The Youngest Confederate General

Confederate Major General Stephen Dodson Ramseur died October 20^th 1864 from wounds received the day before at the Battle of Cedar Creek.

Stephen Dodson Ramseur was born May 31^st 1837, the son of Jacob Able and Lucy Mayfield (Dodson) Ramseur in Lincolnton, North Carolina. His family and friends knew him as Dod.  Ramseur studied math at Davidson College, and then finished his education at the United States Military Academy at West Point.  He graduated in 1860, ranked 14^th in his class, he was commissioned Second Lieutenant in the United States Artillery.

Ramseur resigned his commission and joined the Confederate Army before his home state had even seceded.  On May 27^th 1861 he was made Lieutenant Colonel in the 3^rd North Carolina Infantry.  During the Peninsula Campaign Ramseur commanded the artillery in Confederate Brigadier General John B Magruder’s division.  In April 1862 he became the Colonel of the 49^th North Carolina Infantry.  He led a charge and was wounded during the Battle of Malvern Hill.  Ramseur was unable to return to duty until after the Battle of Antietam, when he was given command of a brigade of four North Carolina regiments in Confederate Brigadier General Robert E Rodes’ division.  On November 1^st 1862, Ramseur would be promoted to Brigadier General, and at only 25 was the youngest Confederate General at the time.  He led his brigade against the Union right at the Battle of Chancellorsville, and he would be wounded again.  At the Battle of Gettysburg he led his brigade against the right flank of the Union First Corps on Oak Hill, pushing them all the way through the town to Cemetery Hill.  Ramseur was in the action at the Battles of Wilderness, Spotsylvania Court House, and Cold Harbor.

Ramseur was part of Confederate General Jubal A Early’s Corps during the Valley Campaign of 1864.  During the Battle of Cedar Creek on October 19^th 1864 the Confederates made a surprise morning attack on a Union camp, routing most of them.  But the Confederates being hungry and worn out stopped, fell out of ranks and started rummaging through the Union camp.  Ramseur pulled together a few hundred of his men, and with those soldiers stood off a counter attack made by Union General Philip H Sheridan for over an hour.  Ramseur leading his men had three horses shot out from under him, before being shot through the lungs.  He was captured by a member of the 1^st Vermont Cavalry, and was taken to Sheridan’s headquarters at the Belle Grove Mansion near Meadow Mills, Virginia where he died.  Ramseur’s last words were, "Bear this message to my precious wife—I die a Christian and hope to meet her in heaven."  He is buried in the St Luke’s Episcopal Cemetery in Lincolnton, North Carolina. 

A Small Battle At The Crossing

Union General Wesley Merritt

The Battle of Smithfield Crossing was fought in Jefferson and Berkeley Counties West Virginia August 29^th 1864.

Two Confederate Divisions under the command of Lieutenant Jubal A Early crossed Opequon Creek August 29^th 1864 at Smithfield Crossing.  They hit and forced Union General Wesley Merritt’s cavalry division back.  Then Union General James B Ricketts Infantry Division came in and stopped the Confederate advance.

The Battle at Smithfield Crossing was small with total casualties of about 300.

My Most Successful Exploits

The Battle of Cedar Mountain was fought August 9^th 1862.

Union Major General John Pope had a new army under his command, which he christened the Army of Virginia.  Pope moved on Culpeper Court House and Confederate General Robert E Lee sent the order to General Thomas J Jackson that he wanted “Pope to be suppressed.”

Jackson was outnumbered, but Pope helped him with the numbers, when he divided his troops along the Rapidan River.  Jackson moved on the part of Pope’s army that was near Culpeper.  Moving on the main road toward Culpeper in extreme heat on bad roads Jackson’s exhausted troops encountered Union cavalry near Cedar Run on August 9^th 1862.  Confederate Brigadier General Jubal A Early formed a line along the road, he anchored it on Cedar Mountain.  The Confederate artillery posted along the mountain, a small knoll known as the Cedars and near the Crittenden House beginning a duel with Union artillery on the Mitchell Station Road.  During the artillery bombardment Confederate Brigadier General Charles S Winder was mortally wounded.  Around 5pm Union Major General Nathaniel P Banks launched an attack on the Confederate line.  Union troops led by Union Brigadier General Samuel W Crawford attacked the Confederate left in what became hand to hand combat, while other Union troops under Brigadier General Christopher C Auger hit the other end of the line near the guns on the knoll.

