelly to study and report to him regarding this part of the Red River country. They reported:

33 Blancos [whites] and 18 esdavos [slaves]. This place is composed of eight houses belonging to a like number of poor inhabitants, who cultivate tobacco and corn, and keep a few cows for their subsistence. The soil is of the same quality as that of Natchitoches, and can produce, if adequately tilled, the same products.

A small village of Apalache Indians is established there, composed in all of twenty-one houses of little stability, twenty-six men, and about eighteen women, of all ages.

Earliest Nugent - Christopher Nugent

Christopher was transported in 1634 or 1635 on the ship John and Dorothy by Capt. Adam Thorougood. He removed before 1672 to Somerset County, Maryland where his daughter Katharine married William Onorton (Onaughton-O' Neachtain) also of Ireland. They must have known each other in Virginia and left about the same time. William was of the ancient royal family of O' Neachtain of Ireland.

Christopher was probably of the Nugent family there, descendents of Sir Gilbert of Normandy who came over with Sir Hugh de Lacie in the 12th century and had a castle of Devlin. Most of these Anglo-Norman families were tricked, in the time of Elizabeth, into giving up control of their lands in Ireland, they being Catholic, or she simply seized them. The family estates were declared forfeit after the Battle of Boyne on July 12, 1690 and many left for America or were forced into indentureship.

Arrival Of Matthew Nugent

Matthew Nugent was born about 1724 in the Brunswick area of North Carolina and died in 1795 in Rapides Parish, LA.

The family immigrated from NC to MS in the early to mid 1770's. Matthew Nugent probably used the Pee Dee River Valley, NC to Cole's Creek and Curtis Landing route to relocate from the Brunswick, NC area to Natchez, Adams County, MS area. Matthew came with his wife, Isabel Macbray and his sons, Edmond and Matthew and his daughters Marie (husband Gabriel Martin) and Dorothy (husband Gerald Brandon). Gabriel's brother Zachariah Martin traveled with them.

The images below are from microfilm located at the Louisiana State Archives in Baton Rouge, LA. You can click on the image to view a larger image. This was a request by Edmond Nugent made on January 18, 1799 for the reissuance of a deed to land belonging to deceased father, Matthew Nugent, so that the land could be sold to Jean Baptiste Bauvais.

The following is from the American State Papers Volume 2, 1809 - 1815, Public Lands, Published by Gales and Sexton in 1834
1994 Revised Edition, Southern Historical Press, Inc of Greenville, SC 29602
ISBN #0-89308-506-5 (vol 2) Pages 797 and 798

No. 128. This claim is for four hundred acres on the bayou Rapides, claimed by the heirs of Matthew Nugent, Senior. The following documents and evidence are found with the notice; A plat of survey, executed by William Atchinson, dated 18 February 1797, and the depositions of Matthew Nugent and Alexander Innis, each taken 25 February 1806. Matthew Nugent was deposed. That the tract of land claimed was inhabited and cultivated ten or twelve years ago, since which time the cleared land, consisting of five or six acres, has been cultivated by Gabriel Martin, but the said land has not been inhabited by any person. The testimony of Alexander Innis is of the same import, adding only that said Matthew Nugent, deceased, resided at the time of his death with Gabriel Martin, son-in-law of the deceased, on an adjoining tract, at the time the land in question was occupied by him, the said Matthew, deceased. The deposition of Matthew Nugent the second, aged about fifty-seven years, has also been taken and filed in the claim, 3rd December, 1811, and which is as follows: That the land claimed was improved about eighteen years ago, and had been cultivated almost ever year since. The improvements consisted at that time of about three acres of land cleared, with a tolerable house, and indigo vats. From the testimony of this last witness, it would appear that the land in question has been used since the year 1793, making about ten years of possession prior to the taking possession of Louisiana by the United Slates, on 20 December 1803. The other two witnesses state that the land was built on and cultivated, hut was not inhabited after the year 1795 or 1796. The survey is dated in 1797. From the small extent of the claim, and the nature of the possession, together with a view to the length of time it has been occupied, the undersigned commissioners are in favor of recommending its confirmation, although two other claims, which are supposed if; have been derived from Matthew Nugent, deceased, have been confirmed by the Board; one fur four hundred and eighty-live and fifty-five hundredths acres, under settlement, and the other for six hundred acres. Under a request and possession, by certificates B, Nos. 1049 and 1291, the first to Gabriel Martin, on bayou Rapides, and the other to John Hay, in Opelousas.

No. 129. This claim, for six hundred and forty acres, is entered in the name of Matthew Nugent, and supported by the requests of the claimant for sixteen acres front on Beaver creek, about fourteen miles from Rapides, on the track leading from the rapids of Red river to Catahoula, the petitioner setting forth that he had resided in the district of Rapides as a subject of His Catholic Majesty many years, and had never had a grant of land. And soliciting this tract to settle on. This petition is dated 12 October 1800; to which is subjoined the verification of Valentine Layssard. Then commandant of the post of Rapides, stating “that the exposition of the petitioner is true, and the land solicited may be accorded to him without prejudice." This certificate is of the same date of the petition. A plat of survey, by Matthew Stone, dated 5 December 1805, is also filed in the claim, and no other document of title. The deposition of Benjamin Miller, taken in this claim the 25th February 1806, is as follows: That the claimant, late in the fall of the year 1803, built a Iog house upon the land claimed; that some time in the winter after he removed to it, and has continued to reside there ever since; that this deponent docs not believe that there was any of the laud under cultivation during that year. Though there are claims confirmed of which Matthew Nugent was the original claimant, it is to be presumed, from the petition and certificate of the commandant, that this claimant has not been the original proprietor of any tract except the one claimed under this nonce. The claim has been reported on the ground of its not having been actually settled and cultivated on and prior to the 20th of December, 1803, though it appears to have been built on prior to that time, and settled shortly after by the claimant. The confirmation is recommended.

Microfilm records at the Louisiana State Archives for Opelousas have records of a slave sale from Matthew Nugent, Sr. to Matthew Nugent, Jr. on October 29, 1787 (3 pages). In addition, there are microfilm records from Opelousas dated December 21, 1784 of a land claim of Edmond Nugent on bayou Chicot and the sale of the same plantation to Gitfried Krieger, in French and English (5 pages).

The book, Natchez Colonials, A compendium of the Colonial Families of Southwestern Mississippi, 1716 - 1800, by Johnnie Andrews, Jr. of Prichard, AL was published by the Bienville Historical Society in 1986 and on page 10 has a reference to Dorothy Nugent married Gerald Brandon in Natchez in 1788. Other records show they were married in 1785 and their first child, a daughter was born in 1786. Their fourth child was named Matthew Nugent Brandon.

Official Plat Map: 1857 Original Plat of Township 5N, Range 1E, North of Red River has land plats that show Matthew Nugent and Edmund Nugent and others property in the area.

Matthew Nugent and Edmund Nugent Property

A history of the area is in the book, Rapides Parish, an illustrated history by Sue Eakin. Windsor Publications, Inc. of Northridge, CA – 1987

Bayou Rapides leaves Red River about twenty miles upstream from the falls and reenters the river about a mile below the rapids. The island formed by the bayou and the river is about fifteen miles long and two to five miles wide, shaped in a loose circle. At different turns of Bayou Rapides, early settlers, probably not realizing this was only a single stream, called the bayou "Cotile" and "Jean de Jean."

The land created prize plantation that attracted many of the first European settlers. They, in turn, would nurture a little village, Alexandria, platted in 1805.

Early in the nineteenth century plantation communities with focal centers, a small store or church, developed every five to ten miles along the streams. Often these were communities of kinsmen or migrants- from" the same state or eastern county. On Bayou Rapides one historian notes that settlers from Maryland preferred the section near the falls, while Virginians chose the opposite end of the stream at Cotile Landing, which later developed into the Town of Boyce. Whether the planters migrated from New England, New York, Pennsylvania, or other states, as many did, and whether they lived on Red River, Bayou Rapides, or one of the other bayous---the Boeuf, Lamourie, Robert, or Clear---they adopted the same identical plantation life-style.

The Great Raft upstream, the ever-changing riverbed, snags, sandbars, annual low water level, the rapids, and generally unpredictable behavior of the river caused navigation on the Red to be risky business. As American settlers arrived, trade centers at this natural crossroads developed on both sides of the river. Since incomparably rich alluvial soil lay on the south, and picturesque pine-covered hills of North Louisiana terrain lay on the north, the site became an even more unusual meeting place in another sense. Two very different cultures emerged.

1.) That of the independent, hard-working individual, priding himself on his ruggedness, developed to the land north of the Red River.

2.) The more apt-to-be formally educated, committed to leading and disdaining manual labor as an indication of lower class, the slaveholder, cut out his plantation along the streams of the land south of Red River.

