203:, Miller was bringing rations to McBrides' company and was forced to run across an open field under fire from Union sharpshooters. Miller was told not to cross the field again in daylight and was instead directed to attend the ailing McBride. In the afternoon, the Union forces showed signs that they would attack and Miller asked for a gun and ammunition and was at Captain Anderson's side for the attack, which included hand-to-hand combat when the Union reached the Confederate breastworks.
133:. He had European, African, and Native American ancestry. He was born to Hannah and Samuel Miller, both enslaved persons. At birth he was owned by Anne Maria McChesney McBride, widow of Col. Isaiah McBride. He was religious and a gifted orator and began preaching to other slaves in the area. Levi is known to have had several siblings that lived in Rockbridge County including George Miller and Samuel "Johnson" Miller.
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and farmed an orchard. Levi married Sarah Jane
Cunningham of Berkeley, West Virginia in 1884. Although the marriage resulted in at least one child, George Miller born 1889, the marriage was dissolved by no later than 1910. Levi was also a member of the Methodist church. He died on February 25, 1921,
195:, the Fifth Texas was a part of a charge wherein Captain McBride had both legs broken and was believed to be mortally wounded on the morning of May 6, 1864. Captain J. E. Anderson of Company C reported that Miller was with the wagon train and did not hear of McBride's injuries until he arrived at
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After the war, Anderson worked to gain for Miller a full soldier's pension for his service based on muster rolls which
Anderson claimed to have in his own possession. However, as of 2013, researchers have not found Miller on any muster rolls collected by the Confederate government. That is, his
227:. Racial tension at the time meant that while the black press did mention Miller's special case, it did not mention the numerous black Union veterans who attended, a fact that has led some to say that the only black soldier present was a Confederate. Later in life, Miller lived at
172:. In Pennsylvania, Miller was urged to desert by people in that northern state where slavery had been abolished since 1780. Miller and the rest of the Fifth Texas were detached from Lee's Army of Northern Virginia to Georgia and Tennessee along with the rest of General
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in
Evergreen Cemetery at the side of his brother Johnson "Samuel" Miller. The remains of his mother Hannah and step-father, William Kenney were disinterred from Clearbrook in Frederick County Virginia and also buried in Evergreen Cemetery as requested in Levi's will.
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The existence of black
Confederate soldiers is a controversial subject, and Miller has frequently been a center of the controversy. This controversy includes whether or not he was officially mustered in, and in which battles he participated, and in what capacity.
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After the fight, another member of
Company C (Jim Swindler) proposed Miller be made a full member, and with the support of the rest of the company, Anderson enrolled Miller. That evening, Miller returned to Captain McBride who had been taken to a hospital at
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where the pair remained until
October 1865. Although not expected to survive the war, McBride lived until 1880, and Anderson later said; "He owed his life to Levi Miller's good nursing."
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Barrow, Charles Kelly, Segars, J.H. Black
Southerners In Confederate Armies: A Collection of Historical Accounts Pelican Publishing Company, 31 Jan 2007 p196-197
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started, Miller was owned by Anne's son, Robert McBride. In
September 1861, Robert's brother, Captain John J. McBride of Company E of the
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Gannon, Barbara A. The Won Cause: Black and White
Comradeship in the Grand Army of the Republic. Univ of North Carolina Press, 2011
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in May 1864. Miller's service is frequently used as an example of a black man who served as a soldier in the
Confederate Army.
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in late August 1862, Miller attended him in the hospital until his recovery. McBride recovered and Miller attended him at the
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In the spring of 1864, Longstreet returned to Lee in Virginia, and McBride and Miller to their regiment. At the
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in the Confederate Army, secured Miller as a personal servant. When Captain McBride was wounded in the
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Williams, Richard, Jr. Lexington, Virginia and the Civil War. The History Press, 12 Mar 2013 p 124
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service may not have been officially accepted as slaves were not permitted to enlist as soldiers.
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Levi Miller Will, November 1920, Frederick County, Virginia, Will Book 47, Page 49-51
176:'s corps, under which they fought. In the western theater, Miller was present at the
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Library of American History from the Discovery of America to the Present Time ...
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338:. Richmond Times-Dispatch (Richmond, Virginia), Monday, March 11, 1912, Page: 3
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Mother Hannah Miller (1816-unknown); Father Samuel Miller (1816-unknown)
101:(January 9, 1836 – February 25, 1921) was a preacher and farmer from
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captain, and may have been enrolled as a regular soldier after the
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and worked as a water dipper for mineral springs tourists at
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Alexandria gazette. (Alexandria, Va.), March 11, 1912
109:, Miller was a manservant for his owner's brother, a
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Levi Miller was born a slave on January 9, 1836, in
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Frederick County, Virginia Will Book 47, Page 49-51
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461:People of Virginia in the American Civil War
412:West Virginia, U.S., Births Index, 1804-1938
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16:For the actor and model from Australia, see
466:African Americans in the American Civil War
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403:West Virginia, Marriages Index, 1785-1971
456:People from Rockbridge County, Virginia
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164:Miller was with McBride when General
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476:20th-century African-American people
302:Jones brothers publishing Company.
201:Battle of Spotsylvania Court House
199:on May 8. On the 10th, during the
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421:1910 United States Federal Census
296:Ellis, Edward Sylvester (1918).
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147:Fifth Texas Infantry Regiment
471:19th-century American slaves
359:Lexington Gazette 6 Mar 1912
188:through the winter of 1864.
157:in December 1862 and in the
84:George Miller (1889-unknown)
237:Rock Enon Springs, Virginia
127:Rockbridge County, Virginia
60:February 25, 1921 (aged 85)
49:Rockbridge County, Virginia
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229:Frederick County, Virginia
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209:Charlottesville, Virginia
151:Second Battle of Bull Run
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323:. S.A. Cunningham. 1921.
197:Spotsylvania Court House
193:Battle of the Wilderness
155:Battle of Fredericksburg
115:Battle of the Wilderness
239:. He purchased land at
233:Capon Springs, Virginia
178:Battle of Chickamauga
129:near Hayes Creek and
225:Battle of Gettysburg
320:Confederate Veteran
246:Lexington, Virginia
186:Knoxville Campaigns
170:Gettysburg Campaign
244:and was buried in
143:American Civil War
141:In 1861, when the
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241:Opequon, Virginia
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99:Levi Miller
65:Nationality
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18:Levi Miller
440:Categories
262:References
131:Brownsburg
121:Early life
137:Civil War
89:Parent(s)
215:Post war
180:and the
103:Virginia
81:Children
68:American
253:Legacy
51:, U.S.
235:and
184:and
57:Died
42:Born
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