The Bobbitt Family In America

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Norman Haynes Bobbitt the second child of James and Malinda Catherine Bobbitt, was born on August 26, 1860 in Cabell County in what is now West Virginia. The family lived here until James enlisted into the Confederate army in 1862.

James Bobbitt sold tobacco in the town of Huntington which was situated on the banks of the Ohio River. When the issues of the Union states and the Confederate states was discussed at the tobacco auctions differences of opinions were greater here than in any other section of Virginia. James Bobbitt was positive and decisive. He completely dedicated himself to the Confederate cause a dedication that controlled and colored his entire life.

In 1861 James joined the Confederate Army but his entrance into service was not until November 1, 1862. He was promoted to the position of Second Lieutenant on November 1, 1862. He served in Company C, of the 36th Battalion of Virginia Cavalry which was organized on February 5, 1863. James Bobbitt was immediately appointed to serve as Captain in this unit.

In November of 1862, James sold his land in Cabell County, and took his family back to Monroe County where he and his family resided with the Aldersons. The Alderson family was dedicated to the causes of the Confederate states, and undoubtedly, at this point believed that their daughter, Malinda, had married a man of substance and character. When James left his wife in the care of the Alderson family, she was pregnant with their last child who was born February 19, 1863 and named Mathilda Jane Bobbitt. James Bobbitt did not see his only daughter until she was two years of age.

There is a story that James Bobbitt attempted to see his daughter during the war. He rode a horse from Charleston in Kanawha County to Monroe County, but was followed by members of the Union forces. John Houston Bobbitt met James Bobbitt with a fresh horse and persuaded him to move on without seeing his daughter as he was in danger of being captured.

According to the records in the National Archives in Washington, James Bobbitt was made a First Lieutenant in October of 1864. Although appointed as a First Lieutenant he served as a Captain. On November 28, 1864, he was captured by Major Potts at New Creek Road, Virginia. He was sent to Camp Chase, Ohio as a prisoner. According to Union records he was paroled at Camp Chase, Ohio, on March 4, 1865 and returned to Confederate forces at City Point, Virginia on March 11, 1865.