Alexander Hunter was born in 1843 and was a member of the Hunter family.[3] He was the son of Bushrod Hunter and Mary Frances Blow.[4] He lived during his youth at the
Abingdon plantation in present-day
Arlington County, Virginia and studied at private schools until the start of the
American Civil War in 1861.[5]
Civil War
Alexander Hunter became a private in the
Confederate Army where he served in Company A of the 17th Virginia Infantry for the first two years of the war.[6][7] Hunter was captured in 1862 but was
exchanged in time to fight at
Antietam.[8][9] He was paroled soon after being captured again on September 17, 1862 at Antietam and went on to participate in the
Battle of Chancellorsville.[10]
Following Chancellorsville, Hunter joined Company H in the 4th Virginia Cavalry Regiment, also known as the "Black Horse Troop", on the recommendation of General
Robert E. Lee.[3][6] Captured once more, he attempted escape twice and finally returned to his regiment to serve until the Confederate
surrender.[11] Wounded twice during the war, Hunter was pardoned by
President Andrew Johnson on September 4, 1865.[12]
Later life
Following the end of the Civil War, Hunter found that Abingdon plantation, which he had inherited, had been confiscated by the United States Tax Commissioners in 1864. He won his lands back after the (Bennett v. Hunter, 76 U.S. 326) case was decided by the
Supreme Court of the United States on March 21, 1870.[13]
In 1881, Hunter advertised Abingdon for sale.[16] During the same year, he sold his remaining Abingdon property at auction to the Alfred Richards Brick Company.[12] The property at Abingdon that Hunter once owned is now within
Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport,
Crystal City and the Aurora Hills section of the Aurora Highlands neighborhood.[3][17]
Hunter was married to Alice A. Swain by George Armstrong on June 22, 1882.[18] Alice Swain was a student of music at the Philadelphia Academy.[18] Hunter sued for divorce on December 10, 1894 after Swain purportedly deserted him in September 6, 1892.[19][20] He married Filah Saunders[21] after the death of his first wife in 1898.[12]
Hunter authored the story Confederate prisoners in Boston, which was published in 1900. He subsequently wrote a seven hundred page memoir Johnny Reb and Billy Yank.[22][12][16] It was published in 1905 by Neale Publishing Co.[23] His final book, The Women of the Debatable Land, was published in 1912.[2]
^
abcdeAbbott, Dorothea E. (October 1982).
"The Hunter Family and its Connection with Arlington County"(PDF). The Arlington Historical Magazine. 7 (2). Arlington, Virginia: The Arlington Historical Society, Inc.: 44–45.
Archived(PDF) from the original on November 6, 2020. Retrieved March 29, 2021.
^
abcdefgDodge, George (October 1999). W. Karl VanNewkirk (ed.).
"The Abingdon of Alexander Hunter, Et Al."The Arlington Historical Magazine. 11 (3). Arlington, Virginia: The Arlington Historical Society, Inc.: 47–51.
Archived from the original on October 22, 2020. Retrieved March 26, 2021 – via Docplayer.
^Clark, Charlie (June 12, 2020).
"Our Man in Arlington". Falls Church News-Press Online.
Archived from the original on February 20, 2021. Retrieved March 29, 2021.
^"Aurora Highlands NC Plan Update"(PDF). Arlington County, Virginia: Arlington County Department of Community Planning, Housing and Development. 2008.
Archived(PDF) from the original on September 23, 2015. Retrieved November 15, 2015..
^
ab"Hunter-Swain Marriage". The Bucks County Gazette. Bristol, Pennsylvania. June 29, 1882. p. 3. Retrieved September 7, 2022.
^"Hunter-Swain Desertion". The Washington Times. December 11, 1894. p. 2. Retrieved September 7, 2022.
^"Alleged Desertion". Evening Star. Washington, District of Columbia. December 11, 1894. p. 12. Retrieved September 7, 2022.