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John Burton Holloway
Born Jan 12, 1835 Burke Co NC
Died Jul 1, 1863 Gettysburg PA
at Civil War Battle of Gettysburg

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SPOUSE	CHILDREN
Victoria Ann Bristol m. 1859 b. Feb 25, 1839 near Morganton, Burke Co. NC d. July 11, 1919	Unnamed Daughter d. infancy	John Burton b. Jul 8, 1863 Caldwell Co. NC d. Apr 9, 1941 Rutherford College, Catawba Co. NC
North Carolina Counties at beginning of 1850.
John was listed as a farmer in the 1860 census. He enlisted July 15, 1861 at Lenoir NC, as a 2nd Lt.
John was 1st Lt. Company F, 26th North Carolina ("Hibriten Guards"), Heth's division, Pettigrew's brigade. On July 1, 1863, this company went into battle at the extreme right of the Woods below McPherson's Ridge with 3 officers and 88 muskets. One third were killed and many more wounded, said to be the highest percentage of casualties of any unit on either side in the Civil War.
Excerpts from the book Covered With Glory by Rod Gragg.
On July 1, 1863 Union troops faced an assault by Confederate troops just west of the town of Gettysburg Battle Map of Gettysburg McPherson's Ridge Jul 1, 1863. Lt. John B. Holloway and many other members of the NC 26th lost their lives as they tried to take McPherson's Ridge from Gen. Solomon Meredith's Iron Brigade (the formidable "Black Hats") during that afternoon. (Meredith was born in central North Carolina, but his Quaker parents moved the family to Indiana in 1829.) Battle Map of McPherson's Ridge at 2:30pm on Jul 1, 1863. By 4 pm, Pettigrew's NC 26th was so decimented that what remained of it was relegated to the rear. But the Battle Map at 4 pm shows that by then other Confederate units had outflanked the outnumbered Union forces, causing them to retreat back to Seminary Ridge and further south at the end of the day. On Meredith Avenue, halfway up toward the ridge from Willoughby Run is located the North Carolina 26th Marker erected in 1985. The monument recounts the battle on its Plaque. The Union's Iron Brigade also paid a high price. They suffered the highest percentage of casualties of any brigade in the war. The Iron Brigade Monument just across from the NC 26th Monument on Meredith Avenue. They were known by their black "Hardee" hats. Artillary Hardee Black Hat at the National Museum of American History in Washington DC
The Gettysburg battlefields were recently restored to the way they should have looked 150 years earlier. The following photos were taken in mid- afternoon the day of July 1, 2014, showing how these locations probably appeared when Lt Holloway was killed. The view of McPherson's Ridge and the woods below View towards Seminary Ridge and Gettysburg from McPherson's Ridge. Willoughby Run about 50 yards down from the North Carolina 26th Marker.
Sword and sheath of John Burton Holloway, in possession of J. Garrou. Sword handle.
Photograph of John Burton Holloway, killed at Gettysburg Jul 1, 1863.
Partial Transcript of Conversation with Louis Garrou recalling stories told him by his grandfather ("Papa"), John Burton Holloway, Jr..
Lt. John Burton Holloway was buried at Gettysburg until 1872 when 2,965 of the Confederate War dead were transferred in six shipments to Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond VA. Graves there are identified by number but no list of corresponding names exists.
Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln, Nov 19, 1863.
Said to have been "tallest man in Caldwell County" (his brother George W. stood 6'4"), according to his service record; also said to have been handsome man, spare-built"; daguerreotype in possession of George Martin Holloway suggests this description correct.
Photograph of Victoria Bristol Holloway.
Sources: Census 1850, Caldwell Co. NC. Census 1860, Patterson District, Caldwell Co. NC; Jul 18, by Jas. C. Webb. Estate papers, John Burton Holloway, Caldwell County Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions, Nov 14, 1863, North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh NC. Garrou, Louise Holloway, Application for Daughters of Confederacy. Gragg, Rod, Covered With Glory, The 26th North Carolina Infantry at the Battle of Gettysburg, HarperCollins Publishers, New York NY, 2000. Harper, Geo. W. F., Reminiscences of Caldwell County, N.C. in the Great War of 1861-65, Clark Printing, Hickory NC, 1910, pp. 14-16. U.S. Federal Archives, Confederate War service records, microfilm M-270, roll 327, North Carolina 26th infantry, Ho-K.