Thomas Lafayette moved to the Denton County area of Aubrey after he served honorably in the Confederate States of America Infantry in the 6^th Infantry of Arkansas.

There were several soldiers from the Onega Village that served in the Civil War. Several of them spent time in the Richmond and Fredericksburg, Virginia during the war. Four of the soldiers from this area died in combat – the Cagle family soldier, John Williams, Sanford Slaton, and George W. Goin.

Thomas L. Simpson served two different terms of service during the war. He was a prisoner of war shortly after the closing of the Civil War. Simpson’s combat service was in Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia. Clyde Simpson recorded his father’s recollections from the war. Clyde was very handy with the typewriter and made a collection of his father’s memories.

I am very happy to have this accounting of history and the horrors of war as told by the person who was in combat and prisoner as well. Some of the stories written by the veterans of the War are very disturbing and frightening.

Our captured Civil War Veterans brought family gift items of personal treasure and keepsakes that were with them all of the way until they were captured by the enemy. These treasured items were many times stolen by the Yankee soldiers after their captivity. The war psychosis was a never ending experience that was dealt with by family members as well as the veteran himself. Sickness and disease occurred from either food or the lack of it or the rotten or spoiled meat.

Language was not a hindrance when a wounded battle soldier would cry out, a soft heart would be shown to help the injured or dying man. One particular instance was when the soldier was so severely injured that death was certain in some case when a dying man lay helpless and was picked up by the enemy and was provided a fire to keep the wounded soldier comfortable. In some cases the frozen body would be stuck to the ground with his own frozen blood that was sticking to the freezing wounded soldier.

Clyde’s father told him of an event when his commanding officer had his gut shot out, and they were dragging him in the dust and sand, and the officer was still giving his final orders under these dying conditions.

Thomas Lafayette Simpson states that he wintered in Dalton, Georgia; the army under the command of Joseph E. Johnson. Simpson says, "left there in the spring of 1864 retreated to Atlanta, Georgia. Fought every day for four months." This became known as the Atlanta Campaign and included the battles of Resca, Ringgold Gap, Tunnel Hill, and New Hope.

I would like to take just a few words to thank Mary Alice (Coffey) Redding for so willingly sharing the photos of the Simpson family with me. Mary Alice’s grandmother was a half-sister to Clyde Simpson. Leslie Theresa Simpson (1878-1928) was the mother of Homer Coffey. Many of us remember Homer Coffey as the rural mail carrier. He was close to the same age as my father, Jim Goin.