Overton Fitzhugh was born in Albemarle County, Virginia, around 1818. His status before the war is uncertain and it is not clear how he came to live in Tennessee prior to his enlistment in the Union army.

Fitzhugh enlisted as a corporal in the Union army at the age of 45 on June 1, 1863, in Bolivar, Tennessee, and mustered in on June 3 in La Grange. His enlistment record describes him as 5 feet, 9 1/2 inches tall, with black hair, black eyes, and a dark complexion. Fitzhugh served in Company C of the 59th USCT Infantry Regiment. At some point before September 1863, he was reduced to the rank of private for reasons unknown. Fitzhugh performed a variety of daily duties that included serving as a company cook, a carpenter, and a guardhouse worker. Fitzhugh was also present on several expeditions: the Guntown expedition in June 1864, the Tupelo expedition in July 1864, and the Oxford expedition in August 1864. Fitzhugh was present on August 21, 1864, when the 59th USCT helped to repel Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest’s attack on Memphis. On November 20, 1864, Fitzhugh married Mary Ann Fitzhugh in Memphis, Tennessee. According to their marriage record, they had three children together. Fitzhugh mustered out on January 31, 1866, in Memphis along with the rest of his regiment. Nothing is known about Fitzhugh’s life after the war.