NUGENT’S IN THE CIVIL WAR

Louisiana Civil War Map of Battles

Nugent’s Enlisted In Gray's 28th Infantry

The following Nugent’s fought with Gray's 28th Infantry

Nugent, Charles R., Pvt. Co. K, 28th La. Inf. (Gray's). Roll dated May 17, 1862 (only Roll on file), En. May 17, 1862, Monroe, La.

Charles R. Nugent was the father of Allen Nugent who later had a son named Luther A.B. Nugent. Luther A.B. Nugent married Eula Jane Nugent who was Alton Nugent’s father.

Nugent, Nelson, Pvt. Co. K, 28th (Gray's) La. Inf. Roll dated May 17, 1862 (only Roll on file), En. May 17, 1862, Monroe, La.

Nelson Nugent was the son of Thomas Edmund Nugent. Thomas Edmund Nugent was the father of Hugh Nugent. Hugh Nugent began the line that started the our Nugent family.

Nugent, Michael, Pvt. Co. K, 28th (Gray's) La. Inf. Roll dated May 17, 1862 (only Roll on file), En. May 17, 1862, Monroe, La.

Michael Nugent was the son of Nelson Nugent.

Biography Col. Henry Gray

HENRY GRAY was born in Laurens District, South Carolina, January 19, 1816, and was graduated from South Carolina College (now the University of South Carolina) in 1834. Admitted to the bar, he shortly settled in Mississippi, where he was for some years district attorney of Winston County. After serving a term in the legislature, he ran unsuccessfully for Congress on the Whig ticket.

He moved to Louisiana in 1851, and was a Buchanan Elector in 1856. While a member of the Louisiana legislature in 1860, he was defeated for a seat in the United States Senate by but one vote; his opponent was Judah P. Benjamin. Upon the secession of Mississippi, Gray enlisted as a private in a regiment from that state; however, President Davis (an intimate friend) recalled him from this duty, and he was elected colonel of the 28th Louisiana Infantry, which he had organized at Davis' request.

Gray led his regiment at Mansfield and Pleasant Hill during the Red River campaign, and was at times in brigade command. He was promoted brigadier general, March 17, 1865, while he was representing North Louisiana in the Confederate Congress, an office to which he had been elected in his absence and without his knowledge.

After serving a post-bellum term in the Louisiana state senate, General Gray retired from public life, thereafter remaining in virtual seclusion until his death at Coushatta, Louisiana, December 11, 1892. He is buried there in Springville Cemetery.

The 28th Louisiana Volunteers In The Civil War

By Terry L. Jones, of Northeast Louisiana University and Alan Thompson, of the North Louisiana Historical Journal

In the spring of 1862, Louisiana was on the verge of collapse. Forts Jackson and St. Philip, on the Mississippi River, had been successfully passed by the enemy, and New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and Natchez had fallen like so many dominoes.

At this time, many new companies and regiments were being organized in North Louisiana. Although most of the area was in no immediate danger, the people saw the need to stop the invasion before it reached their homes. Some joined these organizations through dedication to the Confederate cause. Others were dragged in reluctantly, in compliance with the Conscription Act, or joined voluntarily to escape the stigma of being labeled a "conscript"

One of these regiments was the 28th Louisiana Volunteers. History has largely overlooked the role of these North Louisiana regiments in the Civil War. This is partly because a large part of the Confederate records covering these units was lost or destroyed in the final days of the war. In addition, few diaries or journals were kept by the mostly poor, uneducated members of the units. Finally, such regiments as the 28th were not involved in the more famous battles of the war, and, therefore, have been ignored.

However, the North Louisiana men of the 28th served their cause well. The suffering and hardships they endured were equal to any of Lee's veterans. Death was just as final in the canebrakes along the Teche as it was on the fields of Gettysburg. Shattered legs received the same agonizing amputation, and the heartbreak of the dead loved ones was just as tearful in a piney-hill cabin as it was in a pillared Virginia mansion.

It should be pointed out here, to avoid confusion, that there were two Louisiana regiments with the numerical designation of 28th. This was due to the hectic way the units were organized after the fall of New Orleans. The other 28th regiment was made up of South Louisiana men and was known as 28th (Thomas') Regiment after its first commander, Major Allen Thomas. It saw action at Vicksburg and surrendered there on July 4, 1863. The 28th Regiment from North Louisiana was known as 28th (Gray's) after its organizer and first commander, Colonel Henry Gray of Bienville Parish.

Like most other Confederate regiments, the 28th was a conglomeration of companies raised in different parishes. Usually, the more influential men of a parish would call meetings and begin to organize a company. These companies would then hold elections for officers. Most of these companies formed in North Louisiana went to Monroe, which was designated as a training camp under the Conscription Act of April 10, 1862. It was here in May 1862, that Gray organized ten of these independent companies into the 28th Louisiana Volunteers, of which he was elected colonel.

The following list shows where each of the ten companies originated:

Bienville Parish gave Companies A and H.
Bossier gave Company B.
Claiborne sent Company D.
Jackson gave Companies C and I.
Winn gave Companies E, G, and K.
Winn and Jackson also combined to give Company F.

After the regiment was organized at Monroe, it departed to Vienna where it was to camp and train. For two hot months, Colonel Gray and his officers drilled the raw recruits and tried to instill military discipline. The 28th, like many other units during the Civil War, was probably forced to drill with sticks or wooden rifles because of the shortage of weapons. Firing practice, as we know it today, was virtually unheard of. Many times the soldiers went into battle without knowing the proper use of the rifles, attested to by the fact that scores of rifles were sometimes picked up after a battle with several unfired rounds crammed down the barrel.

After their training, the 28th moved to Monroe, where it began its three years of active duty. On July 28, Brig. Gen. A. G. Blanchard, commander of the Monroe Department, sent a note to Secretary of War George Randolph in Richmond reporting the arrival of the 28th and requesting that a shipment of arms be sent to the department.

10,000 rifles were sent across the Mississippi River to the Monroe area, but the 28th received very few of them. On Sept. 1, a captain reported to Richmond that there were only 1,200 arms for the entire department, most of these being shotguns.

While detailed in the Monroe Department, the regiment saw no action stationed near Milliken's Bend on the Mississippi, they were part of the troops protecting the vital Monroe to Vicksburg Railroad. While here, the men suffered a number of losses from sickness that devastated the troops living in the swamps along the railroad. In September 1862 only 1,000 out of 3,000 men in the Monroe Department could be furnished for duty. The rest were on the sick lists!

In November the 28th was ordered to the Bayou Teche region to help Gen. Richard Taylor stop the enemy invasion there. Upon arriving, they were assigned to Gen. Alfred Mouton's Brigade at Camp Bisland, a small fort on the Teche just above Patterson. Col. Gray soon became the commander of the post, and was ordered to keep an eye on enemy movements in the Grand Lake area. After nearly a year in the Army, the Louisiana men had yet to face the enemy. Their chance came shortly in the form of the Yankee gunboat Diana. While on a reconnaissance mission in the upper Grand Lake area in early March, the Diana's commander disobeyed orders and moved too far up a channel of the Atchafalaya. Since the entire area was under the watchful eye of the Confederates, his blunder was soon exploited by a detachment of the 28th, which along with other units, was lying in Wait.

Typical Union Gunboat

The Confederates sprang the ambush on the ship and for three hours poured volley after volley of rifle and cannon fire into it. To the men penned up in the Diana it was a nightmarish hell. The decks were slippery with blood and the groans of the wounded drifted through the darkened, smoke-filled ship. The roar of the Rebel guns, the splat of minie balls against the sides of the ship, and the crash of artillery shells splintering the decks helped create an unforgettable scene.

The Diana's commander, after seeing one crewman after another fall to the deck from the Rebels accurate fire, finally raised the white flag. The confederates then removed the 150 sailors, 30 of whom were dead or seriously wounded, and took over the vessel. Taylor had the Winn Parish men of Company K to move the ship up the Teche to help cover Camp Bisland."

In early April, Gen. Nathaniel Banks began moving into the Teche area. His plan called for landing 12,000 troops at Berwick, who were to move up the Teche to Bisland. Gen. Cuvier Grover, meanwhile, would land his 4,000 men near Franklin and move down the Teche to Bisland. If all went well, Taylor and his army would be crushed between the pincers.

When informed of this move, Taylor divided his forces, sending some of his men up to Franklin to try and prevent Grover's landing, while the rest, including the 28th, dug in at Bisland to stop the lower drive. The 28th would hold the center of the line while Company K, on board the Diana, anchored in mid-stream to bolster the defenses. In all, there were less than 5,000 Rebels to stop both Banks and Grover.

