Major General Lafayette McLaws
The Brian Boeve Collection
The Confederate division of Major General Lafayette McLaws arrived at Antietam on the morning of September 17, 1862, exhausted after a rapid march from near Harpers Ferry. Among the footsore soldiers was Sergeant John C. Lowe.
Lowe was a farm laborer in May 1861 when he joined the ranks of the Alamucha Infantry. The company became part of the 13th Mississippi Infantry and faced combat at First Manassas and Ball’s Bluff and participated in the 1862 Peninsula Campaign; Lowe received his sergeant’s chevrons along the way.
At Antietam, Lowe and his comrades fought in the West Woods. There a bullet shattered Lowe’s left arm. He suffered an amputation and fell into enemy hands, though he was soon paroled.
Lowe made his way back to Mississippi and Lauderdale County. In March 1863 he married a local woman, Margaret Pack, and a month later he received his army discharge. He farmed and started a family and lived to be 80. When he died in 1920, he had outlived his wife and was survived by a daughter.
Ronald S. Coddington is publisher of Military Images, a magazine dedicated to showcasing and preserving photos of Civil War soldiers and sailors.
