On February 28, 1862, Hugh Biggs enlisted as a private in Company E, 51st Regiment NCT. At enlistment, Biggs, a Robeson County resident, claimed he was 21 years of age and farmed for a living. The new private’s military career got off to a bad start when he was hospitalized for measles in May. Once cured of the measles, Private Biggs was immediately readmitted to the hospital for debility. The second illness resulted in Biggs being granted a furlough, which he overstayed. He was reported AWOL from September to December of 1862. In short, Private Hugh Biggs was absent from May through December of his first year of service.
The second year of Bigg’s enlistment was better than the first. He was only sick for a brief period in the spring of 1863 and was with the regiment at Battery Wagner. But deteriorating health landed him in a Charleston hospital for most of December. After being discharged from the hospital, Private Biggs rejoined Company E in Virginia, but by March 1864, he was back in the hospital. Diagnosed with anasarca and anemia, Biggs was treated in a Richmond hospital until November 1864. He was sent home on furlough and did not return to his unit.
Wait a minute…further research reveals that this Hugh Biggs and Mr. Henry H. Biggs of Robeson County are one and the same. And he wasn’t 21 years old. He was born on February 11, 1849, making him just a few weeks past his 13th birthday when he joined the army. That makes him the youngest soldier to serve in the 51st North Carolina.
In 1870, when Henry Biggs was 21, he had a run-in with the infamous Lowry Gang. One night, Biggs encountered Zack McLauchlin, the meanest member of the gang. McLauchlin had recently escaped from jail and had a price on his head. He was a desperate man. McLauchlin pulled a pistol, shoved it into Biggs’ ribs, and told him to assist him in robbing the quarters of several turpentine workers.
After the pair had successfully completed the robberies, McLauchlin led them to a bay, where he made Biggs build a fire. As they waited for other members of the gang to show up, the outlaw imbibed freely from a bottle of liquor. The two men laid down to rest and presently, McLauchlin began to snore. Biggs crept over to McLauchlin, eased a pistol out of the sleeping man’s belt, and shot the gangster in the back of the head, the bullet exiting through his eye. Biggs fired a second shot that exited through McLauchlin’s ear. Biggs then walked to town and reported the incident to law officers.
The Lowry Gang swore revenge for the killing of one of their members. They stalked Biggs, hoping to find an opportunity to kill him. After two close calls, Henry left the state. He moved up north and remained there until the gang was finally disbanded. After Biggs returned to Robeson County, he went to work as a railroad station master until he retired in 1925.
At 12:55 pm, February 21, 1938, Henry H. “Hugh” Biggs died at his home near Pembroke. He is buried at the Philadelphus Presbyterian Church at Red Springs, NC.
The Robesonian, 23 Feb 1838 and NARA Compiled Service Record for Hugh Biggs
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