Banks' 12,000 men, under Generals William Emory and Godfery Weitzel, arrived before the Rebel works on April 12. For two days, they bombarded the breastwork's. Taylor was afraid that the screaming of the shells and the trembling thuds of the balls slamming into the outside embankment would unnerve the raw troops of the 28th and the other units that had to endure this fire. To calm them he lit a cigarette and strolled casually along the breastworks, unmindful of the incoming fire. Taylor observed:

Near the line was a low tree with spreading branches, which a young officer, Bradford by name [Captain Robert Bradford of Co. F, 28th Infantry] proposed to climb to have a better view. I gave him my field glass, and this plucky youngster sat in his tree as quietly as in a chimney corner, though the branches around were cut away [by the cannon fire]. These examples, especially that of Captain Bradford, gave confidence to the men, who began to expose themselves, and some casualties were suffered in consequence."

The barrage continued to pound the men and soon began to concentrate on the Diana. Seven men were killed or wounded and the ship was disabled when a shell pierced the railroad iron armor and exploded in the engine room. A message was sent to Taylor telling him of the predicament. He found the boat lying against the bank under such a heavy fire that the water around it seemed to be boiling from the shells raining down upon it. An officer came on deck to talk with Taylor but was shot off immediately, Finally, Taylor had to agree to let her back out of range for repairs before the Whole crew was gone.

The Yankees made several half-hearted attempts to storm the Confederate entrenchments, but were hurled back each time. In his official report of the battle, Taylor reported that the 28th, along with a detachment of artillery, stopped every advance upon the center of the line and thwarted all attempts to break it.

While the fighting raged around Bisland, Grover succeeded in landing his men above Franklin, blocking Taylor's only escape route. Taylor had no choice but to pull out of his trenches around Bisland under the cover of darkness and try to hack his way through this flanking force. The men silently left their trenches that night and moved towards Franklin.

Taylor was waiting for Grover to make his move on the morning of April 14. The Confederate battle line was on a plantation near a place called Irish Bend. When Grover's men moved out, they marched into a bottleneck, with the Teche on their left, a swamp on their right, and the Rebels dead ahead.

When the enemy made contact, they briefly drew back in surprise, not having expected any resistance this side of Bisland. However, they quickly regrouped and a brisk fight was underway when Col. Gray and the 28th arrived after their midnight march from Bisland. They were immediately posted on the extreme left of the line on the edge of the swamp. This brought Taylor's Strength up to nearly 1,000 men. With these, few men he charged!

The screaming Rebels came bursting out of a strip of woods they had been hiding in and ran across a muddy cane field towards the startled yankees. The forward enemy regiments, taking cover in shallow ditches, tried to make a stand, but were soon outflanked and caught in a terrible crossfire. The Federals later recalled that the Louisiana men used "buck and ball," a type of musket round that included one rifle ball and three buckshot. This was a deadly load at close range, proven by the fact that the 159th New York Regiment, that faced the 28th, lost 115 men our of a total of 375 in the fight!

In this charge, it is known that the 28th had Col. Gray and Capt. Bradford wounded. There were others killed or wounded, but their names are unknown because the casualty records for the regiment no longer exist.

Meanwhile, the Diana was ordered to throw its shells into the enemy lines while Taylor evacuated his supply train to New Iberia by a cut off road. Taylor left Gen. Mouton in command of the troops at Irish Bend and told him to use the Diana to cover his own withdrawal when the time came. He was to then abandon and burn the ship to keep it from falling back into enemy hands.

Through a mix-up in orders, all the troops were pulled out of the area except for the Diana and her crew of the 28th. They were left behind banging away with their guns, covering the retreat of their comrades. Finally, the ship was abandoned and burned ' but most of the survivors of the crew were captured in a very short time.

The 28th suffered a large number of casualties compared to its size. Many of Company K were killed or wounded on the Diana, and most of the survivors were captured. The remainder of the regiment suffered a number of killed and wounded, and lost heavily in prisoners taken during the fighting on the 14th. Most of the POW'S were released within a month and rejoined the regiment later.

In his report of the fighting, Taylor had high praise for the 28th:

Col. Gray and his regiment deserve most favorable mention. Their gallantry in action is enhanced by the excellent discipline, which they have preserved, and no veteran soldiers could have excelled them in their conduct during the trying scenes through which they passed.

He also wrote of the Diana: “The crew conducted themselves with the greatest bravery and intrepidity . . . ".

The 28th's baptism of fire had been a violent and trying one, but was bravely met and endured. The confidence and pride instilled in them would serve them well on the bloody fields ahead.

After the battles along the Teche, the 28th followed Taylor northward, with the enemy in pursuit. Col. Arthur W. Hyatt, a member of the 28th's Brigade, described the forced march in his journal:

A regular race from the enemy. Feet sore, dust intolerable . . .. When we halt ' we squat ourselves down, no matter where--in the sand, in the mud, anywhere--and our only hope is that the halt will last fifteen minutes. At night, you fall down too tired to be careful of selections, and go to sleep . . . without taking off clothes, shoes or cap.

After reaching Alexandria, Banks tired of the chase and returned south. The 28th, along with most of Taylor's other infantry, stayed around Alexandria until August, at which time they returned to the Teche area. At this time, Gen. Mouton was given command of the entire Division and Col. Gray was made Brigade commander to fill the vacancy created by Mouton's promotion. Capt. William Walker, of Company K, having been promoted to lieutenant colonel earlier, took over the regiment.

On Aug. 28, the 28th, along with several other units, was ordered to march to New Iberia to quell a mutiny in Col ' James Major's Brigade of Texas cavalry. The Texans had begun to get disorderly and Gray's Brigade was moved to the area to head off trouble. A few days later, however, the Texans were transferred to Shreveport, and Gray's men were left around New Iberia to defend the area vacated by them.

The 28th remained in South Louisiana for several months. During this time, they crisscrossed the entire area on numerous marches. In September, the regiment participated in a firefight on Bayou Fordoche, near Morganza, in which about 400 Union soldiers were captured.

Finally, the entire division of Gen. Mouton was ordered to cross the Red River and marched to Monroe to help protect a shipment of arms that was coming across the Mississippi River. The men of the 28th after a long absence were going home.

On Dec. 15, Gray's Brigade crossed the Red at Pineville and began the march. They were immediately lashed by foul weather, described by Felix Poche, a member of Gray's staff:

The thunder roared, lightening struck all around us and immense pines ... fell by the hundreds... I learned several persons had been hurt.

Soon the ground was covered with water . . . The wagons . . . were unable to pass . . .

Thus those poor soldiers were drenched to the skin, shivering with cold, starving and dog tired after a march of fifteen miles, having nothing with which to cover themselves, and spent a miserable night near to the fire, as best they could.

Conditions did not improve at dawn. The supply wagons could not pass over the flooded roads, so the 28th had to endure growling stomachs until the train pulled into camp 24 hours later.

As the army marched through Winn Parish, occasional shrieks of joy could be heard as a by standing woman recognized a son or husband in the muddy, shuffling crowd of soldiers that were strung out five miles on'. the Winnfield to Vernon road. In some instances, tearful pleading would get one of the 28th's soldiers an overnight pass to spend some time with the family he had not seen for nearly two years. These scenes were repeated as the regiment continued the march to Monroe.

Dec. 24 found the regiment camped in Jackson Parish. Its piney hills may not have been very posh, but Christmas Eve was Christmas Eve and deserved to be celebrated no matter where one was. Poche describes that Christmas over a hundred years ago in the cold forests of North Louisiana: "Tonight, despite the bad colds suffered by the men, it was easy to realize it was Christmas Eve by the shouting and noise in the regiments."

Christmas Day was spent marching on to the Ouachita River, which was crossed on the 27th under a cold, dreary winter sky. It is not difficult to understand why more men died from sickness during the Civil War than from battle, when they had to live under such harsh conditions as the 28th did in the winter of 1863-64. Poche entered in his journal on Dec. 31 the following: 11 . . . The weather was extreme, in the morning it rained and later it snowed,’ and the ground froze. One can well understand the misery and suffering of our poor soldiers without tents, and practically no fire..."

Hyatt's New Year's Day entry adds to the description. The ponds frozen and the boys sliding on ice . . . The ground too cold to lie down. It was pitiful at night to see them nodding around campfires with only one blanket. This is soldiering, this is."

After spending several weeks in the Monroe Department, the men of the 28th found that all their suffering had been in vain. The Yankees had been able to stop the shipment of arms from crossing the Mississippi while the regiment had been freezing beside the campfires. Therefore, Gray's Brigade recrossed the Ouachita in late January and returned to Pineville. For the 28th, the brief homecoming was over and the war was about to explode in all its deadly fury once again. For many, the fleeting footstep across their home soil was to be their last.

The regiment remained in the Alexandria area until Gen. Banks started his Red River Campaign in mid-March. On March 14, Fort DeRussey, below Alexandria on the Red River, fell to the Yankees, and Taylor evacuated the city. The army started a brutal retreat towards Natchitoches. Poche said of the retreat, "That march . . . was exceedingly hard on our little Brigade as our men marched more than fifty miles in two days."

