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Robert H. Hudgens was born in
Laurens county, Sep. tember 3, 1847, the son of John and Catherine (
Allison)
Hudgens.
His father, a prominent citizen of
Laurens county, the son of
Ambrose Hudgens, a Revolutionary soldier, was a member of the secession convention of
South Carolina.
Robert H. was the youngest of five brothers who served in the Confederate army:
Dr. Thomas A.,
Capt. William L., John M., Ambrose W., and Robert H.
Dr. Thomas A. Hudgens graduated in medicine before the war, entered the service as a surgeon of the Seventh South Carolina regiment, was subsequently made captain of a company and finally lieutenant-colonel of his regiment, commanding it in several fights.
He was wounded frequently, but only once seriously, and after the war practiced his profession until his death in 1892.
Capt. William L. Hudgens entered the war in Company C,
James' battalion, and upon reorganization in 1862 was made captain of his company.
He died from sickness in
Charleston shortly after his promotion to the captaincy.
He had graduated at Erskine college, and when the war broke out was a practicing lawyer in
Laurens.
John M. Hudgens is a surveyor by profession and has served in the State legislature since the war. He enlisted as a member of State Guards, Third South Carolina regiment, and served during the war, being severely wounded at
Fredericksburg.
He is now a resident of
Laurens, S. C. Ambrose W. Hudgens served as an orderly-sergeant in Company C,
James' battalion, being promoted to first lieutenant; was several times wounded, survived the war, and now lives at
Easley, S. C. Robert H. Hudgens, the youngest, was reared on a farm in
Laurens county, the old family homestead, four miles west of
Laurens, which is still the property of the family.
He was too young to enter the war in the beginning, but in April, 1862, at fourteen years of age, he ran away from home to join the Confederate army.
He first joined
Capt. Boyce's artillery; but his brother,
Capt. William L., learning that he was in the service, persuaded him to join his company.
He served with Company C.
James' battalion, in the vicinity of
Charleston; was taken sick, and when the command left for
Virginia was in the hospital at
Adams' Run.
Upon partially recovering he returned home, and his father secured for him a cadetship in the
South Carolina military academy.
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