| Samuel Tarry was born on July 1, 1837, at Ivy
Hill Plantation, Mecklenburg County, Virginia. He graduated from
the University of Virginia before the war and had to take over the
family plantation in Mecklenburg in 1862 when his father died. Two
of his brothers—Thomas Little Tarry and Joseph Hawkins Tarry—had
joined the Confederate army, leaving Samuel to seek a substitute
in the Confederate draft because he was the only male left to run
the plantation. Instead, he enlisted in Company K of the 34th Virginia
Infantry on March 2, 1863, as a private and served in that unit
for the rest of the war.
The 34th Virginia Volunteer Infantry was organized
in May 1862 with men from Norfolk, Richmond, Yorktown, and the counties
of Gloucester, Mecklenburg, Bedford, Greene, and King and Queen.
For nearly two years the regiment served as heavy artillery in the
defenses of Richmond as the 4th Regiment of Heavy Artillery and
thus saw little action. In May 1864, the 4th Heavy Artillery was
transformed into an infantry regiment and assigned to the brigade
of former governor Henry A. Wise. The 34th fought in the long siege
of Petersburg south of the James River and marched to Appomattox
Courthouse, where it surrendered with Lee’s army. The 34th
contained 466 effectives in June 1862 as an artillery unit and surrendered
14 officers and 210 infantrymen at Appomattox.
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After the war, Samuel Tarry returned to Mecklenburg
County and married Henrietta Maria Hamilton on June 12, 1867. Four
children came from this marriage, two sons and two daughters. Samuel
Tarry died on April 15, 1900, at age 62, and was buried in the Tarry
family cemetery at Ivy Hill in Mecklenburg.
The memory of Private Samuel Tarry of Company
K, 34th Virginia Infantry, is perpetuated in this camp by his grandson,
Compatriot Samuel L. Tarry, Sr.
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