Henry "Hiram" Meadows was born September 1842 to Thomas (1802-1858) and Elizabeth Breeden Meadows. While listed in the 1860 census at Waverlie, District #1 in Southern Page County along the Naked Creek, and though he was enrolled (shown as having enlisted on August 8, 1861) in Co. L, 97th Virginia Militia. He apparently was reluctant to serve from the onset, perhaps even made to join the militia initially. Though an early war regiment, the 97th Militia, like most militia units, was not an organization in which people actually volunteered - but rather because it was a prewar military organization, the Confederate government was quick to enroll these units into the service of the Confederacy and if you were on the rolls of the unit just prior to the opening of the war, you were enrolled whether you wanted to be or not. He along with one of his older brothers, William T. Meadows (who had been enlisted on July 22, 1861), went AWOL on November 4, 1861 and were still absent when the last complete muster roll was filled out for the 97th on December 31, 1861. It is unclear if other family members went with him, but it is apparent that Henry left Page County sometime in late 1861 or early 1862 and headed for Pennsylvania and set up residency.
It is unclear how long he was a refugee resident before he was drafted into the Union army. On 19 September 1863, he was made a member of Co. E, 143rd Pennsylvania Infantry. This unit saw extensive service before and after Henry was drafted. When he joined the regiment, it was stationed at Bealeton Station, Va. on guard duty. He was apparently among a large number of recruits-upward of 360 were received in September and October, and in November it shared in the various maneuvers of the army in the Valley of Virginia, having a sharp skirmish with the enemy at Haymarket. From Nov. 22 to Dec. 5 it performed railroad guard duty at Manassas, marched thence to Paoli mills and finally, after 8 months, constant campaigning, went into winter quarters at Culpeper on Dec. 27. Before moving on the spring campaign of 1864, the 143d was assigned to the, 1st brigade, 1st division, 5th corps. It suffered severely at the Wilderness, Col. Dana being wounded and captured, and Lieut.-Col. Musser being among the killed. More heavy fighting followed at Laurel hill- where Maj. Conyngham, commanding the regiment, was severely wounded in one of the assaults- the North Anna River, Totopotomy and Cold Harbor.
It was at North Anna River where Henry Meadows was wounded on 23 May 1864. Apparently the wound was severe enough that on 16 May 1865, he was discharged. Though the war was already over, the regiment did not actually muster out until August 1865.
Note that Henry also had a brother who served for Co. I, 10th Virginia Infantry - actually he was drafted and he went AWOL within a very short time of having been enrolled. Henry married Ardista Breeden in 1867 and the couple had more than 10 children – interestingly, the first and last child were seemingly named out of influence from Henry's service in the Union army - the first was named Columbia and the last, named Ulysses S. - in honor of Ulysses S. Grant.
In October 1889, Henry Meadows applied for (application #732108; certificate #525060) and was awarded a pension for his service. Henry Meadows died sometime after 1910, when he was last shown in a census record in Page County, Virginia.
