Confederate Veteran
Death notice of William Fields

1914 William Fields William Fields was born in Abingdon, Va., and was a student at Emory and Henry College when the war began. In May, 1861, at the age of eighteen, he volunteered with Company I, 48th Virginia Regiment, Col. John A. Campbell. Joining Jackson in the Valley, he was in the second battle of Manassas and all of the engagements of that campaign and the seven days' fighting around Richmond. He was under fire for thirty days from Spotsylvania to Petersburg, during which time he ws shot in the hand, the wound making necessary the amputation of a finger which he held with the other hand while the operation was performed, and, stooping down, dug a little hole and buried it under a pine tree. He was wounded again in the battle of the Crater on April 2, 1865, a Minie ball striking him in the left thigh. He was taken to Dunlap Station, where he got some one to put him on the train, where he lay all night suffering agony and begging for water, the train having been run back into a cut near Manchester. Next day the ladies took charge of the wounded and moved them to an old outhouse, where a temporary hospital was arranged. That evening a Federal regiment of negro troops, officered by white men, arrived. The ladies were wild with fright, but they were assured the wounded soldiers should not be molested; and the Federal commander had them moved to the basement of the Presbyterian church. After fourteen days they were taken to Jackson Hospital, in Richmond. After much suffering from gangrene in his wound, Comrade Fields was taken in charge of an old French surgeon, who doubtless saved his life. He got back home on crutches on July 26, 1865. giving up all hopes of college, he began work as a brick mason and farmer. At the time of his death he was one of the most successful stock men in Southwest Virginia. Comrade Fields was married twice, his first wife being Miss Elizabeth Nash, from which union two children survive, William A. Fields and Mrs. E.A. Leonard. His second wife was Miss Imogen Wyche Otey, of Madison County, Ala., whom he married June 26, 1884, and who survives him. He died very suddenly at his beautiful home, near Castlewoods, Russell County, Va., in the sixty-ninth year of his age. He is deeply mourned by his wife and children and a host of relatives and friends. He was a steward in the M.E. Church, South, and took a great interest in Sunday school work, being superintendent of his school. He was a Royal Arch Mason and was buried with Masonic orders. By nature he was a genial and hospitable to the last degree. It was thus amid his friends and loved ones that the end suddenly came, and so passed away a chivalrous Old Virginia gentleman.