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Raymond Reed McDaniel is the son of Albrittain Van Buren and Polly Ballard McDaniel. He was born in Warren County, Georgia, but spent much of his childhood in Alabama. In 1847, he married Lucretia Jane Cloer in Fayette County, Alabama; the family remained in Fayette County until after the Civil War. By the time of the 1860 census, he and Lucretia have five children, and they are living with or next door to Raymond's father in Fayette County.

At the start of the Civil War Raymond joined the 43rd Alabama Infantry Regiment and fought in Tennessee and Virginia. After the war, the family remained in Fayette County for a year or two and then moved to Texas. Their seventh child Margaret was born in Alabama in Feb 1866 and their last child Robert in Texas on July 4, 1867.

Raymond and Lucretia lived in Texas for the remainder of their lives. They are in Freestone County in 1872, Wise County in 1880 and Stephens County in 1900. His application to the Texas Pension Board for a Civil War pension was approved in October 1899 and again in March 1901.

Lucretia died unexpectedly, in 1904, while visiting their daughter Margaret in Pilot Point, Texas, and she is buried in Pilot Point. Raymond lived several more years at the family home in Stephens County. He was attacked and robbed on his way home after cashing his pension check. He died of his injuries on November 14, 1907, shortly after the robbery. He is buried in Stephens County.

Civil War Service

Raymond Reed Mc Daniel enlisted on April 29, 1862 as a private in Company I of the 43rd Alabama Infantry Regiment. His brother Brittain served with him in Company I. The 43rd Alabama Infantry Regiment was organized in May 1862 at Mobile, and spent the remainder of 1862 in Tennessee and Kentucky.

The regiment spent the winter of 1862-63 in Cumberland Gap, and then was attached to General Braxton Bragg's army at Tullahoma. In September 1863 it fought in the Battle of Chickamauga and sustained severe losses. The 43rd Alabama remained with General Bragg's army during the siege of Chattanooga.

The regiment joined General Beauregard's forces at Petersburg, Virginia in May 1864. When the Union army attacked towards Richmond, the 43rd fought at Drewry's Bluff and suffered heavy casualties. The regiment occupied the trenches in front of Petersburg from June 1864 until the close of the war, fighting continually and taking part in most of the actions that occurred during the siege.

On the march from Petersburg to Appomattox, large numbers of the 43rd Alabama were captured during fighting at Saylers Creek on April 6, 1865. Only 15 officers and 113 men were present to be surrendered and paroled at Appomattox.
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