After retreating through Natchitoches, Taylor finally chose a place to make his stand against Banks. It was a large field about three miles southeast of Mansfield. On April 8, he posted his men along the northern edge of the field astride the Mansfield-Pleasant Hill road. Gray's Brigade, made up of the 28th, 18th, and Consolidated Crescent Louisiana Regiments, was posted behind a fence on the left of the line. Taylor had 9,000 men to stop 30,000 Yankees.

The enemy host appeared on the fringe of the opposite wood that afternoon. As they filed into formation, several companies of Gray's Brigade, including the Bienville Parish men of Company A, were ordered to cross the fence and as sharpshooters to advance and harass the enemy. They kept up a brisk fire with the Yankees until mid-afternoon. Few of these men were hurt for the enemy fired too high, but a number of soldiers in the 28th and other regiments left behind the fence were wounded as the balls went over the sharpshooters and slammed into their ranks.

At about four o'clock, upon seeing the enemy was still deploying men, Taylor ordered Mouton's Division to open the attack. When the signal was given, the 28th climbed over the fence and started trotting towards the enemy a half-mile away. To reach the Federals, they had to go down the hill they were on, cross a ravine at the bottom, and run up the exposed slope of the hill on which the enemy was posted.

When the Rebels broke out of their covering woods and began to run down the hill, the Union batteries opened up on them. The 28th began to trickle casualties as the solid shot tore gaps through the line. As the men reached the ravine, the firing increased. Men fell by the score, riddled by musket fire and grape shot. Mouton ordered them to lie down for protection and to catch their breath before making the final push up the hill.

Then with a yell, they sprang up and ran up the slope amidst screaming shells and whistling minie balls. When they got within 150 feet of the enemy line, the rail fence exploded in flame and smoke as the Yankee's let loose a well-aimed volley of musketry. Hundreds of Gray's men were cut down before the fence. Three colonels of the Brigade--the commanding officers of the 18th and Crescent, and Col. Walker of the 28th--were killed. In this one volley the Crescent Regiment (positioned besides the 28th) lost 35 killed and 150 wounded! Hyatt, whose company lost 29 out of 42 men, and was himself wounded, describes the charge. "Minie balls like hail. The fire of the enemy was so terrible that almost every man in the direct attack of Mouton's [Gray's] Brigade was struck with a bullet." Seven standard bearers of the Crescent were shot down in rapid succession!

The 28th was staggered by the accurate fire of the enemy. According to Poche: "The balls and grape shot crashing about us whistled terribly and plowed the ground and beat our soldiers down even as a storm tears down the trees of a forest."

Since the assault was stalling, Maj. W. F. Blackman, Adjutant General of the 28th, wheeled his horse up, grabbed the regiment's flag, and rode directly towards the smoking fence, calling on the men to follow. Seeing the colors advance, the rest of the regiment renewed there charge and reached the fence, scattering the enemy, But it was a terrible price. The route of the 28th could be followed by the dead and dying men that lay strewn across the bloodstained slope to their rear.

Later, a captured Union soldier said that they had seen Blackman grab the colors and charge towards them, and had tried especially hard to bring him down. Over 200 shots were fired at him, but he escaped unhurt!

Once the fence was taken, the men were allowed to rest and regroup. While pausing, they had a chance to view the battlefield. It was a ghastly scene! Through the smoke, the dead’ and dying, both Blue and Gray, could be seen lying thick in all directions. After the battle, more dead soldiers were found on this part of the field than any other place. One of those was Gen. Mouton, killed in the charge while trying to protect a group of enemy soldiers who were trying to surrender. Upon Mouton's death, Gen. Camille de Polignac took over the Division and pressed the assault.

After a few minutes rest, the Rebels pushed forward once again and pursued the Yankees to another defensive line. Here the attack again stalled until a Lt. Kidd, of Jackson Parish, seized the 28th's flag and took it towards the enemy. As with Blackman, the men at once followed and succeeded in breaking the line and capturing the enemy's cannon. After this, the Union troops orderly retreat became a rout. They threw away their rifles and packs. We chased them for over a mile to a small bayou three miles from their original line.

When the Confederates came up at dusk, another assault was ordered for the exhausted men of the 28th, for this bayou was the only source of water for miles around. Once again, the surrounding hills echoed volleys of rifle fire as Blue and Gray slugged it out in the twilight. As darkness settled in, the firing sputtered out. When the smoke cleared, the Rebels were in control of the water and the enemy was retreating towards Pleasant Hill.

April 8, 1864, had been a vicious bloody day. Mouton had led nearly 2,200 men across the field in the first attack. Twenty-five minutes later, 800 of them lay dead or wounded on the smoking slope, a casualty rate equal to that suffered by the British during the more famous "Charge of the Light Brigade" at Balaklava in 1854. That charge was immortalized by Tennyson, but how many know of the bravery and losses of the Louisiana Brigade ten years later?

Nevertheless, the Louisiana men gave as well as they received. The commander of the Union division that faced Mouton reported that nearly all his officers were killed or wounded and that almost half of the entire division was left on the field.

It is impossible to tell how many men of the 28th were killed that day. No regimental casualty rolls exist for the battle, but it can be assumed that it was very heavy judging from the losses of the 18th and Crescent Regiments, which were on either side of it. Two officers known to have died were Col. Walker and Capt. J. T. Lewis, both of Winn Parish. Records also show that a number of the men were admitted to the Confederate hospital in Shreveport shortly after the battle.

On April 9, the regiment (now under Maj. Thomas Poole, after Walker's death) was placed in reserve along with the rest of Mouton's (now Polignac's) Division since it had lost so heavily the day before.

They were called into action at Pleasant Hill late in the day, but did not suffer too heavily in the short, fierce fight along the Pleasant Hill Road due to their entering the fight so late.

After the Battle of Pleasant Hill, the 28th was allowed to encamp and rest while other units pursued Banks back towards Alexandria. While recuperating, Col. Gray was promoted to Brig. General and Maj. Poole to Colonel. During the final year of war, the 28th was sometimes known as-the 28th (Poole's) Regiment.

The regiment finally moved out of camp and took up the pursuit of Banks. They passed through Natchitoches and Alexandria and on May 15, caught up with the enemy near Mansura. The regiment was ordered out in front of the artillery the next day, where they came under a heavy fire. The enemy was anxious to knock out the Confederate cannon and began to shell the area with 20 and 30-pound shot. Luckily, few of the rounds exploded, so, other than shaken nerves, little damage was done.

Contact between the two armies was broken off before a real battle developed. Banks wanted only to get away and the Confederates were not strong enough to stop him.

The next day, however, a larger, and for the 28th the last, battle was fought. Banks had been brought to bay at Yellow Bayou, near Simmesport, and Taylor hoped to make the best of it before the enemy could gain safety across the Atchafalaya.

Taylor formed a battle line’ with the 28th on the extreme left. When ordered forward, they charged with a lusty yell into a patch of dense woods, and were promptly blasted back out again with cannon fire. The men retreated out of the thicket somewhat confused. Polignac regrouped them and sent the regiment flying into the thick woods a second time. This time they fought their way to the enemy's line and a violent hand-to-hand fight erupted. Empty muskets became deadly clubs, and the clank and thwack of musket butt against bayonet rang out across the woods. It was a vicious, bloody struggle with each side refusing to yield. Finally, though, the men of the 28th were beaten and clubbed back by the stubborn Yankee defenders. The firing from this last charge had set the thick woods on fire and a wall of flame prevented a third try against the enemy. Taylor, therefore, sullenly withdrew and Banks crossed the river.

In this bitter struggle, the 28th lost a number of men. Lt. James Simmons, of Claiborne Parish, was known to have been killed, and a large number were wounded and captured during the wild melee. Again, incomplete records make it impossible to ascertain the exact number of killed and wounded.

After Banks escaped across the muddy Atchafalaya, Taylor allowed the 28th to bivouac and take a much-needed rest. However, in the next few weeks, camps had to be changed because vile, stagnant drinking water caused sickness to spread through the regiment. This problem was worsened by the army surgeons, who inaccurately reported to the generals that the men had access to wells and didn't have to use the water from the surrounding lakes and bayous. This was a cover-up that caused considerable ill will throughout the camps.

After suffering through several weeks in the miserable camps, new orders came for the division. Polignac was ordered to march north to Monroe and move into Arkansas to reinforce the Confederate forces there.

The 28th crossed the Red River at Pineville on August 1, and marched to Monroe by way of Jonesville and Sicily Island. The march under a hot sun was grueling. While at Sicily Island, smallpox broke out in camp. The infected soldier, however, was quickly removed from camp and an epidemic was avoided. The suffering continued as the regiment crossed the Boeuf Prairie, where on several occasions men fell out from heat stroke.

