Results printed below are the short version of the results of your search. Columns in bold denote columns searched on (beyond the basic returns of Name, service information, and enlistment information. Clicking on the last name of each person will allow you to see a full record for that individual.
Please cite results as coming from: County, , Soldiers Records Valley of the Shadow: Two Communities in the American Civil War, Virginia Center for Digital History, University of Virginia (valley.lib.virginia.edu/dossier_record?q=db:dossiers_augusta AND id_num:31416).
| Personal Information | Enlistment Records |
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Name: Claiborne Rice Mason Birth Place: Near Troy, New York Date of Birth: 8/31/1840 Physical Description: Prewar Life:1860 Census, Age 52, Railroad Contractor, Staunton; surveyed Midlothian Railroad 1829 (first railroad in Virginia); Construction Engineer, Petersburg & Weldon Railroad 1831-1832; Baltimore & Ohio Railroad and its Baltimore and Washington branch 1833-1835; Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad 1835-1836; Louisa Railroad 1836-1849 (forerunner of Virginia Central Railroad which became Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad); President Louisa Railroad Company; built tunnels through Rockfish Gap 1851-1857; Orange & Alexandria Railroad between Charlottesville and Lynchburg 1855-1860; moved to Staunton 1855 and then to Swoope Augusta Co.; formed Mason Syndicate (still in business today); worth $1 million 1861 |
Date of Enlistment: 7/23/1861 Place of Enlistment: Staunton Age at Enlistment: Occupation at Enlistment:Farmer Conscript or Substitute: |
| Service Information | Military Service Record |
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Rank: Capt. Company: H Transfer Company: Regiment: 52nd Va. Inf. |
Promotions: Appointed QM of regt. 09-04-1861; promoted to Lt. Col. Transfers and Other Service:Detailed by Gen. Henry R. Jackson to build and maintain roads between Staunton and Greenbrier River and Warm Springs and Huntersville; transf. to engineers 10-00-1861; appointed Engineer Officer on Stonewall Jackson's staff 05-00-1862; served as QM of Augusta Home Raid Guard or Home Guard 11-00-1863 Muster Sheet: Captured: Missing In Action: Prison: AWOL: Deserted: Discharge: Paroled: // Notes: Preferred to be called Captain. Built boats to ferry ambulances across flooded North River at Mt. Crawford 05-00-62; bridged the Shenandoah River at Port Republic 06-00-62 by driving army wagons into the river, fastening them together and laying planks across them. When sent forth by Jackson to bridge the Chicahominy, Mason told the courier, Tell the General I'll be there directly, as soon as I finish cooking and eating my greens and bacon. Two minutes later Major William Allen and 2 other members of Jackson's staff arrived. Come along, said Major Allen, you've kept the General waiting too long already. Tell the General he will have to wait only eight more minutes, I'll be there as soon as I finish eating these greens and bacon, replied Mason. He arrived at Jackson's headquarters in exactly eight minutes. How long will it take you to build a bridge across the river? Jackson asked. I can't tell you until I see the ground first and select a crossing, but I think I can make it in two hours, Mason replied. Mason asked for and received a force of a thousand men and forty to fifty wagons. He commenced construction at two o'clock in the afternoon while other Engineer Officers arrived and made drawings. They returned at six o'clock with their handiwork and told Mason he could now build the bridge. What have we here--pictures? asked Mason. You can take these pretty drawings back with you Gentlemen The bridge was completed two hours ago--finished in just two hours just as I told the General it would be, he added. [source?] Cut the road for Gen. Lee from the Wilderness to Spotsylvania Courthouse; engineer in charge of repairs on Virginia Central Railroad 1864-1865. Lost everything in war. The Augusta Co. UDC Chapter was named in his honor. |
| Wounded/Killed Information | Other Information |
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Died of Disease: Killed in Action: Wounded in Action: - // Hospital: Died of Wounds: |
Personal Life: Brother of Ovid L. Abney Family Number from 1860 census: 406 (Click on number to see the 1860 census record) Dwelling Number from 1860 census: 363 (Click on number to see the 1860 census record) Postwar Life: Completed repairs of Virginia Central Railroad 1866; contractor on Covington & Ohio Railroad 1870; completed Jerry's Run fill and Lewis Tunnel in Greenbrief Co. that had broken 4 other contractors 1872; built railroad lines in Tenn., Ky., Pa., Ohio 1870s, 1880s. Illiterate but could copy his name; could walk or ride over a line of survey and determine readily how long it would take a certain number of men to build the road and what it would cost. His principle tool was a twelve-inch rule; he could manipulate this rule vertically and horizontally and determine the cubic content of earth in a mountain; he could calculate (mentally) the interest on a note as quickly as an expert accountant. When challenged to a competition with a University of Virginia math professor, he would stare off in the distance and then give the correct answer before the professor could work it on paper. [source?]
obituary states he was a sharpshooter Death Place: Swoope Date of Death: 1/12/1885 Cause of Death: Burial Place: Thornrose Cemetery Epitaph: |