Ken - I can tell you a lot. I have transcribed ~ 200 letters to & from family members, & examined other documents, over the last few years.

Hankins was born in 1841, & was the oldest of nine siblings. His parents bought Bacon's Castle shortly after he was born - built in 1665, it is the oldest brick residence in the U.S. - it's in Surry County, Va., on the south side of the James River, a little closer to Norfolk (which is down river) than Richmond (which is up river). Bacon's Castle had over 1,000 acres & over 100 slaves at the start of the war.

The family hired teachers, & relatives & others came to BC for school (some students were boarders). Hankins attended Hanover School for Boys (between Ashland & Doswell) for several years before attending the University of Virginia for the 1859-1860 school year. He was a member of the Jefferson Society, & participated in debates on the turbulent political times. He was studying back at Bacon's Castle the next year when the war started. He was elected one of the two lieutenants of the newly formed Surry Light Artillery.

The SLA was without cannons for awhile, & had to train (for a while) as infantry. Someone donated two old six pounders (probably from the Revolutionary War or War of 1812), & it eventually picked up a 3rd six pounder & an old rifled gun. It wasn't until the late fall of 1862 that it acquired contemporary weapons - two twelve pound Napoleons, & two three inch rifles. It was about this time the captain resigned for health reasons, & Hankins took over as captain & commanded the battery until the end of the war.

The SLA spent the first year of the war south of the James River, in SE Virginia, and spent almost all of the rest of the war in the defensive lines around Richmond & Petersburg. There was some early action, & then ~ one & a half years of no fighting (which depressed Hankins), but action picked up in 1864 & 1865. Hankins had a brother who enlisted in the Signal Corps, & another who matriculated at VMI at age fifteen in March of 1864. The VMI cadet brother was one of nineteen left to guard the school when the Corps marched off to the battle of New Market in May. He was with the Corps for some action near Lynchburg, & both brothers spent time with Captain Hankins & the SLA near the end of the war.

The SLA might have been the last outfit to evacuate Richmond when Lee headed out towards Appomattox. It buried two of its cannons along the way (Amelia County, I think), had some action around Appomattox (a cannon was captured), & Hankins was captured for a very short time (but escaped). Some of the remaining members of the SLA stuck around Appomattox to be paroled, Hankins didn't - he took off for home, but was captured & paroled in Richmond.

This was a big social scandal in Surry County in 1866. The eighteen year old daughter of the owner of Chippokes Plantation (a beautiful house, now a state park) lacked a proper young lady's upbringing because her mother died when she was young. She had many suitors, & was engaged to more than one at the same time. One of her jilted suitors (a former member of the SLA) said some horrible things about her, there was talk of a seduction, and meetings were held to try to work things out. Hankins had known this girl her whole life, & he made comments that upset the jilted suitor, & the suitor's brother (also a former SLA member), & the brother struck Hankins with a whip (an extremely insulting action), & the resulting fight had to be broken up by the sheriff. Hankins demanded a public fight, the brother refused (claiming Hankins wasn't a gentleman), they both posted cards (similar to letters to a newspaper editor - cards were written statements, posted in public places, setting forth views, etc.). Hankins started carrying a revolver.

I have letters indicating matters had calmed down some, but obviously they flared back up. Hankins and the brother ran into each other in neighboring Isle of Wight County on court day, they exchanged a few words, then both fired at each other. Hankins' pistol misfired, the other guy's didn't, & Hankins fell on the court house steps. The brother then approached the fallen Hankins & shot him again. He died the next day.

There was a big trial with numerous lawyers. Helping the prosecution was former Virginia governor & former Brigadier General Henry A. Wise - his opening statement took two days! The defendant was acquitted at the end of a two week trial.

I have questions about what flags the SLA would have had, and what happened to them, but I'm sure I've lost most, if not all, readers of this post! I'll ask 'em in a different post.