The regiment went through Monroe and entered Arkansas on September 16. It is difficult to keep track of the 28th from this time through the end of the war because Poche, whose diary tells much of the regiment's movements, was transferred that same month. It is known ' however, that they spent the winter of 1864-65 in Camden and returned in February 1865 by way of Minden to camp on Bayou Cotile, near Alexandria.

The regiment was still in the Alexandria area when word of Lee's surrender reached Louisiana in April. At that time, the military organization of the state began to fall apart. Realizing that further resistance was useless, men began to drift out of camp and go home. Whole regiments dissolved overnight, the men dividing the supplies and going home.

The 28th was no exception. With the collapse of the Trans-Mississippi Department imminent, the men knew that the cause they had fought for three bloody years was now a "Lost Cause." Therefore, they, too, slipped out of camp at night, not waiting for the formal surrender, and returned to homes to await further developments. When the surrender terms were accepted on May 26, the soldiers left their homes once again and traveled to Monroe, Shreveport, or Natchitoches to be paroled. It was an inglorious end for such an outstanding fighting unit.

History Of Col. Gray's 28th Louisiana Infantry

By: Jeff McFarland

As the days of April 1862, slowly lengthened, the farmers of north Louisiana had more on their minds than just getting seed planted.

In February, Forts Henry and Donaldson had surrendered, Bowling Green, Ky., bad been evacuated and Nashville occupied. Following a three-day battle at Elkhorn Tavern, the Confederates had been forced to withdraw in early March. The first week of April brought more disastrous news with the fall of Island No. 10, and the defeat of the Southern forces at a church named Shiloh. To the south, Union warships were advancing up the Mississippi River and preparing to attack New Orleans. The war was getting closer to home.

Independent of each other, community leaders and prominent businessmen in the north Louisiana parishes of Bienville, Bossier, Claiborne, Jackson and Winn began to hold rallies, meetings and get-togethers to recruit volunteers to defend their homes, their state and the South.

Crisscrossing Claiborne Parish, Marcus 0 Cheatham held rallies in Athens, Haynesville, Homer, Lisbon and Summerfield to recruit members for a company of infantry to be known as the Claiborne Invincibles. At the rally in Lisbon on April 13, 31-year-old Joseph Benjamin Hammonds joined Cheatham's company and left a pregnant wife and three small children at home.

On May 10, the newly formed company departed from Homer, having been ordered to report to Monroe where the men were mustered into Confederate service as Company D, with Cheatham as captain. The Marks Guards from Bossier Parish were mustered in as Company B on the 14th and other companies were added upon their arrival. When 10 companies were assembled, they were organized into the 28th Louisiana Infantry, with Henry Gray as colonel, William Walker as lieutenant colonel and Thomas Pool as major. The regiment numbered 902 men.

Given the rural nature of North Louisiana, it is not surprising that almost 95 percent of the men of the 28th named their occupation as farmer. Fifteen other occupations were listed, ranging from physician, to teacher, to merchant. The average age of the men in the regiment at the time of their enlistment was 26, with 15 percent being less than age 20 and five percent older than age 35.

Following the unit's organization in Monroe, it was ordered to a training camp approximately five miles north of Vienna where it would spend the -next two months. Accustomed as most of the men were to a life outdoors, drilling and marching under a hot Louisiana summer sun toughened them for the harsh rigors of military campaigning which lay ahead.

After completing training, the regiment was detailed to the Monroe Department and posted to guard the vital Vicksburg to Monroe railroad. While assigned this duty, between 25 percent and 33 percent of the men suffered from camp diseases, such as measles and dysentery. Pvt. W.H. King, of Company B, wrote in his journal for November 5, 1862, "Lt. Marks said in a fit of anger during drill, 'It is a perfect shame to have 75 men here, and never more than 25 or 30 fit for duty.'"

When the 28th was assigned to Gen. Richard Taylor's command and ordered to the Bayou Teche region, Col. Gray was insistent that each company contain at least 50 men, even if they bad to be carried in wagons. King noted, however, that one company bad only 14 effectives at this time.

Upon arrival in the Bayou Teche region, the men of the 28th were assigned to Gen. Alfred Mouton's brigade at Camp Bisland, a small fort on the Teche just north of Brashear City. Here the men would remain encamped until the Battle of Bisland on April 13, 1863.

The Battle of Bisland was not the baptism of fire for the men of the 28th. On March 28, 1863, the 239-ton federal gunboat Diana was on a reconnaissance mission in the upper Grand Lake area when the gunboat's commander disobeyed orders and ventured up the Atchafalaya River. Exploiting the blunder of the ship's captain, men of the 28th, along with other units, attacked the ship. After a fierce, three-hour engagement in which 30 of the ship's 150-men company were either killed or seriously wounded, the commander of the Diana surrendered the vessel.

Following the capture of the Diana, Union Gen. Nathaniel Banks decided to clear the Teche region of Rebels. The plan was that Banks' 12,000 men would land at Berwick and move up the Teche while Gen. Cuvier Grover's 4,000 troops moved south from Franklin, trapping the Confederates at Bisland. Even though the Confederate force only numbered approximately 5,000 men, Taylor split his army and sent some north to oppose Grover's troops, while keeping the majority at Camp Bisland.

On April 12, the Union troops under Banks began a bombardment which continued through the night and into the next day. Believing the Confederates to have been sufficiently bombarded, Banks ordered the attack on both sides of the Teche. The 28th Louisiana held the center of the Confederates' line on the west bank between a portion of Waller's Battalion and, the Semmes and Valverde batteries of artillery. Many of the members of Company K manned the captured gunboat Diana and provided artillery support during the federal attacks. Twice the blue-clad soldiers of the 75th New York and the 114th New York attacked the west bank positions, and twice they were beaten back.

As night fell, the Union generals were preparing an all-out assault on the Confederate line, but because of darkness, the attack was postponed until the following morning.

Word reached Taylor that Grover's men bad successfully landed above Franklin, and the Rebels were forced to evacuate Camp Bisland in the middle of the night for fear of becoming trapped in a pincher movement. When Banks' men attacked Camp Bisland the morning of the 14th, they found it deserted.

During the night, Taylor's forces linked up at Irish Bend and prepared to meet Grover's army at daybreak. By the time the 28th arrived after a forced march from Camp Bisland, a brisk firefight was in progress and the exhausted men were posted on the extreme left of the line bordering a swamp. The men of the 28th used "buck and ball" ammunition and inflicted severe casualties among the 159th New York, which lost 115 men out of a total of 375 in the battle.

As Grover's army recoiled from Taylor's pounding, the Rebels were able to escape northward, with Banks in pursuit. Because of a mix-up in orders, the crew of the Diana was left behind to face capture while the rest of the Confederate force escaped. Those known to have been aboard the Diana during this action were Capt. O.J. Semmes, Pilot George Price, Sgt. Cyrus Berry, and Pvts. John Baker, Henry Campbell, William Cockburn, Thomas Farrell, Edward. Ferguson, Robert Goins, James McCarthy, James McDermot, Thomas Meyers and John Sprigg.

Taylor had provided sufficient ambulances for the sick and wounded to be transported to safety, but Gen. Henry H. Sibley ordered the men placed aboard the hospital ship, Cornie, and, an attempt was made to pass through the federal lines under a hospital flag. The plan did not succeed and all aboard were captured.

In Taylor's official report of the fighting at Camp Bisland and at Irish Bend, be said of the 28th:

"Col. Gray and his regiment ... deserve most favorable mention. Their gallantry in action is enhanced by the excellent discipline which they have preserved, and no veteran soldiers could have excelled them in their conduct during the trying scenes through which they passed...."

On July 9, 1863, Sgt. B.W. Stone of Company E wrote from Labadieville: "The health of the regiment is tolerable good at this time and we are faring tolerable well now, but I don't know bow long it will last for we are running short of money. We haven't never drawn but twice since we have been in the service but I think that we will draw before long."

The 28th was ordered to New Iberia at the end of August and remained in south Louisiana for several months, crisscrossing the area on frequent marches until a shipment of much needed arms was due to be transported across the Mississippi River.

In December, the 28th was ordered to Monroe to protect the shipment, but the winter weather proved as formidable a foe as did the Yankees. A member of Gray's staff, Felix Poche, described a terrible storm that lashed the men on the march:

... those poor soldiers were drenched to the skin, shivering with cold, starving and dog tired after a march of 15 miles, having nothing with which to cover themselves, and spent a miserable night near to the fire, as best they could.

New Year's Eve did not prove to be any better for the men of the 28th, for Poche wrote:

... the weather was extreme, in the morning it rained and later it snowed, and the ground froze. One can well understand the misery and suffering of our poor soldiers without tents, and practically no fire due to the poor quality of the firewood.

