Historical Rosters Database
Lawson Botts
Roster ID 31This is a summary. Contact the Archives for additional biographical information.
| First Name: | Lawson |
| Middle Name: | |
| Last Name: | Botts |
| Suffix: | |
| Affiliation: | Class of 1844 |
| Biography & Genealogy: | Lawson Botts, Class of 1844. Lawson Botts was a Confederate officer who served with the 2nd Virginia Infantry Regiment. He was born in Fredericksburg, Virginia in 1825, the son of Thomas Hutchinson Botts and Anne Carter Willis. Botts entered the Virginia Military Institute in 1841 and spent two years at VMI, resigning before graduation because of his father's ill health. He subsequently studied law and established a practice in Charles Town, [West] Virginia prior to the Civil War. In 1859, he served as one of the lawyers assigned to defend the abolitionist John Brown. Botts married Elizabeth Bibb Ranson (1829-1909) in January 1851. The couple four sons (Thomas, James, Lawson, Robert), and one daughter who died in infancy. In 1859 Botts became Captain of a volunteer company known as the "Botts Grays." When the Civil War began, this unit entered the service of Virginia as Company G, 2nd Virginia Infantry Regiment, one of the units that comprised the famous Stonewall Brigade. Botts was commissioned Major in June 1861 and became Colonel in June 1862. He was praised for his conduct during several battles, including First Kernstown, First Winchester, Gaines's Mill, and Cedar Mountain. He was mortally wounded in action at 2nd Manassas on 28 August 1862 and died on 11 September. Botts is buried at Zion Episcopal Church Cemetery, Charles Town, WV. His half-brother, Walter Browne Botts, was a member of the Class of 1854; his father, Thomas H. Botts, served on the VMI Board of Visitors from 1839-1845. Paternal Grandparents Benjamin Gaines Botts and Jane Tyler. |
| Additional Online Resources: | Civil War papers |
