MADDERA Eldridge Anmstrit, Sr.

1821 - 1881  (60 years)

• Name	MADDERA Eldridge Anmstrit  [1]
  Suffix	Sr.
  Birth	10 Feb 1821	Dendron, Surry, Virginia, United States
  Gender	Male
  Inheritance	10 Feb 1839	Dendron, Surry, Virginia, United States   [2]
  	Eldridge, still only 8 years old, stood to inherit much of his long deceased father's and grandfather's estates. William West was appointed by the Court as guardian of Eldridge, to look after his interests until he should come of age. The estate accounts of Thomas Maddera include the information that six negros were hired out in 1826 for a total of $ 66.45. They were Abram, Billy, Wilson, Lizza, Diumma and Mary.
  Occupation	7 Mar 1854	Spring Grove, Surry County, Va
  	Postmaster
  Military	20 Apr 1861	Dendron, Surry, Virginia, United States   [1]
  	Civil War Vet
  	Cavalry Lt. As noted earlier, when the Civil War broke out, William Cotton and Eldridge Maddera had both enlisted as privates in the Surry Cavalry on April 20 1861, only eight days after the beginning of the bombardment of Fort Sumpter. The Surry Cavalry was designated as Company E, 5th Regiment Virginia Cavalry, attached to the 3rd Regiment Virginia Infantry. Together they saw bloody action on many a field of battle. In Sept./Oct. 1862, Company K, 13 Regiment Virginia Cavalry was formed up under Captain Samuel H. Burt and assigned to dashing Gen. J. E. B. Stuart's famed Cavalry Division of the Army of Northern Virginia. William Cotton was appointed 2nd Sergeant of the new Company K and Eldridge Maddera its 2nd Lieutenant. They participated in nearly every major battle in the eastern theater of the War from then until the end of the War. They were at "the greatest cavalry battle of the War, which took place on June 9,1863, at Brandy Station, seven miles north of Culpepper Court House. The battle lasted , without let-up, for twelve hours, as Rebel cavalrymen under Stuart and Union cavalrymen under Pleasanton, slashed at each other with sabers and fired their pistols at point blank range." (Story County at War 1861 -1865; Willis W. Bohannan; p. 41) Like most of the gentry of Surry County he belonged to the Surry Cavalry before the war, commanded by Captain Travis W. Taylor. This was essentially a militia company, and served much the same purposes that the National Guard does today, available to quell any civil disturbance which should be beyond the capabilities of the sheriff and his deputies: for example, a slave insurrection, like Nat Turner's Rebellion; or repel an invasion, such as CoL Tarleton's Raid during the American Revolution; or respond to Indian attacks, such as those that brought on Bacon's Rebellion. In the early days of the colony, when men reached military age, they were required to register, and provide a horse and equipment ready for service, or pay someone else to serve for them. The Surry Cavalry had played a minor role in the American Revolution and had a lot of pride in their Company. On the morning of April 12,1861 a rabid secessionist, Edmund Ruffin, a Virginian, pulled the lanyard to fire the first cannon shot into Fort Sumpter, in Charleston harbor, South Carolina. On April 20, 1861 Captain Travis Taylor's Cavalry Company was mustered, and its members enlisted to serve one year, in what was expected to be a short war. No one believed that the North would conduct a major war to prevent the South from seceding, which they viewed as their right under the Constitution. Eldridge Maddera was enrolled as a private. By September, Captain Travis Company was designated as Company E, 5th Regiment Virginia Cavalry and attached to the 3rd Regiment of Virginia Infantry. They spent the winter of 1861-1862 at Camp Cook, on the lower James River directly across from Newport News. The Confederate forces were positioned on the south shore of the James River to protect the network of railroads that connected Norfolk, Suffolk, Petersburg, Richmond and North Carolina. The Union Army held the virtually impregnable Fort Monroe on the Virginia Peninsula, which they used as a base of operations throughout the war. In May 1862, McClellan assembled an army of 125,000 men and began his Peninsular Campaign. At Williamsburg - in the streets of the town and on the campus of William and Mary College - on May 5,1862, a sharp engagement between the Federals and the rear guard of the Confederate Army took place. "JEB" Stuart, Lee's dashing cavalry commander, was there and fighting with him that day was the Surry cavalry. McClellan's army now pursued the Confederates up the Peninsula - to within six miles of Richmond. At Seven Pines the first great battle of the campaign was fought on May 31 to June 2. General Johnston was borne from the battlefield seriously wounded, and General Robert E. Lee was immediately appointed to succeed him as commander of the Army ofNorthern Virginia. The Surry Cavalry was in the defenses east of Richmond, and there took part in the bloody Seven Days Battles. McClellan, his nose bloodied, withdrew his army from Richmond, finally retracing its steps to Fort Monroe, to take ship back to Northern Virginia - its invasion ended. Company K, 13th Virginia Cavalry Regiment was organized in August 1862, mostly composed of Surry men, under the command of Captain Samuel H. Burt. Eldridge Maddera was elected 2nd Lieutenant on August 13,1862, a post he held throughout the remainder of the war. His son, Waverly T. Maddera, age 16, enlisted in the same Company. Almost immediately the 13th Virginia Cavalry was assigned to of "JEB" Stuart's Cavalry and took part in the Second Battle of Manassas (Bull Run), where they defeated General Pope before he could launch his offensive against Richmond. Lee invaded Maryland, and the Surry Cavalry fought at Sharpsburg, on Antietam Creek, and on December 13, 1862 at Fredericksburg. The end of 1862 marked the high tide of the Confederacy. Company K missed few engagements for the remainder of the war. They were an integral part of "JEB" Stuart's Cavalry Division of the Army ofNorthern Virginia. They fought at Brandy Ford on April 15,1863, the greatest cavalry battle of the war. When "JEB" Stuart