Showing results for "tombstone"

General Turned Chemist

Another installment of the series “Tales from the Tombstone”  Born in Fredericksburg, Virginia on September 8, 1829, Seth Maxwell Barton had one of the unique post-Civil War careers out of any of the former Confederate general officers. He became a noted and renowned chemist. Which was probably reminiscent of his Confederate service, as it was a […]

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“Old One Wing”

Another installment of the series “Tales From the Tombstone”  At the Battle of Churubusco on August 20, 1847, during the attack on the Franciscan Convent that was the focal point of the Mexican defenses there, one of the artillery battery’s commanders was struck in the right arm by grapeshot. The arm shattered, the brave young […]

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“I shall come out of this fight a live major general or a dead brigadier.”

Another installment in the series “Tales from the Tombstone” Unfortunately, the Confederate officer who made the statement in the title died shortly after making it, pierced by seven bullets when leading a counterattack at the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House on May 12, 1864. The officer’s name? Abner Monroe Perrin, South Carolinian by birth, hailed from […]

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“I Am Not Glad To See You By a Damned Sight.”

This is another post in the series “Tales From the Tombstone.“ James Jay Archer the lifelong bachelor born at Stafford near Havre de Grace in northeastern Maryland on December 19, 1817 came from a military family. The apple did not fall too far from the tree. Although, educated for the law in which he attended […]

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From the Stone Wall to a Shad Bake

This is another post in the series “Tales From the Tombstone.” George Edward Pickett was ecstatic on the morning of July 3, 1863. His division, which had missed the fighting at Chancellorsville in May and had been way in the rear during the first two days at Gettysburg, was about to lead the decisive charge on […]

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“Either a Traitor or the Most Incompetent Officer in the Confederacy”

This is another installment in the “Tales From the Tombstone” series John Clifford Pemberton, to Civil War enthusiasts, conjures up one word: Vicksburg. On July 4, 1863, the Confederate lieutenant general surrendered the “Gibraltar of the West.” With the loss of Vicksburg, including the approximately 30,000 Confederate soldiers surrendered, the mighty Mississippi River now flowed […]

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First Cousin, Once Removed: Edwin Gray Lee

This is the third installment of the “Tales from the Tombstone” series  His grandfather  was Edmund Jennings Lee, Sr. a brother of “Light Horse Harry” Lee. Hisfather stayed out of politics altogether. With a last name of Lee and a Confederate general, he would probably be the least known of the “Lee’s” in that regard. […]

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Westmoreland’s Other Confederate General

Part two in the series “Tales From the Tombstone” In Westmoreland County on the historic Northern Neck of Virginia boasts of being the birthplace of a few famous persons in American history. George Washington, James Monroe, Richard Henry Lee, and the other Lee; Robert E. Lee. Robert E. Lee, however, was not the only Confederate general […]

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Fighting For Both: Frank Crawford Armstrong

First part of the series “Tales From the Tombstone“ Frank Crawford Armstrong became a brigadier general in Confederate on January 20, 1863 after extensive service in the Trans-Mississippi and Western theaters. After a myriad of assignments, from serving on the staff of Generals James McIntosh and Ben McCulloch until their deaths at the Battle of […]

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