22 June 1830–3 May 1863
See also: Barry, John Decatur; Lane, James Henry
Thomas James Purdie, Confederate officer, was born at Purdie Hall on the Cape Fear River in Bladen County, between Fayetteville and Elizabethtown, the second son of James B. (d. 1834) and Anna Maria Smith Purdie. His birthplace, a two-story brick Georgian-style house, still standing in 1992, was built by his grandfather. Little is known of his early life except in a few local accounts, such as a neighbor's diaries, indicating that he was a quiet, well-respected young man who collected books and helped tend his family's vast landholdings on both sides of the river. Family papers mention a special room for his library in a home he built for himself about 1855, several hundred yards upriver from Purdie Hall. This house, where he lived only a few years, was willed to his sister, Eliza Jane, who subsequently married William C. Dunham. The 1860 census reveals that Purdie was among the wealthiest men in the county.
Although Purdie appears not to have been mustering with the local militia, the Bladen Guards, he enlisted as a private in May 1861. The militia was called into state service at Wilmington on 15 June 1861 as Company K, Eighth North Carolina Volunteers, and sent to nearby Camp Wyatt for training and outfitting. As a measure of the confidence he inspired and the leadership he displayed, Purdie was soon elected captain of the company. Following several promotions, he was a colonel by the end of 1862 and the Eighth Regiment had been redesignated the Eighteenth. With Purdie in command, it was attached to James H. Lane's Fourth Brigade under General Thomas J. (Stonewall) Jackson. The Eighteenth was sent by rail to Virginia in May 1862 and within a month became a part of Jackson's "foot cavalry."
Purdie is mentioned many times in surviving Confederate records. He led troops of the North Carolina 18th Infantry in the battles of Hanover Court House, the Seven Days, and Cedar Mountain. He commanded the regiment at Second Manassas, Harper’s Ferry, Sharpsburg, Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville. He was wounded at Fredericksburg, and killed at Chancellorsville.
For the Confederacy, Chancellorsville was both a victory and a loss, because of the mortal wounding of Stonewall Jackson by Purdie’s regiment. General James Lane had cautioned all his regiments that Yankees were in their front. The 18th regiment did not know that Generals Jackson and A. P. Hill had gone forward to reconnoiter. On the evening of May 2, 1863, the men of the 18th were surprised by horses in the woods in front of them. They believed it was Union cavalry and opened fire, killing several of Hill’s officers and wounding Jackson. The darkness combined with thick woods made it difficult for the soldiers to distinguish friend from foe.
Initially angered by the deaths of his staff, General A. P. Hill harshly reprimanded Colonel Purdie. Hill later returned and publicly apologized to Purdie.
Regarding the incident, General Lane said: I never heard [General Hill], nor have I ever heard any one else censure the 18th regiment for firing under the circumstances.
The event was treated as a tragic accident, and the Confederate Army never punished anyone. In fact, Major John Barry was promoted to Colonel, after the wounding of Lieutenant Colonel Forney George and the death of Colonel Purdie.
Purdie died the next day (May 3), leading his regiment with drawn saber in a charge against twenty-eight Union cannons on Fairview Heights. He was shot in the forehead and killed instantly. In a subsequent charge, his troops took the position and recovered his body. It was sent by rail from Richmond to Wilmington, and from there by steamer up the Cape Fear River to his family.
Purdie's execution of command is commended in available records. On 12 July 1862, after the battles of Mechanicsville and Malvern Hill, not long before Purdie took full command of the Eighteenth, Col. Robert H. Cowan wrote: Where all behaved well it is difficult to make distinctions . . . still I desire to make special mention of my lieutenant-colonel, Thomas J. Purdie. He was everywhere in the thickest of the fight, cool and courageous, encouraging the men and directing them in their duty. His services were invaluable.
Following Purdie's and Jackson's deaths, Lane wrote on 11 May 1863: Never have I seen men fight more gallantly or bear fatigue and hardship more cheerfully. I shall always be proud of the noble bearing of my brigade in the Battle of Chancellorsville—the bloodiest in which it has ever taken part, where the 18th and 28th [North Carolina Troops] gallantly repulsed two night attacks made by vastly superior numbers. . . . Its gallantry has cost it many noble sacrifices and we are called upon to mourn the loss of . . . the gentle, but gallant and fearless Col. Purdie [who] was killed while urging forward his men.
Purdie died at thirty-three and never married. Following a funeral service at Purdie Methodist Church near his home, he was buried in the family cemetery on 10 May 1863. This was the same day that General Jackson died of complications from his wounds. Purdie's mother was still living at the time of his death.