Emails from
Greg W. Lasley
about his great-grandfater
William Hardy
member of
12th Mississippi Cavalry, Company "I"
A short biography of William Hardy
Date: Thu, 11 Jan 2001
From: "Greg W. Lasley" glasley@earthlink.net
To: "Tom McKnight" tom_mcknight@bigfoot.com
Subject: 16th Confederate Cav
Hello Tom,
My Name is Greg Lasley and I live in Austin, Texas. I am on my way home
from West Point, MS where I have been doing some family research.
Thought I'd pass on to you that my great garnfather is William Hardy who
enlisted in the 16th Confederate Cavalry in March 1864 at Siloam (or
West Point) Miss at the age of 16. He was in Company I according to the
records in the Clay County Courthouse and on his headstone. He was
supposedly involved in engagements at places he called Pine Barren,
Blakely, and 8 mile creek. He was captured by the Union army and
parolled in May 1865 from Alabama. I have a photo of him from about
1910 but I do not think I have any earlier. The company he was in was
headed by a Capt. Lynch who went onto to lots of other Mississippi
history events I am told.
Anyway, if you are interested I can provide more info. I'm interested
in learning as much as I can about this unit.
Greg Lasley
PS: I have a cousin in West Point who works for the Mississippi
Historical Archives who can certainly fill you in on lots more about the
battles at West Point.
Date: Mon, 15 Jan 2001
From: Greg W. Lasley glasley@earthlink.net
To: "Tom (Lee) McKnight" tom_mcknight@bigfoot.com
Subject: Re: 16th Confederate Cav
Hi Tom,
I got home from my trip and thought I'd pass on a little about my great grandfather, William Hardy who served in Co. I of the 12th Miss Cavalry. I'm sending along two jpeg photos as attachments. One is a picture of William Hardy which was taken around 1910 (I think) when he was in his 60s. The deep scar on his forehead was from a firearm explosion. Apparently he was shooting a musket or other long arm when the breech blew up in his face...at least that is the story that has been handed down. The other jpeg is his grave marker with his unit, etc. on it FYI. I realize you have lots of other projects, but thought I'd pass this material along to you for whenever you have time to mess with it.
All I know about him is his name of William Hardy. I am not aware of a middle name at the moment. He was born 9 February 1848 in Siloam, Clay Co., Miss. He died at age 70 on 12 April 1918 in West Point, Clay Co., Miss and is buried there in Greenwood cemetery.
Served in 12th Miss cavalry during the Civil War, enlisting at age 16 in March 1864 just after the battle at West Point, MS. He served with Capt. J.D. Lynch in Co. I. He was involved in engagements at Pine Barren, Blakeley, and 8 mile Creek, all in Alabama I believe. He was captured by the Union Army in AL in May 1865 and paroled shortly thereafter. In 1880 William and his family were apparently living in the Siloam community (about 8 miles NW of West Point). He was said to be a farmer and a carpenter and apparently helped to build a new church building for the Siloam Baptist Church about this time. His wife Priscilla died in 1882 and was buried in the Exum lot in Greenwood Cemetery in West Point, MS. His two daughters were then taken to West Point where they were kept in the home of his brother-in-law Titus Carr Exum until William remarried on 10 December 1885.
Anyway, one of his daughters was Sallie Ila Hardy born 1878...she was my grandmother.
Greg Lasley
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