Born in Lancaster, South Carolina, she moved to Union County, North Carolina, was 20 years old and described as having "....good features, bronzed skin, dark eyes, and short hair." Assuming the alias, "Charley Mills," she joined Co. D of the Jeff Davis Legion in order to be with her husband and had served in the unit for nine months at the time of the battle. The newspaper article claimed that she "....has been in all the fights, was never sick or absent from duty." Her husband was killed at Bentonville, which ended her desire to serve. As a result, she revealed her true identity, was arrested "... on suspicion of being a female" and sent to the hospital for an examination.
On March 19, 1927, the anniversary of the battle, an account by Governor Angus W. McLean's late father appeared in the Fayetteville Observer, which corroborated the newspaper articles. The senior McLean, who was a member of Company B of the 13th North Carolina Light Artillery Battlalion, remembered:
We were intently watching our cavalry about 200 or 300 yards distant in an open pine forest in our front skirmishing on the brow of a small ridge when someone exclaimed, 'Hello, there's some one killed." Quickly a comrade was seen spurring to his side, and with some assistance, although under a continuous fire from sharpshooters, succeeded in raising his bleeding form across the front of his saddle, and with the most profound resoluteness rode by us to the rear, with his body dangling on either side of the horse's shoulders. Imagine our surprise when, a few days later, we heard that our faithful warrior was a woman, and none other than the wife of him whose remains she had so heroically borne from the field, having volunteered, it was said, disguised as a man, in an Alabama regiment at the beginning of the second year of the war. She had shared with her husband all of the privations and dangers incidental to a soldier's life for three years. Faithful to the end to the cause which required her husband's services, and even after death, to him from whom she would not be separated, not even by the horrors of warfare. She went to the proper authorities, made known her disguise, and was honorably discharged from military service."
According to the author of "Women in the Ranks: Concealed Identities in Civil War Era North Carolina" on the North Carolina 150 website (click HERE for the link), McLean's battery was in a position that enabled them to observe the skirmishing around noon on March 20th as Colonel Robert Catterson's brigade of the Union XV Corps advanced on Confederate positions near the Flowers House. The author of the article on the website believes that the volley that killed Margaret's husband was fired by the 100th Indiana Infantry. According to Sergeant Theodore Upson of that unit, the "Johnny Cavelry (sic) came dashing into our rear" nearly capturing several Union generals in the process, and that the officers "...faced the regiment towards them and the men fired a volley into them that scattered them."
I cannot confirm, however, that Co. D of the Jeff Davis Legion was part of the "Johnny Cavelry" described by Upson. All I could find was that elements of Wade Hampton's horse soldiers were flanking Hagwood's skirmishers when the 100th Indiana was attacked. I could not find which units were in which element.
Even though the author of the article on the North Carolina website listed his or her findings from census research, I conducted my own to see if I could learn anything new. Besides, as a math teacher, I'm all about checking your work. ;-) I was able to find Margaret Plyler in the 1860 census for Union County, North Carolina just as the author had. She was 16 and living with her mother, Rachel. They were both working as a domestic. According to the report, they were born in South Carolina, which matches the details given in the articles. I was able to find Rachel in 1870 and 1880 census records in the same location, but no Margaret. She more than likely married and moved away.The newspaper accounts do not name her supposed husband, but I found the service records of a Pvt. Richard S. Torry that were mentioned by the author of the article. He enlisted in Co. D of the Jeff Davis Legion in Montgomery in August, 1861, at the age of 19. I was able to find him in the 1860 census living with his family in Rapides, Louisiana. The report indicated that all of the family members were born in Alabama, so he must have returned there to serve the state of his birth. This is consistent with his records, which indicate that he traveled "1000 miles" to enlist. His fate is not detailed. The last card lists him as being present in October, 1864, and then nothing else. I could not find him in subsequent census reports, so one would assume the story of his death at Bentonville may very well be true.
I couldn't find a record of a marriage and am not sure how they even met. I couldn't find a prior connection with Torry in the Carolinas or with Plyler in Alabama or Louisiana. His service records indicate he was on a "furlough of indulgence" (issued due to a personal situation as opposed to a physical issue) from January to February, 1864, and then on detached service as a scout from May until August, 1864. Margaret claimed they had been married for ten months before the battle, which would mean they wed sometime around May, 1864. So could it be that they met and became engaged while Richard was on furlough or on a scouting expedition? She lived in the southern part of North Carolina. The Jeff Davis Legion was mostly in Virginia until late 1864 or early 1865 when they headed to the Carolinas. It's difficult to imagine that he would be that far away from his unit even while on furlough or scouting. So based on the time frame Margaret described, she more than likely had to have been in the Virginia area for some reason, which would be extremely difficult to try to prove. Unfortunately, we'll probably never know under what circumstances they met.
And I wonder if they were ever married at all. Not only could I not find a marriage record, I haven't been able to find a pension application for Torry either. But research is ongoing.
There seems to be a discrepancy as to the length of her service. Mr. McLean claimed she served for three years while the newspaper articles said it was nine months. I think perhaps McLean's account is incorrect. His memory could have been off about such a detail, or the report as he heard it a few days after Bentonville was incorrect.
Finally, I was not able to find a "Charley Mills," Margaret's alias, in the Jeff Davis Legion. I searched in other companies and with various spellings with no results. Either the newspapers got it wrong, or she lied; although, I'm not sure why she would lie about a male alias when she provided her feminine name. The officers could have had her records expunged after her revelation. But by March 1865, I can imagine that record keeping was not high on a list of priorities as evidenced by the fact that Torry's last card was October, 1864. Nevertheless, this is a possibility. She could have also been a hired civilian orderly.
Regardless, the story of Margaret Plyler Torry seems to hold true.
As an aside: this is a picture of one of her brothers, Wesley Plyler. He was three years her junior.
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