Last updated: January 4, 2026
Person
John Marshall Wooley
Paul Stinson
Quick Facts
Significance:
Confederate Soldier
Place of Birth:
Barnwell, South Carolina
Date of Birth:
February 1, 1838
Place of Death:
Lott, Texas
Date of Death:
July 5, 1912
Place of Burial:
Lott, Texas
Cemetery Name:
Clover Hill Cemetery
John Marshall Wooley received at least four wounds during the Civil War. Surgeons placed a steel plate in his head at a US hospital after the Battle of Cedar Creek. He took an Oath of Allegiance to the United States while a prisoner of war. His successful recovery from illness and battles wounds shows how medical care evolved during the conflict.
Civil War Service
On March 12, 1862, at the age of 20, Wooley enlisted as a private in the Confederate army. He served with Company H, 9th Louisiana Infantry Regiment. Sent to Virginia with the rest of the Louisiana Brigade, Wooley fought in many of the major Civil War battles in the eastern US. Wooley was a pneumonia patient in the Richmond Hospital by 1862. He was wounded while fighting in the Second Battle of Winchester in June 1863. Wooley may have gotten hurt again fewer than three weeks later during the Battle of Gettysburg. Wooley was once again listed as absent due to a wound from May until August 1864. He may have suffered this wound during the Battle of the Wilderness.
Shenandoah Valley
Returning to the army, Wooley fought in the Shenandoah Valley again. He participated in the battles of Third Winchester, Fisher’s Hill, and Cedar Creek. At Cedar Creek (October 19, 1864) Wooley suffered a head wound from a cannon shell fragment. US soldiers captured Wooley, treated him in a field hospital, and sent him as a prisoner of war to Point Lookout, Maryland. During his recovery, surgeons placed a steel plate in Wooley’s head. He signed the Oath of Allegiance to the United States on June 21, 1865, and returned to Louisiana. Wooley and his family moved to Texas where he worked as a farmer and raised seven children. Despite a domestic setting, his several wounds were a constant reminder of wartime experiences.
Where at Cedar Creek?
It is unknown where Wooley was wounded and captured on the Cedar Creek battlefield. There are at least three strong possibilities. First was early in the morning near the US 19th Corps entrenchments. Second was later during the morning attack against the US 6th Corps west of Belle Grove Plantation. Third was late in the afternoon during the Federal counterattack that drove the Confederates from the field.