Conecuh County's G.R. Boulware served in the Confederate Secret Service

G.R. Boulware

From an historical standpoint, tomorrow (Friday) is remarkable because it’s the birthday of one of the toughest - and most mysterious - soldiers to ever come out of Conecuh County.

Gillchrist R. Boulware was born near Brooklyn on Aug. 15, 1842, and, at the age of 18, he enlisted in the Confederate army as a private, signing up at Sparta on April 1, 1861 as a member of Co. E of the 4th Alabama Infantry, aka, the “Conecuh Guards.”

A little over a year later, in July 1862, Boulware and the Conecuh Guards found themselves in Henrico County, Va. where they fought at the Battle of Malvern Hill. This battle took place on July 1, 1862 and Boulware was “slightly wounded,” finding himself among the 5,300 Confederate casualties on that day.

A few months later, on Dec. 11, 1862, Boulware and the Conecuh Guards found themselves in Fredericksburg, Va., where Boulware was wounded while serving as the Color Sergeant for the 4th Alabama Infantry Regiment at the Battle of Fredericksburg. During the Civil War, Confederate regiments typically carried a single battle flag, so as the Regimental Color Sergeant, Boulware found himself at the head of 350 to 400 men as they marched into battle. As you might imagine, this is not the safest spot on the battlefield, which should attest to Boulware’s bravery.

According to Riley’s History of Conecuh County, less than a year later, in September 1863, Boulware again found himself serving as Color Sergeant for the 4th Alabama Infantry Regiment at the Battle of Chickamauga, Ga. That two-day battle occurred on Sept. 19-20, 1863, and Boulware was severely wounded in the side and arm on Sept. 19. The wound to his arm was so bad that it had to be amputated, and Boulware returned to Conecuh County to recover.

Many men would have put up their marching boots at that point, but instead, records show that Boulware joined the Confederate Secret Service on Dec. 1, 1863 (some sources say Jan. 11, 1864), and he served with that clandestine organization all the way through the end of the war in April 1865.

Little is known about Boulware’s service in this secret organization, and very little is known about Confederate secret operations in general. In April 1865, Confederate Secretary of State Judah P. Benjamin burned most of the organization’s official papers just before the Confederate government evacuated Richmond, Va. These destroyed documents have left a big blank spot for modern historians when it comes to researching the Confederate Secret Service and men like Boulware. Rumored operations included espionage, scouting, spying, secret courier operations and operations in foreign countries like Canada and England.

After the war, Boulware remained very active in local veterans affairs and as late as 1917, he was the commander of Camp Capt. William Lee, No. 338, of the United Confederate Veterans in Conecuh County.  Boulware passed away a few years later, dying at Brooklyn on Sept. 28, 1922. He is buried in the Brooklyn Baptist Church Cemetery.

In the end, if anyone in the reading audience has any more information about Boulware, I’d like to hear from you. You can call me at The Courant at 578-1492, e-mail me at courantsports@earthlink.net or write me at The Evergreen Courant, ATTN: Lee Peacock, P.O. Box 440, Evergreen, AL 36401.