Robert C. Dawson 
2nd Lieutenant  
7th West Virginia Calvary,  Company F

For further information, contact Justin Dawson.

Robert C. Dawson enlisted in the 8th Va. mounted infantry (later 7th Wv Cav.) as a private on November 4, 1861. By the the time he participated in the Salem Raid he had been promoted to Sgt. He endured all the hardships and sufferings of the raid, along with his fellow soldiers; even as his cousin Noah was captured and sent to Andersonville Prison Camp. He continued to serve his regiment with honor and attained the rank of 2nd Lt. by August 1864. That same month he received special permission from Governor Arthur I. Boreman to recruit a company of soldiers. While attempting to muster in recruits he was shot by a band of confederates concealed in a nearby thicket. The ball passed through his left arm severing nerves and lodging in his armpit, rendering the limb permanently and entirely useless. Robert mustered out in August 1865, going on to serve as Commander of the G.A.R. post #5 in the 1880's and 1890's. Robert was a prominent lawyer in Charleston until he passed away in July 1903 at the age of 62.