Liberty County
Resources
Neighbors
Civil War Veterans
The Weakley Brothers
Paul, Silas and John Weakley were born in Decatur County, Georgia, the sons of Robert Weakley and Mary Ann Miller. In the 1840s the family moved to Gadsden County, Florida, and Robert died. Mary Ann worked as seamtress and the boys farmed to make ends.
In the spring of 1862 all three brothers join Company B, 6th Infantry Regiment (Florida). This regiment was organized by the state of Florida and immediately turned over to the Confederate service and ordered to report to General E. Kirby Smith at Knoxville, who was then Commander of the Department of East Tennessee. The unit was ordered to join General Bragg in his march into Kentucky in pursuit of General Buel, then under retreat. Coming out of Kentucky, the Regiment was ordered to occupy and defend the Cumberland Gap. When it was relieved from it's Cumberland Gap duty the Regiment went back to Knoxville where it remained in winter quarters during the winter of 1862-1863. The Regiment remained in Knoxville until the summer of 1863 when it was ordered to join General Bragg at Chattanooga.
The 6th Regiment was in the bloody battle of Chickamauga (18 to 20 September), in the reserve corps. During the first day's battle it successfully charged an enemy artillery battery. On the 2nd day of battle they joined General Anderson's forces and cleared the heights of Chickamauga of about 500 Union soldier's who were armed with Colt revolving rifles.
During the winter of 1863 the Confederate Army was re-organized and all the Florida Regiments, then in the Army of Tennessee, were brigaded together. At the Battle of Missionary Ridge (25 November 1863) the 6th Brigade was in the main Confederate line of battle on the crest of the ridge. Private Paul Weakley was taken prisoner at the battle and sent to Rock Island POW camp in Illinois, where he remained until the end of the war.
After losing the battle at Missionary Ridge, the Confederate army went into its winter quarters.
The next major battle for the 6th was the Battle of Rocky Face Ridge, fought from May 7-May 13, 1864, in Whitfield County, Georgia during the Atlanta Campaign. The Union army was led by William Tecumseh Sherman while the Confederate army was led by Joseph E. Johnston. The Union victory resulted in the Confederates being forced off of the ridge. This was the beginning of the infamous retreat of the Confederate Army to Atlanta. As the army fell back, 6th Brigade fought in every battle between Dalton and Atlanta.
On July 22nd 1864, at the Battle of Stone Mountain (near Atlanta), Private John W. Weakley was shot through the ankle, leaving him a cripple. He received a medical discharge due to his wounds, which he never fully recovered.
This left only one Weakley brother, Silas, on the battlefield. Silas had been promoted to Full Corporal (about May 1st, 1864), and he remained with the 6th as it participated in the battles of Atlanta and Jonesboro. He was with the 6th, part of General Hood's forces, during the unfortunate and disastrous campaign into Tennessee. After the retreat from Nashville the 6th was transferred to North Carolina and was in the battle of Bentonville just before the surrender of General Lee at Appomatox.
After the war the Weakley brothers return home with Silas and Paul staying in Gadsden County. They marry 1st cousins, Sarah Elizabeth and Sarah Ann Vickers.
John moves to Leon County, marries the widow Catherine Wethington, and along with his step daughter Amanda, they have a little girl named Emma. Sometime in the early 1870s Catherine, Amanda and baby Emma die. In 1877 John marries Eugenia Farr in Liberty County, and raises a second family there before his death in 1892. His son, Patrick Henry Weakley, marries Annie Iola Kyle and they raise a family in Rock Bluff. Research is still on-going to determine who his daughters Sarah and Susan married. Family members are buried at the Rock Bluff (Oak Grove) Cemetery.
Paul and Silas Weakley, along with their families, are buried in Providence Church Cemetery in Greenboro, Gadsden County.
John Weakley - Pension Application Nr. DA00250; Paul Weakley Nr. A05765; Silas Weakley Nr. A01155 (Click to search and view at the Florida Memory Project)
Online Resources