During the American Civil War, many white men from Mathews County enlisted in the Confederate Army. Some Union sympathizers petitioned President Abraham Lincoln for help, alleging that Confederate sympathizers had harassed them. Union forces by 1862 controlled the Hampton Roads area and in July 1862 a detachment of Pennsylvania cavalry arrived at Gloucester Court House, then went to Mathews to arrest Carter B. Hudgins, but were unsuccessful. Several other Union raids occurred beginning in September 1863, initially designed to disrupt Confederate salt works. However, in the October 1863 raid, Union General Wistar later reported some of his troops behaved very badly, and Sands Smith was executed after he shot a Union soldier attempting to confiscate his cow. His son and grandson would become prominent Mathews County officials by century's end. Also, Miss Sally Louisa Tompkins, of a prominent Mathews family, went to Richmond, Virginia and established a private hospital for Confederate wounded, which achieved significant success, such that she was granted an officer's commission on September 9, 1861 by Confederate President Jefferson Davis and continued to nurse the wounded until 1865.