In late January 1864, the 28th was ordered to return to Pineville where they remained until Banks began his Red River Campaign in mid-March. After the fall of Fort DeRussey, Taylor was forced to evacuate Alexandria and retreat towards Natchitoches. Grudgingly giving ground to Banks' army, Taylor's forces skirmished with the enemy to slow their advance as much as possible.

Every person has his or her limit, and on April 8, 1864, Taylor would retreat no farther. Three miles south of Mansfield at Sabine Crossroads, Taylor made his stand.

Mouton's division, which included the 18th Louisiana, the 28th Louisiana and the Consolidated Crescent Regiment, formed a line of battle on a ridge on the east side of the Moss Plantation. Before them was a field with a new growth of wheat, wet with the rain from a spring shower, across which they must charge to reach the enemy troops who hid behind a rail fence one-half mile away.

"By the right of companies, to the front, forward march," the order came, and the men moved forward down the slope, through the new wheat, toward the stream that bordered the field and the woods beyond.

"By companies, into line," the command echoed up and down the formation. "The air seemed alive with the sounds of various projectiles," a survivor of the battle wrote afterwards, "from the spiteful, cat-like spit of the buckshot, the 'pouf' of the old fashioned musket and the 'zing' of the Minie bullet .... "

Mixed with the sounds of the enemy's projectiles was another, more insistent sound. It was the soft "thuds" as a half-ounce of lead impacted with warm and yielding human flesh. The recipient of the enemy's offering crumpled to the ground as his comrades closed ranks and continued forward.

Having reached the ravine formed by the shallow stream, the men were told to lie down and. catch their breaths, but in what seemed only an instant, new orders were issued. "Fix bayonets and the men obeyed. "Double quick, march," shouted the officers, and the lines of men, almost sshoulder-to-shoulder surged forward at a brisk trot, up the next bill toward the waiting enemy.

The 77th Illinois and the 130th Illinois huddled in the right angle where the rail fence turned south, while to their right waited the 48th Ohio and the 19th Kentucky who were soon to bear the brunt of the first attack of the Confederates.

Running and fighting their way through the undergrowth and the brambles, the charging men of Mouton's division burst from the woodbine and were met by canister and grape from Nims' battery on Honeycutt Hill.

"Masses of Rebels, no less than four lines in depth, emerged from the woods and charged with impetuous force, while yelling like crazed demons," an artilleryman wrote after the war. "Our guns were filled to the muzzles with grape, canister and bags of bullets, making wide gaps in the Rebel ranks at every discharge...."

"Our troops advance pale with excitement, compressed lips and blazing eyes (showing) the spirit of their determination," an old Confederate wrote in his memoirs. "Casting your eyes along the column, you behold the flags of the various regiments floating on the breeze, and each regiment trying to be the first to scale the fence."

"Nearer our troops advance," he continued. ''The color-sergeants flaunt their flags at the enemy, and fall; others grasp them and fall, and they are borne by the corporals."

The Louisianans charged with bayonets fixed and held waist-high ready to impale any so foolish as to stand and fight. Rushing forward as fast as their legs could carry them, not even pausing to fire their weapons, the men came on, as unstoppable as the winds that precede a sudden summer thunderstorm.

A wall of red-orange flame and grayish-white smoke erupted from beneath the rail fence where the enemy bid. Men stumbled and fell, screaming in agony and clutching at horrendous wounds which for the lucky would only require amputation, but for the unlucky would prove fatal. Other men pitched headlong to the leaf-littered forest floor without a sound, never to rise again.

The line wavered, but did not falter, for with a deafening yell bespeaking their anger and determination, the attackers leapt the fence and routed their foes, capturing many and killing others in a fierce hand-to-hand struggle to the death.

Onward the gray tidal wave surged, up the east flank of Honeycutt Hill, washing over Nims' battery of 6-pound Napoleon cannons as if they were pebbles on the shore.

Falling back, the enemy formed a second line of defense which soon disintegrated under the weight of the Confederate attack. It was at this point that the gallant Mouton would fall, dead before he hit the ground, and Gen. Camille de Polignac assumed command of the division.

Of the 2,200 men who began the charge in Gray's brigade, 762 fell in the first 25 minutes of the battle. As one historian noted, this was a casualty rate equaled by the "Charge of the Brigade" in 1854.

The shattered enemy fell back upon reinforcements rushing to their rescue in such confusion and panics that Banks' entire army fled in a rout. A Northern participant of this action wrote:

The teams were abandoned by the drivers, the traces cut, and the animals ridden off by the frightened men. Bare headed riders rode with agony in their faces, and ... it seemed as if we were going to destruction together.

As darkness fell, musketry sputtered to a halt, but the Yankee retreat continued until they reached Pleasant Hill, 18 miles away, where they regrouped and awaited the Rebels.

At first light, Taylor's army began to move and engaged the enemy at Pleasant Hill, but the 28th, along with the 18th and Consolidated Crescent Regiments, were held in reserve due to their staggering losses the previous day until late afternoon and did not suffer many casualties in this engagement.

As Banks' army withdrew southward with Taylor's forces in constant contact, Polignac's division, which included the 28th Louisiana, was pulled back and encamped near Mansfield for a much-needed rest.

On April 12, Polignac formed his troops in an open field to praise them for their gallantry and to remember their comrades who bad fallen in the recent battles.

Many ... gallant officers and soldiers of all ranks have been strewn on the battlefield, whose names would fill a long list of woe .... We mourn for the fallen brave, and for the wounded who can no longer assist us in the defense of the country.... The memory of the dead will be cherished by our children and us, they will wear in heaven the crown which is due to their devotion to our most sacred and holy cause.

That night, Capt. Cheatham, of Company D, wrote to Sallie Hammonds: It becomes my painful duty to write you that Mr. Joseph Hammonds received a wound in the left leg below the knee which broke the leg so badly that it was necessary to cut it off below the knee. .... He was wounded while in the front rank of the Company, among the foremost in the Charge, fighting gallantly and bravely, doing his duty Nobly.

The regiment soon rejoined Taylor's army in the pursuit of Banks and, on May 16, the enemy was engaged in an artillery duel at Mansura, but the infantry did not participate as Banks' only thought was to flee and Taylor's force was too small to stop the enemy.

The 28th Louisianans last battle was on May 18, at Yellow Bayou where Taylor made one last attempt to destroy Banks' army before it could escape across the Atchafalaya River. Charging the enemy in dense woods, the 28th was repulsed by concentrated cannon fire. Polignac regrouped the men, and the 28th again attacked, this time reaching the enemy's lines where savage hand-to-hand fighting ensued, but the North Louisianans were beaten back. The discharges from muskets and cannon were so intense that the underbrush was set on fire and smoke and flames prevented another attack. Taylor bad to withdraw and Banks escaped back across the Atchafalaya, where he could not be pursued.

The 28th remained assigned to Polignac's division and was encamped with it near Alexandria when orders were received to march north to Monroe and then to Monticello, Ark., to defend the area against an anticipated enemy attack from the direction of Pine Bluff. Arriving in Monticello on September 20, the division was reviewed by Gen. John B. Magruder, Commander of the District of Arkansas, on the 26th. The attack never materialized, and the 28th remained encamped until October 2, when they were ordered to Camden to work on the southwest portion of the fortifications guarding the city.

After completing the work in Camden, Polignac's division, including the 28th, was ordered by Gen. Kirby Smith, Commander of the Trans-Mississippi Department, to march to Camp Magruder, near Minden, La., where they would make their winter camp.

A private in Walker's Texas Division, which was assigned to Camp Magruder at the same time as Polignac's division, wrote:

Camp Magruder was situated on the right of the military road leading from Shreveport to Camden, in the midst of a pine ridge. On the southwest was a deserted field.... Our quarters were substantial log cabins, constructed of pine logs. Each cabin was fourteen by sixteen feet. The privates quarters were in two parallel rows, facing each other, while the officers' ran perpendicular to them forming nearly a square at one end. The men were not too much crowded, and slept in berths placed one above the other, similar to those in a stateroom of a river steamer.

On January 8, 1865, a "sham" battle was held to maintain the men's combat readiness, and on the 17th, the troops were reviewed by Gen. Kirby Smith and Gen. Simon Buckner, Commander of the District of Louisiana.

With the arrival of better weather, the regiment moved to an encampment on Bayou Cotile, near Alexandria. Here they would learn of the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia, and the men knew that the end of the war was near.

In May, the 28th marched to Mansfield, the scene of its greatest victory, and there encamped with the 17th, 18th, 26th, 27th, 29th, 31st and Consolidated Crescent Regiments awaiting the surrender of the Trans-Mississippi Department. On May 19, the units were gathered together in formation, a solemn funeral dirge was played by a regimental band as the Confederate flag was lowered and the units disbanded.

Grown men wept, while others moved silently away to return to their homes and families they left so long before. The arduous road to recovery and reconstruction stretched ahead of these veterans, some of whom would report to parole centers to sign their parole papers, but others we're unreconstructed and never did sign an oath of allegiance to the victors.

