Hagerstonians in the Civil War

Hagerstonians in the Civil War. Surgeon John M. Gaines, CSA. In 1861 Dr. John M. Gaines opened a practice in Alexandria, Virginia. He lived at the Marshall House Hotel, which was owned by stalwart secessionist James W. Jackson who flew a large Confederate flag over his hotel. On May 24, 1861, Union troops led by Colonel Elmer Ellsworth arrived, intending to remove the flag. Ellsworth was shot and killed by Jackson as he walked down the hotel's stairs after removing the flag. Jackson was then killed by Corporal Francis Brownell of Ellsworth's command. Gaines was the first doctor on the scene and pronounced both men dead. The event was a national incident, as Ellsworth was a personal friend of President Lincoln., Gaines was soon commissioned assistant surgeon in the 8th Virginia Infantry Regiment. Captured at Boonsboro while attending to the wounded after the Battle of South Mountain, he was allowed to continue his work in conjunction with local surgeon Otho Smith and developed a friendship with the Smith family. He was later traded in a prisoner exchange and returned to duty serving with the 18th Virginia Infantry., After the War, he returned to Boonsboro where he resumed his friendship with Dr. Smith and married Smith's daughter, Helen, in 1865. Tragically, she passed away three years later. He remarried and practiced in Boonsboro until his retirement in 1893 when he built this home. It became his retirement residence until his death in 1915.