was killed in action, they fought under Major Gen. W. H. F. "Rooney" Lee and General Wade Hampton. As the Confederate Army slowly weakened under the punishing attacks of General Grant, they were finally brought to bay at Petersburg. That bloody siege is legendary for its heavy casualties and suffering. Lieutenant Maddera was wounded near Petersburg on September 30,1864, but recovered and returned to duty within a month or two. Grant used his superior numbers to gradually outflank the outnumbered Confederate Army, and the Confederates were forced to abandon Petersburg and move westward toward Appomattox Courthouse. Lieutenant Maddera was captured along the way at Dinwiddie Courthouse on April 1,1865. General Lee would surrender at Appomattox 9 days later, on April 9. Lt. Maddera was transported to Johnson's Island, a Depot for Prisoners of War near Sandusky, Ohio. He took the oath of allegiance at Johnson's Island on June 19,1865 and was released under General Order 109. At the time he took the Oath he gave his place of residence as Cabin Point, Virginia. He was described as 44 years old, 5 ft. 11 in. tall, dark hair, with blue eyes and a florid complexion. How he made his way home, we don't know. He and his horse had obviously been long separated so he could not fell under Grant's generous permission for Confederate cavalry to take their mounts home. They were, after all, personal property. Name: Eldridge A Maddera Birth Date: abt 181? Age: 44 Enlistment Date: 1862 Military Unit: Thirteenth Cavalry (Sixteenth Battalion, Cavalry; Fifth Cavalry; 12 Months, 1861-62) Name: Eldridge A Maddera Residence: Surry Court House, Virginia Enlistment Date: 20 Apr 1861 Rank at enlistment: Private Enlistment Place: Surry Court House, Virginia State Served: Virginia Survived the War?: Yes Service Record: Transferred to. Enlisted in Company E, Virginia 5th Cavalry Regiment on 20 Apr 1861.Promoted to Full 2nd Lieutenant on 13 Aug 1862. Sources: The Virginia Regimental Histories Series
  Lived(s) In	1870	Dendron, Surry, Virginia, United States   [2]
  	. From the sequence of visitations shown in the report of the Census of 1870, it appears that Eldridge Maddera, his wife Mary, and five children: Mary 18, Eldridge 15, Adelia 13, George 9 and an infant 2 lived next door, perhaps on The Marl Spring Farm. Eldridge's occupation is listed as "lumber dealer". This is confirmed by Valeria's recollection many years later that her father operated a sawmill. No value of land and personal estate is given.
  Death	22 Dec 1881	Dendron, Surry, Virginia, United States
  Notes	Eldridge A. Maddera 1821 - 1881 Eldridge Annstrit Maddera was the only son of Thomas Maddera (bet 1784 -1826) and Rebecca G. Thompson. He was born February 10, 1821 and was only five years old when his father died in September 1826, apparently unexpectedly, for he died intestate. Eldridge's mother married Hugh Hopkins three years later, on 8/22/1829, and William M, West was appointed by the Court as Eldridge's guardian (Surry County Fiduciary Accts. 1831 -1839), to protect his rights in his father's estate. Thomas Maddera was apparently moderately well-to-do at the time of his death. We presume that he was a plantation owner, because the account of his estate mentions six slaves who were hired out: Abram, Billy, Wilson, Lizza, Diana and Mary. Eldridge received a good education judging by his later occupations and military service, and apparently continued to successfully manage the plantation, which was near Cabin Point, when he reached manhood. On 12/6/1843 Eldridge married Mary Pocahontas Sledge, daughter of Amos and Mary (Shackleford) Sledge, Jr.. Amos Sledge, Jr. was a wealthy man by Surry County standards. He operated a major dry goods business and owned substantial property as well After he died in 1842, at age 62, his estate was valued at $ 11,451. Mary Pocahontas was only 17 when he died, and required the consent of a guardian, her brother Amos Sledge in, when she and Eldridge were married a year after her father's death. Her mother had died earlier, and she received an equal share of her father's estate, which was divided between Amos Jrs.' seven children. Included in her share of the estate, according to Mary Coleman Braxton, was her great grandfather Emanuel White and "other slave property", which she brought with her marriage to Eldridge Maddera.. Valeria Ann Maddera, the daughter of Eldridge and Mary P. makes it clear that the family lived a very comfortable life on their plantation before the Civil War erupted in 1861. Earlier we described the Civil War as experienced by Valeria Ann Maddera and her husband-to-be William M Cotton. Briefly, here is how Eldridge A. Maddera went through the war. Like most of the gentry of Surry County he belonged to the Surry Cavalry before the war, commanded by Captain Travis W. Taylor. This was essentially a militia company, and served much the same purposes that the National Guard does today, available to quell any civil disturbance which should be beyond the capabilities of the sheriff and his deputies: for example, a slave insurrection, like Nat Turner's Rebellion; or repel an invasion, such as CoL Tarleton's Raid during the American Revolution; or respond to Indian attacks, such as those that brought on Bacon's Rebellion. In the early days of the colony, when men reached military age, they were required to register, and provide a horse and equipment ready for service, or pay someone else to serve for them. The Surry Cavalry had played a minor role in the American Revolution and had a lot of pride in their Company. My mother, Bertha (Johnson) Bartlett, wrote that her father, Sidney T. Johnson, was a member of the Surry Cavalry when she was a girl, in the first decade of the 20th century. She says he occasionally rode to Surry Courthouse on his black horse for drills, sporting a blue uniform with brass trappings and a gleaming saber at his side. Fortunately, there were no wars during his young manhood. [2] (Medical):44 years old, 5 ft. 11 in. tall, dark hair, with blue eyes and a florid complexion [2]
  Person ID	I3037	Booth Family
  Last Modified	21 Feb 2015

