John J. Amburgey
Co B., 13th Kentucky Cavalry, CSA

John J. Amburgey was born in April 1843, the son of Ambrose "Hardhead/Knothead" Amburgey and Elizabeth Johnson, grandson of John J. Amburgey. John was a descendant of John Amburgey, a Revolutionary war soldier and pioneer of Kentucky settling in what is now Carr Creek, Knott County near Hindman, Kentucky.

John joined the confederacy in Benajmin E. Caudill's "Army" (10th Mounted Rifles, later designated 13th Cav, CSA) as a private and enrolled on September 18, 1861 at the age of 18. He likely fought at the Battles of Leatherwood (Perry County) in October of 1862, Mill Cliff, Poor Fork, and Whitesburg, and Gladeville. He was captured during the Union Raid on Gladesville, Virginia (now Wise, Wise County, Virginia) on July 7, 1863. His position was given away during a retreat by a soldier who put his hand on a poisonous snake. He was imprisoned in Camp Chase, Ohio. He was transferred to Camp Douglas, Illinois on August 24, 1863.

He moved to Castlewood District of Russell County Virginia in 1865 to farm. He then moved to Norton, in Wise County, and married Ailey Grizzell ((d/o William & Elizabeth Franklin Grizzell -- his grandfather John J. Amburgey had also married an Aily Girzzell) and they had six children. He worked as a cabinet maker. He was blind in one eye and suffered from rheumatism from his war service. His pension was approved on August 7, 1902 for $15.

John Came from a large family of 13 children. The eldest sibling, Ailey, married a fellow 10th Mounted Rifles soldier, Russell Cornett. John Amburgey is buried on a mountain in Russell County, Virginia and his grave was recently marked with a veterans stone by the Colonel Benjamin E. Caudill Camp, Sons of Confederate Veterans.

Mark's Great Granduncle

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Sources:
Letcher Census 1850:153:135(Burgy); 1860:75:25; Russell Census 1870:39:376; Wise Census 1880:10:37,38; Russell Census 1900:73:6,7; Russell MR 2:25;
Individual records of confederate soldiers on microfiche