Semple, Henry C., 1822-1894

Henry C. Semple of Montgomery, Ala., an artillery officer in the Confederate Army, served during the Civil War in Alabama and with the Army of Tennessee.

Henry Churchill Semple (1822-1894) of Montgomery, Ala., was a captain and then a major in the Confederate Army. Semple's Battery was organized at Montgomery in March 1862, with officers and men nearly all from Montgomery County. Ordered to Mobile, it then joined the Army of Tennessee. It marched into Kentucky, was engaged at Perryville, and later fought in Tennessee at Murfreesboro, Dug Gap, Chicamauga, Mission Ridge, Ringgold Gap, Resaca, Jonesboro, Franklin, and Nashville. Ordered to North Carolina, the battery reached Augusta, and there surrendered. (Information about Semple's Battery from the web site of the Alabama Department of Archives and History.)

Semple was born 1822 Jan. 14, in Williamsburg, Va., to Judge James and Joanna (McKenzie) Semple. He received both the A.B. and L.B. degrees from William and Mary College in 1841, and an L.B. degree from Harvard University in 1845. He began to practice law in Ala. as a member of Goldthwaite, Rice and Semple, and later helped form Brickell, Semple and Gunter, both firms operating in Montgomery, Ala. During the Civil War he rose to the rank of major. He died in Montgomery, Montgomery Co., Ala., 1894 Feb. 13.