  
  

  Father	MADDERA Thomas,   b. Abt 1775, Dendron, Surry, Virginia, United States d. 1826, Dendron, Surry, Virginia, United States (Age ~ 51 years)
  Mother	THOMPSON Rebecca G.,   b. 1800, Dendron, Surry, Virginia, United States d. Aft 1850 (Age 51 years)
  Marriage	29 Apr 1819	Dendron, Surry, Virginia, United States   [2]
  Family ID	F1103	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	SLEDGE Mary Pocahontas,   b. 25 Oct 1825, Dendron, Surry, Virginia, United States d. 6 Oct 1872, Cabin Point, Surry County, VA. (Age 46 years)
  Marriage	6 Dec 1843	Dendron, Surry, Virginia, United States
  	Mary Pocahontas was only 17 when he died, and required the consent of a guardian, her brother Amos Sledge in, when she and Eldridge were married a year after her father's death. [2]
  Children	1. MADDERA Waverly T.,   b. 1846, Dendron, Surry, Virginia, United States d. Yes, date unknown   2. MADDERA Valeria Ann,   b. 5 Oct 1848, Spring Grove, Surry County, Va d. 25 Jun 1950, Surry, Surry County, VA (Age 101 years)   3. MADDERA Mary Armistead "Puss",   b. 1852   d. 21 May 1928 (Age 76 years)   4. Maj. MADDERA Eldridge Anmstrit, Jr.,   b. 1855, Dendron, Surry, Virginia, United States d. 22 Dec 1881, Cabin Point, Surry County, VA. (Age 26 years)   5. MADDERA Adelia,   b. 1857, Dendron, Surry, Virginia, United States d. Yes, date unknown   6. MADDERA George,   b. 1861, Dendron, Surry, Virginia, United States d. Yes, date unknown   7. MADDERA Isabelle "Tinkle",   b. 1867, Dendron, Surry, Virginia, United States d. Yes, date unknown
  Family ID	F1074	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	11 Mar 2014

  
  

• Event Map

  Occupation - Postmaster - 7 Mar 1854 - Spring Grove, Surry County, Va  = Link to Google Earth

  
  

• Sources

  [S296] Rogers Family Assoc, Rogers Family Assoc (Reliability: 3). [S1212] Owner: Pat Reynolds, Cotton family tree, (Compiled and Supplied by Robert L. Bartlett of Juno Beach, FL to Pat Johnson Reynolds) (Reliability: 3).