Isaac Erwin Avery | |
|---|---|
 Isaac Erwin Avery, 1862 or 1863 | |
| Nickname | "Ike" |
| Born | (1828-12-20)December 20, 1828 |
| Died | July 3, 1863(1863-07-03) (aged 34) |
| Place of burial | |
| Allegiance | Confederate States of America |
| Branch | Confederate States Army |
| Service years | 1861–63 |
| Rank | Colonel |
| Conflicts | |
| Signature | .jpg) |
Isaac Erwin Avery (December 20, 1828 – July 3, 1863) was a planter and an officer in theConfederate States Army. He died at theBattle of Gettysburg during theAmerican Civil War. Avery is most remembered for a poignant blood-stained note that he wrote as he lay dying on the slopes ofCemetery Hill at Gettysburg.
Isaac Erwin Avery was born atSwan Ponds inBurke County, North Carolina, the fourth son of Isaac Thomas and Harriet Erwin Avery, who in total had 16 children. Three of the brothers, including Col.Clark M. Avery of the 33rd North Carolina, andWilliam Waightstill Avery would be killed during the Civil War and another crippled for life.
Avery was the grandson ofWaightstill Avery (1741–1821), a fieryAmerican Revolutionary War hero who served as the firstattorney general ofNorth Carolina and who had once been challenged to aduel byAndrew Jackson. Isaac attended theUniversity of North Carolina for one year in 1847, but left to manage aplantation for his father inYancey County. Avery owned a slave named Elijah.[1]
Avery later formed a partnership withCharles F. Fisher andSamuel McDowell Tate to act as contractors in the building of theWestern North Carolina Railroad in the mid-1850s.
With his state'ssecession from theUnion, Isaac returned to Burke County, and with his brotherAlphonso, recruited Company E of the 6th North Carolina Regiment. Ascaptain, Avery commanded the company, which fought in theFirst Battle of Bull Run and theBattle of Seven Pines. In the summer of 1862, he was promoted tocolonel. He was wounded atGaines' Mill and was out of action until late in the fall. Avery's recovery caused him to miss the battles atSecond Bull Run andAntietam. Following the reorganization of the army after theBattle of Fredericksburg, the 6th North Carolina was placed under the command of veteranBrig. Gen.Robert F. Hoke.
With Hoke's wounding at theBattle of Chancellorsville in May 1863, Avery temporarily assumed command of the brigade in time for theGettysburg campaign. The now 34-year-old Avery led his troops forward on July 1 on a wide sweep north and east of the borough ofGettysburg. Union artillery fire from a knoll nearCulp's Hill finally halted his advance. On July 2,Maj. Gen.Jubal A. Early ordered Avery along with the brigade of Brig. Gen.Harry T. Hays to assault easternCemetery Hill. Attacking in the early evening, Avery was struck in the neck by a musket ball and fell from his white horse, bleeding badly. Apparently he was alone at the time, and the brigade's attack was delivered without coordination. After the ill-fated charge, the partially paralyzed officer was discovered by several of his soldiers. His aide and former business partner, Maj. Samuel Tate of the 6th North Carolina, knelt by his side. Unable to speak from his mortal wound and with his right hand useless from the paralysis, Avery with his left hand scribbled a simple note and gave it to Tate. It said: "Major, tell my father I died with my face to the enemy. I. E. Avery."[2]
Avery died the following day in a nearby Gettysburgfield hospital. He was initially buried in Riverview Cemetery inWilliamsport, Maryland, but later reburied atWashington Confederate Cemetery, part of Rose Hill Cemetery, inHagerstown, Maryland.[3]
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Accolades were quick to come for the fallen Tar Heel colonel. The man who assumed the brigade command with Avery's demise, Col.Archibald C. Godwin, wrote in his official report: "Here I learned for the first time that our brigade commander (Col. Isaac E. Avery), had been mortally wounded. In his death the country lost one of her truest and bravest sons, and the army one of its most gallant and efficient officers."
Gen. Early in his report wrote: "I had to regret the absence of the gallant Brigadier-General Hoke, who was severely wounded in the action of May 4, at Fredericksburg, and had not recovered, but his place was worthily filled by Colonel Avery, of the Sixth North Carolina Regiment, who fell, mortally wounded, while gallantly leading his brigade in the charge on Cemetery Hill, at Gettysburg, on the afternoon of July 2. In his death the Confederacy lost a good and brave soldier."
The Isaac E. Avery Chapter #282 of theMilitary Order of the Stars and Bars, a fraternal organization, is named in memory of the colonel.
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