The Confederate troops began to show signs of a rout, but Jackson road into the middle of his men and rallied the troops.  With Jackson holding his men in place and restoring order, Confederate General A P Hill arrived in time to strengthen the line and push the Union troops back across the field.  A battalion of the 1^st Pennsylvania Cavalry held the Confederate counterattack long enough so that most of the Union men could retreat.

Two days after this battle Jackson began his move to join up with Robert E Lee for what would lead up to Second Manassas.  Jackson said that the Battle of Cedar Mountain was “the most successful of his exploits.”

Covering The River Crossing

The Battle of Cool Spring was fought July 17^th and 18^th 1864 in Clarke County, Virginia as a part of the 1864 Valley Campaigns.

As Confederate Lieutenant General Jubal Anderson Early’s withdrew from Washington, DC following the Battle of Fort Stevens, they were pursued by Union troops commanded by Major General Horatio G Wright.  On July 15^th 1864 as the two armies moved up the Valley, the Union troops were reinforced by parts of Brigadier General George Crook’s force.  There were a couple of skirmishes on July 16^th 1864, before Early crossed the mountain at Snickers Gap.

Early left a part of his force covering the rear of the army, at the main Shenandoah River crossing at Castleman’s Ferry.  On July 17^th 1864 Union cavalry moved through Snicker’s Gap but were held up by the Confederate force there.

The next day July 18^th 1864 Union Generals Crook and Wright arrived at Snicker’s Gap and decided to attack what they thought was Confederate skirmish line.  Wright wanted a small force to cross the river a short ways downstream and flank the Confederates at Castleman’s Ferry; he assigned Colonel Joseph Thoburn the job.  The Confederates were alert to the movement and this allowed Confederate Major General John B Gordon to move troops unseen to the Ford.  Confederate General John C Breckinridge backed him with more troops deployed on the left flank.  Around 6pm the Confederates attacked along the exposed Union left flank, and the cavalry fighting un-mounted collapsed.  The Confederates then ran up against a Union reserve line which was able to push them back to the river.  After some spirited skirmishing along the river, Thoburn withdrew his troops from the river.

They Saved The National Capital

The Battle of Monocacy a part of the Valley Campaign of 1864 was fought July 9^th 1864, and is sometimes called the Battle that saved Washington.

In reaction to Confederate Lieutenant General Jubal A Early’s movements, Union Lieutenant General Ulysses S Grant dispatched about 5,000 men of the VI Corps on July 6^th 1864 under the command of Brigadier General James B Ricketts, to help the Union force in the Shenandoah Valley.  While these men were on route the only other Union soldiers standing between Early and Washington, DC was a command of Major General Lew Wallace.  He had a force of about 6,300 mostly made up by men who had enlisted for 100 days, most of whom had never been in a battle.  Wallace’s only hope was to slow down the Confederate approach toward Washington until reinforcements could reach the city.

Wallace saw Monocacy Junction as the best place to try to defend both Baltimore, Maryland and Washington, DC.  The Georgetown Pike and National Road as well as the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad crossed the Monocacy River there, but to cover the area Wallace would have to stretch his troops over a six mile long front.  It was good news when Wallace heard that a part of the VI Corps was coming his way by rail.

