Roberts Coles
Green Mountain Grays
46th Virginia Infantry
Roberts Coles
November 14, 1838
February 8, 1862
When I was a boy, Dad would tell me stories about our 'family.' Being young, I figured that he was talking about the 'Browns'... I never thought about all of the different people that had to cross paths for the past hundreds and hundreds of years for me to appear on this planet.
One of the stories that Dad would tell was about a family member who owned slaves... that he freed them... and they all wanted to remain with him. The telling of the story is that he was so nice to them that they didn't want to leave.
I've been working for a few years in my genealogy... and I have learned so much. It appears that the prominent lineage in this family was the 'Coles.' They are a storied family and are listed among 'The First Families of Virginia.'
In tracing my family, I came across a fellow by the name of Edward Coles who was a notable abolitionist from Virginia. Edward was a cousin of Thomas Jefferson and in 1814, he encouraged Jefferson to work for an end to slavery in Virginia. When the aging Jefferson chose to leave the emancipation fight to the younger generation, Edward took his slaves to Pennsylvania (March, 1819) where they boarded two flatboats for a river ride towards Illinois.
There is much more to this story, but I am writing about Roberts Coles.
The Battle of Roanoke Island
Despite his northern birth, Roberts always considered himself to be a true Virginian. He would spend the summers visiting the Coles family in Albermarle County... and inherited a piece of property near Enniscorthy. Roberts returned to Virginia in 1860 to run his land operation and become engaged to Jennie Fairfax, of Richmond. In 1861, the war began.
Some family records say that Edward pleaded with Roberts to not support the Southern Cause... other records say that Edward didn't know that Roberts was fighting on behalf of the Confederacy until later. Roberts, however, believed it was his duty to remain loyal to his adopted state. He and some friends pooled resources, and formed a group of Confederate volunteers. This company was called the Green Mountain Grays... which later became Company I of the 46th Virginia Infantry.
On January 4, 1862, the 46th left Richmond for Norfolk and, on January 17, began the voyage to Nags Head, a narrow strip of beach lying one-half mile east of Roanoke Island... across the Roanoke Channel. When the Federal fleet finally appeared on February 6th, Companies A and I of the 46th... under Captains Wise and Roberts Coles, were loaded onto schooners to be taken to Roanoke Island.
At the start of the ensuing battle, Roberts wrote this letter to his fiancee...
On board transport, February 7, 1862
The battle has commenced. In five minutes we will be on Roanoke Island. The sight is beautiful - our gun boats and batteries are engaging the enemy in full view and the shot and shells are whistling around us. If I fall, God grant you a happy life, as happy a one as I would have tried to have a role in. Be assured that my last thoughts on earth will be of you, my dearest Jennie. Your picture will be the last sight I shall see if time is given me to look once more upon it. I have volunteered for this service. What honor I crave is only craved that you may share it. May God Almighty bless you and may we meet in the world to come if denied that blessing here again. And now I strike for Virginia. Again good bye.
Yours forever,
Roberts Coles
Captain Roberts Coles was killed the next day in action during the battle that followed... and in which the Union forces were victorious. According to his military records, Captain Coles "fell bravely in the Battle of Roanoke Island." He is buried in the Coles family cemetery in Philadelphia, but a marker in his honor was placed at Enniscorthy in Albermarle County, Virginia.
I had mentioned earlier about his father, Edward, possibly
not knowing about his son's having joined
the Confederacy until he was notified of his death...
Roberts Coles
I will write about his father soon...
Rest In Peace, Roberts...
http://scottsvillemuseum.com/war/coles/home.html
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=10523709
