William Gove Clampitt was the son of Richard Arlen and Lydia Floyd Carter Clampitt and the grandson of Samuel and Priscilla Clampitt. He is the great grandson of William Gove and Mary Clampitt. William's great grandfather was a Rev. War Patriot. He was at Valley Forge with General George Washington and fought at the Battle of Kings Mountain with Col. Ben Cleveland. Ben liked to "Parole" Tories. William grew up on his father's Huckleberry Hill Plantation 2 mi east of Woodville,Miss. His father Richard A. was a neighbor and friend of Samuel Davis (father of Jefferson Davis). When Mississippi seceded in 1861, William and his brothers Richard C. and James A. joined Co E, 21st Miss Inf Regt (Hurricane Rifles)Capt.Issac Davis Stamps Commanding (nephew of Jefferson Davis). When they found that William was just 16, he was sent home. Soon after, William loaded his horse and outfit on a riverboat at Natchez and headed north to his Uncle Samuel Clampitt's home in NE Ark to join the Cavalry. In June 1861 he joined the Border Rangers of Capt Francis Chrisman. After training, the Border Rangers joined the Confederate service July 25, 1861 and were assigned to Solon Borlands 1st Ark Mounted Vol. In Sept 1861, the Border Rangers were attached to the 6th Battalion Ark Cav as Co E, Hardee's Div of the Confederate Central Army of Kentucky. This command went under Gen Thomas Hindman to Columbus, Ky then to Bowling Green and performed post duty along the Green River, While there, they fought in the battles of Brownsville Nov 20,1861 and Rowlett's Station Dec 17,1861. They covered the retreat of Gen Albert Sidney Johnston to Nashville and into Miss. They fought at the Battle of Shiloh Tenn April 6-7,1862 and helped to cover the withdrawal of Gen Beauregard to Corinth,Miss. On April 20,1862 the Border Rangers were consolidated with the Crittenden Rangers and on May 15,1862 they became Co A, 2nd Ark Cav Regt with A.H.Christian,Capt and William F Slemons, Col. William Clampitt was captured by the yankees on June 1,1862 at the Seige of Corinth. Co A 2nd Ark Cav had been left at Corinth to cover the retreat of Gen Beauregard. William was then sent to St Louis,Mo and then to Alton Military Prison US. My grandpa, Dick Clampitt, said that William was treated so badly by the "guards" that he never forgot it. On Sept 23,1862 he was sent to Vicksburg to be exchanged. He returned to his company on Oct 20 and Oct 31 was appointed Sergeant. January 1, 1863. Company A was transfered to the 3rd Ark Cavalry in Gen Van Dorn's Army and became Company E. Assigned to Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest's Cavalry Corp after the death of Van Dorn in April, 1863, they served in a number of raids, skirmishes and campaigns including Thompson's Station(Mar 5, 1863); Franklin (April 10,1863); the Tullahoma Campaign in June, 1863; the Battle of Chickamauga on Sept 19-20 1863(William's brother, Richard died fighting with the 21st Miss at Chickamauga);the Siege of Chattanooga in Sept through Nov, 1863; the Siege of Knoxville, TN in Nov,1863. In 1864, William and the Border Rangers were under the command of Gen."Fighting Joe" Wheeler and Maj. Gen. William T. Martin (Wheeler's second in command) through the Atlanta Campaign and the Siege of Atlanta, in cavalry clashes at Flat Shoals, Brown's Mill Strawberry Plains and Thompson's Station; in opposing Sherman's March to the Sea (the Savannah Campaign in Nov and Dec of 1864); and in the Carolinas Campaign in Feb through April of 1865. Surrendered with Gen Joseph Johnston and the Army of Tennessee near Durham Station, North Carolina on April 26, 1865. William met Savilia Victoria Able and they were married May 29,1871. I have their original marriage certificate. They lived near Victoria's parents in Redlands, Hempstead County, Arkansas. William's brother, Henry J's widow lived with them. His brothers James and Samuel lived near by in Sevier County. In 1880 they moved to Texas, where their son Richard Carter Clampitt was born. In about 1890, they moved to Fitzhugh,Pontotoc Co, IT, Okla. Called "Little Dixie".GDC