Devil Anse Hatfield

William Anderson Hatfieldwas born on September 9, 1839, in the Tug Valley of East Virginia (now Logan, West Virginia), as one of the eighteen children of Ephraim Hatfield and Nancy Vance. He was of English and Swedish descent from his father’s side and of Scottish and Irish descent from his mother’s. He had brothers named Valentine, Ellison, and Elias, and a sister named Martha.

There are several contradictory stories of how he came to be known as Devil Anse. According to one account, it was given to him by his mother. Another one states that Randolph McCoy gave him moniker. It is also possible that he got the name during his service in the Confederacy army, or maybe it was used to differentiate him from his good-tempered cousin, Anderson "Preacher Anse" Hatfield.

The Hatfields were an affluent family, and prominent and politically well-connected members of the community. Even in his youth, Devil Anse was a well-respected marksman and rider. He married Levisa "Levicy" Chafin on April 18, 1861. Chafin, who was also a Virginia native, was the daughter of Nathaniel Chafin, a neighbouring farmer, and Matilda Varney.

They had 13 children together, sons Johnson "Johnse" (1862–1922), William Anderson "Cap" (1864–1930), Robert E. Lee (1866–1931), Elliott Rutherford (1872–1932), Elias M. (1878–1911), Detroit W. "Troy" (1881-1911), Joseph Davis (1883-1963), Emmanuel Wilson "Willis" (1888-1978), and Tennyson Samuel "Tennis" (1890-1953), and daughters Nancy (1869-1937), Mary (1873-1963), Elizabeth (1876-1962), and Rose Lee “Rosie” (1885-1965).

Hatfield grew up in a turbulent period in American history. Virginia was the epicentre of the Old South, all facets of that culture—frommusic to cuisine to slavery—thrived there at the time. So when the Republicans, led by President-elect Abraham Lincoln, following the 1860 election win, gave their full support to banning slavery from all the US territories, Virginia and the rest of the Southern states saw it as an infringement of their constitutional rights and as part of the Republicans’ grander plan to abolish slavery.

Virginia wasn’t one of the earliest states to declare secession from the Union. In fact, they voted against it at the State Convention on April 4, 1861. However, war broke out later in that month and soon the public opinion shifted. There were many other causes for the Civil War besides slavery, including states’ rights; the social, political, and economic difference between the North and the South; territorial crisis; and Lincoln’s election.

The Hatfields were ardent believers in Southern causes. After his marriage, Devil Anse did not spend much time with his new bride and joined the Confederate army at the height of the Civil War. In 1862, he served in the Cavalry in the Virginia State Line as a first lieutenant, guarding the territory at the border between Kentucky and Virginia where people of loyalties to both the Union and the Confederacy resided.

When the Virginia State Line disbanded in 1863, Hatfield joined the 45th Battalion Virginia Infantry, a newly-formed unit. They were experts in guerrilla warfare, and spent the majority of their time either patrolling the border against the Union-sympathising bushwhackers and fighting against the Union soldiers themselves.

In time, he became a first lieutenant with this unit as well. He was later promoted to the position of captain of Company B. Hatfield distinguished himself on the battlefield by being cunning and resourceful. Sources connect him to multiple battles and killings of several prominent Union fighters, such as Ax and Fleming Hurley in 1863.