Category Archives: Military

Confederate Iron Cross at the grave of Sgt. Isaac Peterson Collier

The thread of the Confederacy is prominent in the tapestry that is the history of the Southern Collier family.   A preliminary count reveals over 25 grandsons and great-grandsons of Vines Collier who served in the Army of the Confederate States of America.  (As a side note, some came from slave holding families, some did not.)  Perhaps no where is the thread more evident than in the sons of Charles Vines Collier, Sr. and Rebecca Owen Collier.  Most of the information for this post comes from a compilation by the late Ramon Collier, a descendant of Charles Vines and Rebecca Collier.

Charles Vines Collier, Sr. was the son of Isaac Collier and the grandson of Vines Collier (see post “Isaac Collier, Son of Vines & Elizabeth Collier”).   He was born in 1793 in Oglethorpe County, Georgia and married Rebecca M. Owen on June 4, 1829.  Charles and Rebecca had twelve children.  Seven of the 12 were sons.  All wore Confederate gray.  From youngest to oldest they were:

1. James Glenn Collier – born Oct. 2, 1848 in Upson County, Georgia; enlisted in the Confederate Army at the age of 15;  saw action around Atlanta in the last months of the war.
2. Charles Vines Collier, Jr. – born in Upson County, Georgia Oct. 10, 1846; enlisted in Co. B, 2nd Battalion, Georgia Sharpshooters on April 16, 1864 at Dalton, Georgia at the age of 17; was captured at Nashville, Tennessee on Dec. 16, 1864; spent the remainder of the war in prison (including Camp Douglas, Illinois); was discharged on May 17, 1865; reportedly walked home, travelling mostly at night; was never paid for his service to the Confederacy.
3. Pascal Smith Collier – born in Upson County, Georgia Oct. 29, 1844; was wounded at the Seven-Day Battle of Richmond and died of those wounds July 4, 1862 at the age of 17; buried in an unmarked grave (approximate location known) at Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia.  Named for his uncle, Paschal Smith, who reportedly served with his father (Charles Vines Collier, Sr.) in the War of 1812. UPDATE See Addition at the End of this Post
4. John Brackett Collier – born in Upson County, Georgia Feb. 22, 1840; rode horseback from Thomaston, Georgia to West Point, Mississippi and enlisted in the 14th Mississippi Regiment; was wounded at Franklin, Tennessee; spent 6 months in a Union prison in Chicago.
5. Hardeman Owen Collier – born 1838 in Upson County, Georgia; was 3rd Lieutenant and 2nd Captain of Co. A, 46th Georgia Regiment of Gist’s Brigade and General Walker’s Division;  died June 20th, 1864 of wounds received at the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain in the defense of Atlanta; he is buried in an unmarked grave (approximate location known) at the foot of the mountain;  The story of his death is found in the Diary of Sgt. Jim White:  “(Captain) Collier was killed near our breastworks.  I heard and saw where the minnie ball struck him before he fell, dropping on the knee.  I asked if he was hurt much, in response, running up to our breastworks we secured a litter and bore him over the works while minnie balls flew thick and fast.  He died in about an hour without speaking.”
6. William Thomas Collier – born March 27, 1835 in Upson County, Georgia; was a member of Co. B, 2nd Battalion, Georgia Sharpshooters
7. Isaac Peterson Collier – born July 7, 1831 in Upson County, Georgia; joined Co. K, 5th Georgia Volunteer Infantry along with two of his cousins  (Charles V. and Cuthbert Hicks Collier, sons of Cuthbert S. Collier); was recognized for heroism and offered a battlefield commission for his actions at the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain in the defense of Atlanta.  He eloquently declined the promotion.  Brigadier General John King Jackson reported the act in a general order recognizing the deed as an “act of distinguished valor”:

Here is an eye witness account by John H. Harp, one of the men saved by Isaac Peterson Collier.  It was written years later, and this explains the inconsistency in the date.

Sgt. Collier was offered a battlefield commission in Company E, but declined with the following statement on June 24, 1864.

Captain:  I have the honor to most respectfully decline the above promotion.  In throwing the shell from the ditch, I am conscious of having done nothing but my duty in attempting to save my life and the lives of the men around me.  I prefer to remain in my company with my comrades, whom I left home with on the 7th day of May, 1861.

Isaac Peterson Collier’s brave deed took place on June 21, 1864.  Sgt. Collier’s brother, Hardeman Owen Collier, had been killed only the day before in the same battle.  It is not known whether he was aware of his brother’s death.

For his bravery, Isaac Peterson Collier was nominated for the Confederate Medal of Honor in 1996.  The vote to approve failed with a 3 – 3 tie.  Subsequent efforts to approve the recognition were even less successful.  In the Kennesaw Mountain Battleground Museum, the bravery of Isaac Peterson Collier is acknowledged by a plaque on the informational rail.

Grave of Sgt. Isaac Peterson Collier, Isaac Collier Cemetery, Upson County, Georgia.

After publishing this post, I received the following email from Kathleen Collier Burgess, daughter of the late Ramon Collier and his wife Carol.  Kathleen, I believe, is the great-granddaughter of  Charles Vines Collier, Jr.  I hope she corrects me if I am wrong.

Mom forwarded your email about the post regarding the sons of Charles Vines and Rebecca Owen Collier. She asked me to give you the following information:

In 2003 Dad, Mom and I went to Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond and found the grave of Pascal Smith Collier. There was a number for him (471, section M) recorded in the office which was also on a very small marker. The identification number was available because Pascal was injured and hospitalized there before dying from his wounds. Dad and Mom sent ~$100 to a government organization and had a marker erected at the grave site, so it is no longer unmarked.

Here is a link with a photograph for your records:

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=9747032

Thank you for keeping up the historical record.

– Kathleen Collier Burgess

Thank you, Kathleen, for this additional information.  Here is the marker.