Thomas Lawson Barraud was the son of Dr. Daniel Cary Barraud (1790-1867), of Norfolk, VA, and his wife, Mary Lawson (Chandler) Barraud (1798-1876). Thomas Barraud attended the University of Virginia only for session 26 (1849-1850). While there he studied Law. He then became a lawyer. (Schele de Vere; UVA Matriculation Books) At the time of the 1860 U.S. Census, he lived in a boarding house in Portsmouth, Virginia, so it is likely he practiced law in that city as well. (1860 U.S. Census)
Barraud married a cousin, Mary Baker (1830?-1910?), on 29 Dec. 1853, in Norfolk, VA. (Widow’s Pension Application; Findagrave.com; Barraud)
In April 1861, when the Confederacy rebelled against the United States, Thomas L. Barraud, then 33 years old, enlisted in Portsmouth’s “Virginia Defenders,” a unit which later became Company C of the 16th Virginia Regiment. Here is a reminiscence written 40 years later, which first appeared in the Portsmouth Star newspaper:
The company was organized in April 1861, the first year of the war… On May 6, 1862, we left Norfolk for Richmond, for active service with four officers and sixty muskets. Six of the boys were made commissioned officers and served in their commands with credit to themselves and with honor to the old company.
Shortly after we left, several of the men were detailed for other service and several were discharged on account of age. We were thus thinned out until we were left with only four officers an[d] thirty-six men, who were either killed, died in hospital, disabled by wounds, or served with the company until the end.
At this point in the article there is a list of the company’s casualties. Thomas Barraud is at the top of the list. He had been wounded August 30, 1862, at the battle of 2nd Manassas, recovered at the Charlottesville Hospital, returned to his company in January, 1863, and fought at the battle of Bristoe Station, October 14, 1863. (Though Barraud’s tombstone says he died on October 13, the battle actually occurred on the 14th and he died the next day, so his correct date of death was 15 Oct. 1863.) The pension application submitted by his widow states that the battle was fought on the 14th. (Widow’s Pension Application) The American Civil War Museum has a sash that Captain Barraud wore and several swords that he captured at 2nd Manassas. (American Battlefield Trust; American Civil War Museum)
The article continues:
They [Company C] were engaged in the following battles: Charles City Road, Frasier’s Farm, Malvern Hill, Second Manassas, Crampton Gap, Sharpsburg, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Salem Church, Gettysburg, Mine Run, Bristoe, Rappahannock Station, Wilderness, Cold Harbor, Crater, Burgess Mills, Ream’s Station, Wilcox’s Farm, Davis Farm, Hatcher’s Run, Columbian Church, Five Forks, and then Appomattox.
We lost three officers out of four, eleven men killed and died, fifteen wounded, and we have now seventeen living. Our loss was so great that after Captain Barraud was killed and Lieutenants Baird and King disabled, Captain John H. Gayle was the only officer we had left. He was in every engagement and surrendered the company of five men at Appomattox. These were all we had left. Every man shot was a man gone. No one came to take his place. We had none to recruit from… (Richmond Dispatch, from the Portsmouth Star)
Thomas Barraud was buried in Cedar Grove Cemetery, in Norfolk, VA. (Findagrave.com) Others of his family, his parents and 3 of his siblings, are also buried there. The inscription on his monument reads:
Thomas Lawson Barraud
A Captain in the Army of the
Confederate States
He fell at Bristoe Station, Va.
Oct. 13, 1863
A man filling every relation
of life faithfully, nobly.
References:
- Barraud Family tombstones, Cedar Grove Cemetery, Norfolk, VA. Findagrave.com.
- Barraud, E. M. Barraud; the story of a family. London: The Research Publishing Co., 1967, p.47.
- Barraud, Mary. Pension application filed by Virginia Confederate veterans and their widows. 1902.
- “Bristoe Station,” American Battlefield Trust. 2020 [Website] https://www.battlefields.org/learn/civil-war/battles/bristoe-station
- “Co. C, 16th Virginia Regiment; a brief history and list of its gallant members.” Richmond Dispatch, 14 Sep. 1902, p.7.
- “Sash owned by Captain Thomas Lawson Barraud,” The American Civil War Museum. 2019 [website] https://moconfederacy.pastperfectonline.com/webobject/01FEC87A-195A-4C52-9128-806197385913
- Schele de Vere, Maximilian. Students of the University of Virginia; a semi-centennial catalogue. Baltimore, MD, 1878.”
- “United States Census, 1860”, database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M415-DDN : 13 December 2017), Thos L Barrand in entry for Jos S Brown, 1860.
- University of Virginia Matriculation Books, 1825-1904, Accession #RG-14/4/2.041, Special Collections Dept., University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.
- “Virginia Marriages, 1785-1940,” database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XR2Z-7F2 : 11 February 2018), Thomas Lawson Barraud and Mary Baker, 29 Dec 1853; citing Norfolk, Virginia, reference ; FHL microfilm 2,048,491.
Students of the University of Virginia, 1825-1874 