A Confederate soldier lost more than his life during the war. He lost his name, he lost his grave marker after his death, and he lost his wife and children to a galvanized yankee and he is lost to history.

According to Union records his name was W. R. Shelly and he died of typhoid fever at Point Lookout, Maryland on November 18th 1864 and was buried in grave #652 and was captured in October 1864. According to 1850 census records he was married to Rosely and already had a child. (His name was spelled as Sheely in the census. His correct name was William Riley Shealy and was born about 1825 in Edgefield District South Carolina which would later become Saluda County, South Carolina in 1897.

According to fold 3 he is listed as W. Riley Shealy of Company K 20th Regiment, South Carolina Infantry. It would appear that he may have been conscripted into the Confederate service. He enrolled on March 6th 1863.

One of William Riley Shealy's neighbors was Robert Faulkner who enlisted in the Confederate army in 1861. Robert Faulkner enlisted in Company B 14th Regiment, South Carolina Infantry and was captured in Pennsylvania near Gettysburg during Lee's retreat. Faulkner would later enlist in the 3rd Maryland United States Cavalry.

According to pension records found at the National Archives he stated that he married Roseclare also known as Rocelia Snelgrove. Roseclare's maiden name was Snelgrove prior to her marriage to William Riley Shealy. Pension records stated that he married her in May of 1867 at her home which probably was the former home of William R. Shealy.

Like William R. Shealy, Robert Faulkner was a farmer but unlike Shealy he was far from a prosperous man according to records. Robert Faulkner died in 1919 and his former wife Roseclare died in 1910. Robert Faulkner would marry again in 1915 according to Saluda County Court House records. While serving the Union Robert Faulkner was involved in the battle of Sabine Cross Roads in Louisiana in April 1864 also known as the battle of Mansfield. According to him his horse went down and the pommel of his saddle landed on his navel causing it to bruise. Toward the end of his life Robert Faulkner had to carry his stomach with both hands while walking because of his hernia according to testimony from his neighbors.

Robert Faulkner has a civilian type of tombstone with no mention of either serving the North or the South. William R. Shealy may be buried in a mass grave at Point Lookout if he was reinterred after his death.