Confederate soldier brought home at last

Associated Press

LAURENS, S.C. — Capt. William Downs Farley had one request before he died June 9, 1863: to be buried at home, in Laurens City Cemetery.

The Confederate soldier's dying wish finally has been granted.

Farley, a South Carolina volunteer killed at the Battle of Brandy Station, was buried Saturday after a memorial service before 1,000 people in the Public Square. Many wore period uniforms and paid final respects to a native son who was one of Confederate Gen. J.E.B. Stuart's most trusted officers.

Police blocked downtown streets as a horse-drawn caisson carrying Farley's remains edged along the streets. A color guard and honor guard flanked Farley's casket.

Farley, 27, was fatally wounded by a Union cannonball in 1863. He was buried in Fairview Cemetery in Culpeper, Va.

Virginia attorney Ed Gentry, founder of the Museum of Culpeper History, spent 18 years researching Farley's background and war record, and worked to have his remains brought to Laurens.

On Saturday, Gentry poured dirt from Farley's grave atop the casket.

"Closure is an overused word," he said, "but it is certainly appropriate this weekend."

Farley joined the 1st Carolina Infantry Regiment as a private and was promoted to lieutenant by the fall of 1861. He fought at the first battle of Manassas, Va., was a prisoner of war in Washington and became the chief scout for J.E.B. Stuart's cavalry.

The general's descendant, J.E.B. Stuart IV, said his ancestor and Farley had a relationship built on admiration. He said Gen. Stuart once ordered his soldiers to stop a Union supply train, and Farley grabbed a shotgun, chased the train and killed the engineer.

After the ceremony, the casket was brought to the cemetery, where taps was played and pallbearers folded a flag that had been draped on the casket and gave it to descendent Mary Farley Johnsey, who had granted permission on behalf of the family in the 1980s to have the remains exhumed.