The Taking of Jacob Lyman Greene

Jacob Lyman Greene

     Two years ago I wrote a detailed analysis of the letter written by Maria Dobyns of Oakley plantation in Spotsylvania. Written on June 17, 1864 to my great grand aunt Nannie Row, Maria's letter describes the fighting, suffering and chaos that occurred at Oakley during the battle of the Wilderness. She also mentioned the fact that Nannie's brother, George Washington Estes Row of the 6th Virginia Cavalry, had given her the pocket watch and pen knife of Custer's adjutant.
    
  

George Washington Estes Row, right

    Jacob Lyman Greene, who was also a personal friend of Custer,  was captured at Trevilian Station in Louisa County on June 11, 1864. He was stripped of all his personal belongings, including his flute and spurs (as well as the items taken by Private Row).  Greene was taken to Libby Prison first, and from there spent time as a guest of the Confederacy at several prisons until he was paroled in December 1864.
     After the Civil War Greene served with Custer in Texas. In 1878 he became president of the Connecticut Mutual Insurance Company.
     An excellent biography of Jacob Lyman Greene by Charles Raymond Howard can be read at Uncle Jacob's Civil War.