Thomas Jefferson Henley was born to Thomas H. Jefferson Henley and Susannah Moody on 22 Jan 1839 at Givins Bridge, Bullock, Covington, AL. He married Lydia Brackens, daughter of Mathias Brackens and Delilah Grimes born 15 Oct 1845 in Alabama. They were married about 1865 in Alaqua, Walton, Florida.

When the war broke out in 1861, he enlisted for service. He became a private in Company A of the 25th Infantry Regiment of the Confederate States Army. This regiment was organized at Mobile, Alabama by the consolidation of two battalions in December 1861. It remained in that vicinity under Gen. Gladden, the regiment fought at Shiloh, where its casualties were 15 killed and 75 wounded. Thomas Jefferson received a severe wound and was discharged for disability 30 November 1861 at Barlow’s Mill, Mobile, Alabama.

Returning home for a short time he again enlisted, joining Company E of the 6th Alabama Infantry Regiment in the Confederate Army at Camp Watts, Alabama. His brother Micajah “Mike” Henley, nephew Elmore A. Henley, neighbors Cornelius Starr Thomasson and Jefferson Sylvanus Thomasson served in the same regiment.

They were sent to Virginia when the Sixth Alabama was already engaged in battles as part of the Army of Northern Virginia commanded by General Robert E. Lee. The Sixth Alabama was assigned to the Second Corps commanded by Lt. Gen Richard S. Ewell, along with the 3rd, 5th, 12th and 16th Alabamas. James N. Lightfoot, the colonel in Company E was wounded at Gettysburg and replaced by Capt. Bowie.

The regiment took part in nearly fifty various type skirmishes, engagements and battles during its career. Thomas J. Henley, Micajah Henley, Elmore A. Henley and the Thomasson brothers ended up being present when General Lee surrendered at the Appomattox Court House. Thomas Henley was honorably discharged at Appomattox in the State of Virginia on the 6 May 1865. All five of these men survived the war and returned home to rear their families. In 1884 the surviving members of Company E, 6th Alabama Infantry erected a monument in the City Cemetery at Montgomery, Alabama, to the memory of the men who fought in this company. Engraved on the monument are the names of the surviving members, and at its base is a lone grave of one of its members.

Lydia Henley died 15 Nov 1911 in Laurel Hill, Okaloosa, FL. Thomas Henley passed away on 20 January 1922 and was buried along with his wife and many family members in the Beda Baptist Church Cemetery in Covington County, AL.

Submitted by J. Hudson Gaal, great great-grandaughter

Sources:

http://www.usgwarchives.net/al/alfiles.htm
National Park Service – Alabama Civil War Records
The Heritage of Covington County, AL 976.1 HER; LOC #00-133779; ISBN 1-891647-43-1
Historical Sketch and Roster of the Alabama 25th Infantry Regiment: John C. Rigdon, Author
Alabama Department of Archives and History 1997
1866 AL State Census, Database Family Search; US Fed. Census: 1910 and 1920 Watkins, Covington
Find A Grave Memorial #37967323, #37967167

Thomas Jefferson Henley 1839-1922