Death of Fletcher Webster
On the morning of the 30th, Col. Fletcher Webster wrote his wife:
"If a fight comes off, it will be to-day or to-morrow & will be a most dreadful & decisive one. This may be my last letter, dear love, for I shall not spare myself..."
About 5 p.m., leading his regiment to support the cannon here on Chinn Ridge, Webster was shot through the right arm and chest. He lay helpless in the confusion of the Union retreat as Confederates overran the guns.
According to Ludwell Hutchinson of the 8th Virginia, he stopped to give water to a mortally wounded enemy officer. The officer - Fletcher Webster - asked Hutchinson to return his wallet to his family. Hutchinson survived the war and sent the wallet to the grieving but appreciative Websters.
Marker can be reached from Chinn Ridge Loop 0.6 miles west of Sudley Road (Virginia Road 234), on the right when traveling west.
Courtesy hmdb.org