NUGENT GENEALOGY

Research of genealogy records has traced the Nugent surname back 11 generations to Christopher Nugent. He was born 1634 in Ireland and death are unknown.

Descendants of Christopher Nugent

Generation No. 1 CHRISTOPHER NUGENT

1. CHRISTOPHER¹ NUGENT was born 1634 in Ireland.

Child of CHRISTOPHER NUGENT is:

2. i. MATTHEW² NUGENT, b. 1724, Brunswick, NC; d. 1785, Rapides Parish, Louisiana.

Generation No. 2 MATTHEW NUGENT

2. MATTHEW² NUGENT (CHRISTOPHER¹) was born 1724 in Brunswick, NC, and died 1785 in Rapides Parish, Louisiana. He married ISABEL ELIZABETH MAC BRAY. She was born 1730 in Brunswick, NC, and died 1794 in Rapides Parish, Louisiana.

Children of MATTHEW NUGENT and ISABEL MAC BRAY are:

3. i. EDMUND³ NUGENT, b. 1750, Brunswick, NC; d. 1815, Rapides Parish, Louisiana.

4. ii. MATTHEW NUGENT, b. 1754, Brunswick Co, Nc; d. Abt. 1815, Rapides Parish, La.

iii. MARIE NUGENT, b. 1752; m. GABRIEL MARTIN, 1772, Brunswick Co, Nc.

iv. DOROTHY NUGENT, b. 1757, North Carolina; d. August 27, 1816, Mississippi; m. GERALD BRANDON, 1786.

Generation No. 3 EDMUND NUGENT

3. EDMUND³ NUGENT (MATTHEW², CHRISTOPHER¹) was born 1750 in Brunswick, NC, and died 1815 in Rapides Parish, Louisiana. He married MRS. EDMUND NUGENT 1769.

Child of EDMUND NUGENT and MRS. NUGENT is:

5. i. THOMAS EDMUND⁴ NUGENT, b. 1770, Brunswick, NC; d. 1825, Rapides Parish, Louisiana.

4. MATTHEW³ NUGENT (MATTHEW², CHRISTOPHER¹) was born 1754 in Brunswick Co, Nc, and died Abt. 1815 in Rapides Parish, La. He married MRS. MATTHEW NUGENT 1788 in St Landay Parish.

Children of MATTHEW NUGENT and MRS. NUGENT are:

i. MATTHEW MICHAEL⁴ NUGENT, b. December 15, 1806, Rapides Parish, La; d. July 05, 1865, Avoy., La; m. MARY JANE DRODDY, 1844, Catahoula, La.

ii. SARAH ANN NUGENT, b. December 23, 1813, Rapides Parish, La; d. May 12, 1876.

iii. EDMOND NUGENT, b. 1799; d. December 12, 1827.

Generation No. 4 THOMAS EDMUND NUGENT

5. THOMAS EDMUND⁴ NUGENT (EDMUND³, MATTHEW², CHRISTOPHER¹) was born 1770 in Brunswick, NC, and died 1825 in Rapides Parish, Louisiana. He married MRS. EDMUND NUGENT 1793 in Rapides Parish. She was born 1775 in Brunswick, NC, and died in Rapides Parish, Louisiana.

Children of THOMAS NUGENT and MRS. NUGENT are:

6. i. HUGH⁵ NUGENT, b. 1796, Rapides Parish, Louisiana; d. February 13, 1854, Rapides Parish, Louisiana.

ii. ISSAC H NUGENT, b. 1794.

iii. WILLIAM NUGENT, b. 1822.

iv. JAMES EDMOND NUGENT, b. 1856.

Generation No. 5 HUGH NUGENT

6. HUGH⁵ NUGENT (THOMAS EDMUND⁴, EDMUND³, MATTHEW², CHRISTOPHER¹) was born 1796 in Rapides Parish, Louisiana, and died February 13, 1854 in Rapides Parish, Louisiana. He married (1) MARY C. PRICE. She was born 1808 in Louisiana. He married (2) JANE MACKIE Bef. 1820. She was born 1808 in Louisiana.

Children of HUGH NUGENT and MARY PRICE are:

7. i. CORNELIUS⁶ NUGENT, b. April 1850, Pineville, Rapides Parish, Louisiana; d. 1913, Rochelle, Louisiana.

ii. NORRIS NUGENT, b. 1832.

iii. HUGH H. NUGENT, b. 1835.

iv. REECE GRIFFIN NUGENT, b. 1839.

v. MARY ANN NUGENT, b. 1841.

vi. JOSEPH NUGENT, b. 1844.

vii. MATTHEW B. NUGENT, b. 1848.

Generation No. 6 CORNELIUS NUGENT

7. CORNELIUS⁶ NUGENT (HUGH⁵, THOMAS EDMUND⁴, EDMUND³, MATTHEW², CHRISTOPHER¹) was born April 1850 in Pineville, Rapides Parish, Louisiana, and died 1913 in Rochelle, Louisiana. He married ELLEN JOSPHINE CLAUNCH October 05, 1871 in Caldwell Parish, Louisiana. She was born November 1853 in Taladaga, Alabama, and died 1908 in Lincecum, Grant Parish, Louisiana.

More About CORNELIUS NUGENT:

Burial: Georgetown, Louisiana

Children of CORNELIUS NUGENT and ELLEN CLAUNCH are:

8. i. ALMA NEWELL⁷ NUGENT, b. March 1877, Louisiana; d. Louisiana.

ii. MINNIE LEE NUGENT, b. 1878.

iii. BUFORD WYNN NUGENT, b. 1880.

iv. NOAH C. NUGENT, b. 1884; d. 1903, Lincecum, Grant Parish, Louisiana.

More About NOAH C. NUGENT:

Burial: Lincecum, Grant Parish, Louisiana

v. JEANNETTE A. NUGENT, b. 1895.

vi. WILLIAM WALKER NUGENT, b. October 23, 1889.

vii. WILEY HUGH NUGENT, b. October 23, 1889.

viii. RUFUS CICERO NUGENT, b. February 05, 1892; d. December 07, 1969.

Generation No. 7 ALMA NEWELL NUGENT

8. ALMA NEWELL⁷ NUGENT (CORNELIUS⁶, HUGH⁵, THOMAS EDMUND⁴, EDMUND³, MATTHEW², CHRISTOPHER¹) was born March 1877 in Louisiana, and died in Louisiana. She married ALLEN NUGENT July 04, 1895 in Columbia, Caldwell Parish, Louisiana, son of CHARLES NUGENT and SUZANNA. He was born April 05, 1871 in Louisiana, and died October 31, 1945 in Louisiana.

More About ALLEN NUGENT:

Burial: Rakestraw cemetery near Georgetown, Louisiana

Children of ALMA NUGENT and ALLEN NUGENT are:

9. i. LUTHER A.B.⁸ NUGENT, b. February 1897, Louisiana; d. 1936, Rapides Parish.

ii. LILLIAN NUGENT, b. 1899; m. B. F. SCROGGS.

iii. CHARLES DAVID NUGENT, m. ALICE LONG, September 02, 1921, Georgetown, Grant Parish, Louisiana.

iv. STELLA NUGENT, m. BURNHAM STRICKLAND.

10. v. ELLA NUGENT.

vi. BLANCHE ALMA NUGENT, d. July 14, 1972; m. IKE J. FRENCH, February 04, 1931, Selma, Grant Parish, Louisiana.

vii. GRACE NUGENT, m. J. B. RAMBO.

viii. ANNIE ELLEN NUGENT, b. Unknown; d. Unknown, Infant.

Generation No. 8 LUTHER A.B. NUGENT

9. LUTHER A.B.⁸ NUGENT (ALMA NEWELL⁷, CORNELIUS⁶, HUGH⁵, THOMAS EDMUND⁴, EDMUND³, MATTHEW², CHRISTOPHER¹) was born February 1897 in Louisiana, and died 1936 in Rapides Parish. He married EULA JANE NUGENT Unknown. She was born November 03, 1915 in Near Williana, Grant Parish, and died December 14, 1999 in Alexandria, Rapides Parish, Louisiana.

Children of LUTHER NUGENT and EULA NUGENT are:

11. i. ALTON⁹ NUGENT, b. 1918; d. 1974, East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana.

ii. ALINE NUGENT, b. 1921.

iii. MURICE NUGENT, b. 1923.

10. ELLA⁸ NUGENT (ALMA NEWELL⁷, CORNELIUS⁶, HUGH⁵, THOMAS EDMUND⁴, EDMUND³, MATTHEW², CHRISTOPHER¹) She married LEE JUTZI May 18, 1946 in Olla, LaSalle Parish, Louisiana.

Children of ELLA NUGENT and LEE JUTZI are:

i. LEIGHURL⁹ JUTZI.

ii. ALMA JEAN JUTZI.

