John Clay Powell
Civil War Veteran
A Soldier in the Steele Guards
A Southern Cross of Honor Recipient
An old photo of Sergeant John Clay Powell shows a long bearded man formally dressed in a suit and wearing on his lapel he proudly had on display his Southern Cross of Honor. After his death, his family had the same symbol engraved upon his grave marker.
Sergeant Powell served with Company H of the 24th Alabama Infantry. This company was known as the Steele Guards, in honor of John Steele, a wealthy planter and politician from Autauga County. John Steele donated money to arm and uniform this company, and later to outfit them with winter gear.
Sergeant Powell led his men at Chickamauga, part of the soldiers under the command of General James Longstreet who managed to breach the Union defensive line. The Confederates slammed through the line, routed the panicked Union soldiers who scattered in retreat. On this day of fighting at Chickamauga, Sergeant Powell was wounded.
To locate the final, solve:
33 16.2AB
87 37.8CD
A = Add together the date of his birth and the fourth digit in the year of his birth.
B = Subtract the fourth digit in the year of his birth from the fourth digit in the year of his death.
C = The date of his death.
D = The third digit in the year of his birth.