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The Bravest Man in Lee's Army · Digital Companion

Primary Sources & Research Materials

Lynn Hopewell spent years assembling the documentary evidence behind The Bravest Man in Lee's Army. This page gathers the primary sources — correspondence, bible records, maps, genealogical research reports, newspaper coverage, and census records — that underpin the narrative.

The "Bravest Man" Correspondence

The claim that Robert Edward "Bob" Martin was awarded a rifle as "the bravest man in Lee's Army" rests on a chain of contemporary testimony. John Scott, the first captain of the Black Horse Cavalry, wrote an account crediting an English observer with making the award. The Randolph–Minor correspondence reproduced below is among the documentary sources Lynn located while tracing this story. See the Bob Martin chapter for the full narrative.

Minor–Randolph letter, primary source for the bravest man award — Minor–Randolph correspondence — documenting the rifle award

Randolph–Minor correspondence, reverse — Randolph–Minor correspondence (reverse)

Martin Family Bible Records

Before civil registration of births, deaths, and marriages, the family bible was the primary vital-records register. The Martin family bibles are key sources for dates that do not appear in any official record. Lynn cross-referenced the Dick Martin Bible entries against census returns and the Elias Martin Bible against marriage bonds to establish the family's vital statistics. Both bibles are discussed in Appendix 7.

Dick Martin Family Bible

Dick Martin Family Bible, page 3 — Dick Martin Family Bible — page 3

Elias Martin Family Bible

Maps & Military Context

The Black Horse Cavalry operated across Fauquier County and the surrounding region throughout the war. The Official Records Atlas of the Civil War — the standard military cartographic reference for Union and Confederate operations — shows the terrain over which the Martins and their comrades rode. Additional maps on the chapter pages trace the Germantown settlement and the Martin farm holdings.

Fauquier County from the Official Records Atlas of the Civil War — Fauquier County, from the *Official Records Atlas of the War of the Rebellion* — the primary cartographic source for Civil War military operations in Northern Virginia

Additional maps: Introduction · Germantown chapter · The Parents chapter

Newspaper Coverage

Lynn assembled contemporary and retrospective newspaper coverage of the Martin brothers and the Black Horse Cavalry from several sources. The Lara Fleebe collection comprises photographs of newspaper clippings related to John Richard "Dick" Martin and his family, gathered by a family researcher. These documents provided dates, anecdotes, and context that supplemented the official record.

Lara Fleebe newspaper clipping 1 — Lara Fleebe collection — clipping 1

Lara Fleebe newspaper clipping 2 — Lara Fleebe collection — clipping 2

Lara Fleebe newspaper clipping 3 — Lara Fleebe collection — clipping 3

Lara Fleebe newspaper clipping 4 — Lara Fleebe collection — clipping 4

Lara Fleebe newspaper clipping 5 — Lara Fleebe collection — clipping 5

Lara Fleebe newspaper clipping 6 — Lara Fleebe collection — clipping 6

Lara Fleebe newspaper clipping 7 — Lara Fleebe collection — clipping 7

Lara Fleebe newspaper clipping 8 — Lara Fleebe collection — clipping 8

Lara Fleebe newspaper clipping 9 — Lara Fleebe collection — clipping 9

Lara Fleebe newspaper clipping 10 — Lara Fleebe collection — clipping 10

Genealogical Research Reports

Lynn commissioned professional research from Genealogy Research Associates, Inc. (GRA) to resolve questions the manuscript record could not answer — particularly Dick Martin's first marriage and the origins of the Elias Martin line. The reports below summarise each GRA finding.

Two GRA reports established the story of Dick Martin's first marriage and his years in Missouri as a schoolteacher.

The 1880 census (Montgomery County, Missouri) located J. Richard Martin, age 38, born Virginia, occupation school teacher, with his wife Jemima (age 24, born Missouri) and daughters Lucy (age 3) and Bettie (age 1).
The 1900 census (Salt River Township, Audrain County, Missouri) found him as John R. Martin, born July 1841, Virginia, schoolteacher, with wife Mary (born March 1859), daughter Mamie (born March 1890), and step-daughter Callie Eshong. He had remarried between the two censuses.
Jemima had remarried Charles O. Kinney in 1891. By 1900 both daughters — Lucy and Bettie — appeared as Kinney step-daughters in Pike County, Missouri.
No marriage records for Dick Martin were found in Audrain or Callaway County.

A follow-up report traced Dick Martin's daughters from his first marriage into twentieth-century records.

Bettie Martin apparently never married. A possible death record was located for 1969.
A Lucy Martin who married William Erickson in Pike County in 1915 was investigated but eliminated — census evidence showed this was a different woman (wrong age and family).
The Kinney household did not appear in the 1910 Missouri or Illinois census, suggesting the family had moved further west.

This report addressed a published genealogy that assigned Pennsylvania origins to the Elias Martin line — a claim Lynn suspected was wrong.

GRA confirmed that Elias Martin was a long-established Fauquier County, Virginia resident: married there in 1791 and leaving his will there in 1832. No Pennsylvania connection was substantiated.
A published claim that Francis Melvin Martin (born 30 August 1842) was a child of John Martin's family was disproved. The birth intervals are biologically implausible, and no bible record supports the connection.
Both the Ancestral File and IGI entries linking Francis to Elias were traced to a single submitter, Donald G. Martin of San Diego, California, and were not independently corroborated.

Census Records

Federal census records were a primary tool for establishing ages, household compositions, and migrations. Lynn's working files include census images and transcriptions for the Martin family across the 1850, 1860, 1870, and 1880 enumerations.

Year	Record	Principal	Notes
1850	U.S. Federal Census, Virginia	John & Susan Martin family	Household includes Robert, Margaret, Mildred, John Jr., George
1850	U.S. Federal Census, Virginia	Mary Martin	Adjacent household to Mildred Martin
1860	U.S. Federal Census, Virginia	John Martin family	Family composition cross-checked against 1850 record
1880	U.S. Federal Census, Missouri	John Richard Martin	Montgomery County; confirms first marriage to Jemima
1880	U.S. Federal Census, Missouri	George W. & Mildred L. Martin	Josh and Minnie Martin post-war Missouri household
1880	U.S. Federal Census	Lucy A. Gilmore	Research into Dick Martin's first wife's family
1880	U.S. Federal Census	John Richard Martin	Separate enumeration image — confirms schoolteacher occupation
1880	U.S. Federal Census	Mary Childs Martin	Bob Martin's wife; household in Fauquier County
1870	U.S. Federal Census, Virginia	John Martin	Post-war household; two-page enumeration

Vital Records & Legal Documents

Marriage bonds, wills, and deed records form the documentary backbone of the family chronology. These documents are reproduced on their respective chapter and appendix pages.

Elias Martin chapter — Elias Martin & Mary Mountjoy marriage bond (1791); Ficklin–Martin marriage bond; Shumate–Martin marriage bond
Elias Martin chapter — Will of Tilman Martin
The Parents chapter — Survey of John Martin Home Farm; Martin Licking Run Farm plats; Martin deeds 1875–1877 (see Appendix 7 table)
Appendix 7 — Germantown land transactions 1729–1823 (William A. Martin analysis); Honest John Martin family vital-statistics table

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