Christopher Claudius Pegues

Christopher Claudius Pegues

Christopher Claudius Pegues, 1823-1862
Alabama Dept of Archives & History

• Father: Christopher Butler Pegues b. 6 January 1789, d. 30 June 1846
• Mother: Eliza Hodges Evans b. 11 January 1793, d. 24 November 1888

• Christopher Claudius Pegues was born on 3 August 1823 in Cheraw District, South Carolina.
• He was known as Kit by family and friends.
• He married Caroline A. Coleman, daughter of James B. Coleman, on 13 October 1847 in Dallas County, Alabama.
• Christopher Claudius Pegues and Caroline A. Coleman appeared in the US federal census of 1 June 1850 in Selma Beat, Dallas County, Alabama, enumerated next to the household of Christopher's brother Josiah. Other members of the household included Charles Edward Pegues and Fanny Grey Pegues.
• He was a lawyer, according to the 1850 census.
• Christopher Claudius Pegues and Caroline A. Coleman appeared in the US federal census of 1 June 1860 in Cahaba, Dallas County, Alabama. Other members of the household included Charles Edward Pegues, Fanny Grey Pegues, George Evans Pegues and Lucy Mathews Pegues.
• He was a lawyer, according to the 1860 census.
• Christopher Claudius Pegues served captain of the volunteer Cahawba Rifles, then colonel of the 5th Alabama Infantry Regiment, CSA. He was was mortally wounded leading the regiment in a charge at Gaines Mill, Virginia.
• Christopher Claudius Pegues died on 17 July 1862 at age 38 in Richmond, Virginia.
• His wife Caroline A. Coleman became a widow at his death.
• He was interred at Hollywood Cemetery, Richmond, Virginia.
• A short biographical sketch of Christopher Claudius Pegues appears in Alabama, Her History, Resources, War Record, and Public Men, from 1540 to 1872:
       Dallas was also the home of Christopher Claudius Pegues. He was descended on the paternal side from a Huguenot family which settled in South Carolina in 1748. His mother was the daughter of Judge J. J. Evans, who died while a member of the federal senate, and of whom a contemporary jurist says, "he was pure as Hale, and wise as Mansfield." The son was born in Chesterfield district, Aug. 3, 1823, and was graduated at Columbia. In 1842 he came to this State, where his parents had settled, and read law under Col. Alexander Graham in Eutaw. Admitted to the bar in 1845, he located in Cahaba. Here he was the associate of Judge Geo. R. Evans, and afterwards of Messrs. Pettus and Dawson. In 1861 he entered the army as a captain of a company in the 5th Alabama Infantry. Having endured the hardships of a twelve months service, he was elected colonel of the regiment at its re-organization in the spring of 1862. He was leading the regiment at Gaines' Mill, June 27, when he received a wonld of which he died July 15. His remains were buried in Hollywood. "Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori," is the christian as well as the pagan aphorism, but it is a meagre solace for the loss of one so generally beloved. The kindness of his heart, the amenity of his manners, his modesty, his large-hearted liberality, integrity, abilities, and observance of all duties which mark the christian gentleman, stole allegiance from all hearts, and made him a favorite at the bar and in the camp. His courage at Seven Pines attracted the attention of his superiors, while at Gaines' Mill he refused to quit the field till exhausted by loss of blood. Dallas cherishes the memory of her gallant son.
       Col. Pegues married a sister of Hon. A. A. Coleman of Hale, and left three children; one of whom married Mr. John Walthall of Perry.

• Last Edited: 3 May 2016

• Charts: Descendants of PEGUES Claudius & Marcia Saunders