Confederate widow, 89, lives in Arkansas

With the announcement last week of the death of Alberta Martin of Alabama, the nation marked the loss of “the last Confederate widow,” as she was inevitably identified. Mrs. Martin’s first husband, William Jasper Martin, had been a Confederate soldier in his youth, and she cared for the aging veteran until his death.

But caution is advised before referring to someone as the “last” of anything.

The best proof of that is the recent discovery of 89-year-old Maudie Cecelia Hopkins of Lexa, Ark. Her first husband was William M. Cantrell of the Virginia Infantry, and Mrs. Hopkins is very much alive, although in poor health.

A quiet lady, less than 5 feet tall, she remains quite unimpressed by her historical status, which to her is simply a long-ago part of her life. She was merely William Cantrell’s wife.

A soldier at 16

William Cantrell was born on March 15, 1847, and enlisted in the Confederate Army at age 16 in Pikeville, Ky., not far from Wise, Va., where his family lived.

Only 5 feet 4 inches tall, he is shown as having black hair and dark eyes, and of fair complexion. He enlisted in French’s Battalion, Company A, of the Virginia Infantry, a group raised by Col. James M. French. A number of Cantrells appear on the roster of French’s Battalion, and one of them was Hiram Cantrell, William’s father, who was wounded by Union forces.

The records show that William was captured at Piketon, in Pike County, Ky., on April 15, 1863, and “sent under guard to Camp Chase, Ohio” four days later. The notation in the record states that “nearly all of those prisoners belonged to a regt. just being organized by Maj. J. M. French & having no definite designation, hence the column ‘Regiment’ is often left blank.”

He is listed as a prisoner of war for the next six weeks, before being “paroled” on May 13, 1863, by order of a Lt. Col. Eastman. Afterward, he was sent to City Point, Va., for exchange. The record is silent as to any further activity, other than a receipt roll for clothing, as a prisoner.

His father was captured at Gladeville, Va., on July 7, 1863, and also sent to Camp Chase a few weeks later.

The genesis of French’s Battalion appears to be the dissolution of the Virginia State Line Company a month earlier. Maj. French received permission to raise troops, and it was while on this recruiting foray into eastern Kentucky that William Cantrell was enlisted and subsequently captured. If Cantrell was part of the 5th VSL Company before going into Company A of French’s Battalion, it was probably as a cavalryman. French wanted to enlist an entire complement of 1,000 men, and saw Pike County, Ky., as the best source. It turned out to be a bad choice, as within two weeks his command had been dispersed by Union troops under Capt. John Dils.

A crippling defeat

A letter from Union Col. George W. Gallup to Gen. Ambrose Burnside on April 19, 1863, said that “at the request of Col. John Dils, 39th Kentucky [Union] Regiment, I sent him, with a detachment of 200 … selected, good, mounted riflemen, with orders to rout. … Brisk skirmishing ensued for about an hour when the enemy was compelled to surrender the town. We captured Major French, 1 surgeon, 1 mustering officer, 5 captains, 9 lieutenants, 70 men, 30 horses and saddles, about 40 guns and all their stores, and … destroyed their camp.”

In some records, French’s Battalion is referred to as the 65th Virginia Infantry, the designation French hoped to obtain, and others call it the 7th Virginia Mounted Infantry. Cantrell’s gravestone shows only “7th Va. Infantry.”

In August, the unit would come under the command of Col. Henry L. Giltner of the 4th Kentucky Cavalry, a part of Gen. John Hunt Morgan’s brigade.

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