Generation No. 9 ALTON NUGENT

11. ALTON⁹ NUGENT (LUTHER A.B.⁸, ALMA NEWELL⁷, CORNELIUS⁶, HUGH⁵, THOMAS EDMUND⁴, EDMUND³, MATTHEW², CHRISTOPHER¹) was born 1918, and died 1974 in East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana. He married GLORIA MARY MELE, daughter of GENERORO MELE and IMMACOLATA PICCARDO. She was born November 26, 1922 in Boston, Suffolk Co. Mass, and died December 1988 in East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana.

Children of ALTON NUGENT and GLORIA MELE are:

12. i. ALLEN L.¹⁰ NUGENT, b. September 07, 1945.

ii. DENNIS M. NUGENT, b. September 06, 1946.

iv.DAVID M. NUGENT. b. July 2, 1948

iv. MARIA A. NUGENT. b. December 6, 1950

v. MELODY A. NUGENT. b. October 25, 1956

Generation No. 10 ALLEN L. NUGENT

12. ALLEN L.¹⁰ NUGENT (ALTON⁹, LUTHER A.B.⁸, ALMA NEWELL⁷, CORNELIUS⁶, HUGH⁵, THOMAS EDMUND⁴, EDMUND³, MATTHEW², CHRISTOPHER¹) was born September 07, 1945. He married PATRICIA M. JACOB October 01, 1966 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She was born November 05, 1944.

Children of ALLEN NUGENT and PATRICIA JACOB are:

13. i. LINDA A.¹¹ NUGENT, b. January 15, 1968.

ii. CyNTHIA A. NUGENT, b. July 08, 1969.

14. iii. BARBARA A. NUGENT, b. March 23, 1973.

Kinship of Christopher Nugent

Name	Relationship	Civil	Canon
Brandon, Gerald	Husband of the granddaughter
Claunch, Ellen Josphine	Wife of the 3rd great-grandson
Ford, Andy	Husband of the 8th great-granddaughter
French, Ike J.	Husband of the 5th great-granddaughter
Jacob, Patricia M.	Wife of the 7th great-grandson
Jutzi, Alma Jean	6th great-granddaughter	VIII	8
Jutzi, Lee	Husband of the 5th great-granddaughter
Jutzi, Leighurl	6th great-grandson	VIII	8
Long, Alice	Wife of the 5th great-grandson
Mac Bray, Isabel Elizabeth	Daughter-in-law
Mackie, Jane	Wife of the 2nd great-grandson
Martin, Gabriel	Husband of the granddaughter
Mele, Gloria Mary	Wife of the 6th great-grandson
Nugent, Aline	6th great-granddaughter	VIII	8
Nugent, Allen	Husband of the 4th great-granddaughter
Nugent, Allen L.	7th great-grandson	IX	9
Nugent, Alma Newell	4th great-granddaughter	VI	6
Nugent, Alton	6th great-grandson	VIII	8
Nugent, Annie Ellen	5th great-granddaughter	VII	7
Nugent, Barbara A.	8th great-granddaughter	X	10
Nugent, Blanche Alma	5th great-granddaughter	VII	7
Nugent, Buford Wynn	4th great-grandson	VI	6
Nugent, Charles David	5th great-grandson	VII	7
Nugent, Christopher	Self		0
Nugent, Cynthia A.	8th great-granddaughter	X	10
Nugent, Corneline	2nd great-granddaughter	IV	4
Nugent, Cornelius	3rd great-grandson	V	5
Nugent, Cynthia Haly	Wife of the 2nd great-grandson
Nugent, Daughter	2nd great-granddaughter	IV	4
Nugent, David M.	7th great-grandson	IX	9
Nugent, Dennis M.	7th great-grandson	IX	9
Nugent, Dorothy	Granddaughter	II	2
Nugent, Edmund	Grandson	II	2
Nugent, Ella	5th great-granddaughter	VII	7
Nugent, Eula Jane	Wife of the 5th great-grandson
Nugent, Grace	5th great-granddaughter	VII	7
Nugent, Hugh	2nd great-grandson	IV	4
Nugent, Hugh H.	3rd great-grandson	V	5
Nugent, Issac H	2nd great-grandson	IV	4
Nugent, James Edmond	2nd great-grandson	IV	4
Nugent, Jeannette A.	4th great-granddaughter	VI	6
Nugent, John	2nd great-grandson	IV	4
Nugent, Joseph	3rd great-grandson	V	5
Nugent, Lillian	5th great-granddaughter	VII	7
Nugent, Linda A.	8th great-granddaughter	X	10
Nugent, Luther A.B.	5th great-grandson	VII	7
Nugent, Maria A.	7th great-granddaughter	IX	9
Nugent, Marie	Granddaughter	II	2
Nugent, Mary Ann	3rd great-granddaughter	V	5
Nugent, Mathew	2nd great-grandson	IV	4
Nugent, Matthew	Son	I	1
Nugent, Matthew	Grandson	II	2
Nugent, Matthew B.	3rd great-grandson	V	5
Nugent, Melody A.	7th great-granddaughter	IX	9
Nugent, Michael	3rd great-grandson	V	5
Nugent, Minnie Lee	4th great-granddaughter	VI	6
Nugent, Mrs. Edmund	Wife of the great-grandson
Nugent, Mrs. Edmund	Wife of the grandson
Nugent, Murice	6th great-grandson	VIII	8
Nugent, Nelson	2nd great-grandson	IV	4
Nugent, Noah C.	4th great-grandson	VI	6
Nugent, Norris	3rd great-grandson	V	5
Nugent, Reece Griffin	3rd great-grandson	V	5
Nugent, Richard	2nd great-grandson	IV	4
Nugent, Rufus Cicero	4th great-grandson	VI	6
Nugent, Stella	5th great-granddaughter	VII	7
Nugent, Thomas Edmund	Great-grandson	III	3
Nugent, Thomas Sr.	2nd great-grandson	IV	4
Nugent, Wiley Hugh	4th great-grandson	VI	6
Nugent, William	2nd great-grandson	IV	4
Nugent, William Walker	4th great-grandson	VI	6
Owens, Baylee	9th great-granddaughter	XI	11
Owens, Chase	9th great-grandson	XI	11
Owens, Veron	Husband of the 8th great-granddaughter
Price, Mary C.	Wife of the 2nd great-grandson
Rambo, J. B.	Husband of the 5th great-granddaughter
Scroggs, B. F.	Husband of the 5th great-granddaughter
Smith, Bryan	9th great-grandson	XI	11
Smith Jr., Leon	Husband of the 8th great-granddaughter
Strickland, Burnham	Husband of the 5th great-granddaughter
Tyler Ford	9th great-grandson	XI	11
Unknown, Wife	Wife

Alphabetical Listing

Name	Birth date	Death date
Alfonso Cianciulli	1861	March 24, 1944
Alice Long	Unknown	Unknown
Aline Nugent	1921	Unknown
Allen L. Nugent	September 07, 1945
Allen Nugent	April 05, 1871	October 31, 1945
Alma Jean Jutzi	Unknown	Unknown
Alma Newell Nugent	March 1877	Unknown
Alton Nugent	1918	1974
Andy Ford	July 7, 1970
Annie Ellen Nugent	Unknown	Unknown
B. F. Scroggs	Unknown	Unknown
Barbara A. Nugent	March 28, 1973
Baylee Owens	April 26, 1995
Blanche Alma Nugent	Unknown	July 14, 1972
Bryan Smith	October 8, 1986
Buford Wynn Nugent	1880	Unknown
Burnham Strickland	Unknown	Unknown
Carmela Picardi	1859	December 11, 1963
Carmelia Palumbo	Unknown	Unknown
Charles David Nugent	Unknown	Unknown
Charles R. Nugent	Unknown	Unknown
Chase Owens	December 15, 1989
Christopher Nugent	1634
Cynthia A. Nugent	July 08, 1969
Corneline Nugent	1810	Unknown
Cornelius Nugent	April 1850	1913
Cynthia Haly Nugent	Unknown	Unknown
Daughter Nugent	1805	Unknown
David M. Nugent	July 2, 1948
Dennis M. Nugent	September 06, 1946
Dorothy Nugent	Unknown	Unknown
Edmund Nugent	1750	1815
Ella Nugent	Unknown	Unknown
Ellen Josphine Claunch	November 1853	1908
Eula Jane Nugent	1886	December 14, 1999
Francesco Cianciulli	Unknown	Unknown
Gabriel Martin	Unknown	Unknown
Generoro (Joseph) Mele	January 11, 1887	December 01, 1963
Gerald Brandon	Unknown	Unknown
Giuseppe Mele	Unknown	Unknown
Gloria Mary Mele	November 26, 1922	December 1988
Grace Nugent	Unknown	Unknown