On the morning of July 9^th 1864 the Union troops were in position at the bridges and fords on the Monocacy River.  They held the higher elevation on the east back, and were digging in as much as they could.  Confederate Major General Stephen Dodson Ramseur moving up the Georgetown Pike ran into the Union troops first near the Best Farm, while Confederate Major General Robert E Rodes clashed with Wallace’s man on the National Road.  Taking some Union prisoners, the Confederates were led to believe that the whole VI Corps was in their front.  Being cautious, Early sent cavalry off the try to find a place to outflank the Union line, which they found on Wallace’s left.  Or they thought they had found the left, but do to terrain what they had found was the point that separated Wallace’s One Hundred Day men and the men of the VI Corps.  Once it was discovered, Early sent in Confederate Major General John B Gordon division.  The confederates made a break in the Union line and were able to enfilade the line.  Wallace was unable to reinforce the line and realizing the Union position was untenable Wallace ordered a retreat towards Baltimore.  They left 1,294 men behind, dead, wounded and captured.

Early’s army lost a day’s march, but the way was open to Washington, DC.  He continued to march on getting close enough to see the Capitol Dome, but his men were played out, and more Union troops of the battle harden VI Corps were seen arriving.  After some skirmishing and artillery fire, Early withdrew back across the Potomac on July 13^th 1864.

Wallace would give orders for the dead on the Monocacy Battlefield to be collected and buried.  He said there should be a monument to these men that read, “These men died to save the National Capital, and they did save it."

The Last Fight For Early

Confederate Lieutenant General Jubal Anderson Early’s last battle was fought March 2^nd 1865 at the Battle of Waynesboro in Virginia.

Union Major General Philip H Sheridan had orders to join his cavalry from Winchester, Virginia with Major General William T Sherman’s army in the Carolinas.  They began moving south February 27^th 1865.  Not wanting to leave Confederate Lieutenant General Jubal Early in his rear, Sheridan moved east through a cold rain and on March 2^nd 1865 and found Early’s Army at Waynesboro.

Early had his artillery placed in lined and took up a defensive position on a ridge along the South River.  The Confederate troops stood off a determined Union attack, before Union General George Armstrong Custer’s division of cavalry rolled up Early’s left flank.

Early and some of his staff got away, but the rest of the army, about 1,500 of his troops surrendered.  Sheridan having removed all organized Confederate resistance in the Shenandoah Valley moved south and joined with the Army of the Potomac near Petersburg, Virginia at the White House on the Pamunkey River on March 19^th 1865 in time for the Appomattox Campaign.  Early wouldn’t see another battle during the war.

Find The Flank

The Battle of Blackburn’s Ford, fought on July 18th 1861, was the opening of the Manassas Campaign.


Union Brigadier General Irvin McDowell marched with 35,000 troop from Washington, DC on July 16th 1861. He was moving on the Confederates concentrating near the railroad junction at Manassas. They arrived at Fairfax Court House on July 17th 1861 and looked for a place to cross the Bull Run Creek where they could flank the Confederates. The 22,000 men under the command of Confederate Brigadier General PGT Beauregard anticipated the Union movement and guarded the fords on Bull Run.

McDowell ordered Union Brigadier General Daniel Tyler on July 18th 1861 to find the Confederate left flank. Tyler moved to Centreville which he found unoccupied. In the late morning he reached Blackburn’s Ford, and looking across the stream thought the road was clear to Manassas Junction. But Confederate Brigadier General James Longstreet was hid in the wood just beyond the Ford. Tyler ordered Union Colonel Israel B Richardson to move forward. Richardson ran into resistance from the 1st, 11th and 17th Virginia Infantry. Tyler then ordered artillery and cavalry forward. Unfortunately the 12th New York Infantry began to retreat, which caused panic to spread through out the Union line. At about this same time Confederate Colonel Jubal A Early arrived on the field, which sealed the Confederate victory.

The Union failure at Blackburn’s Ford caused McDowell to decide not to make a frontal assault on Bull Run, he instead tried to cross the stream beyond the left flank of the Confederates.

Only Married Aout Three Weeks

The first former United States officer to be captured as a Confederate; Brigadier General John Pegram was killed February 6th 1865.

John Pegram was born January 24th 1832 in Petersburg, Virginia the son of John West and Virginia [Johnson] Pegram. His father died when he was still young, and his mother supported the family by running a girls school. Pegram received an appointment to the United State Military Academy at West Point. He graduated in 1854, and was assigned to the United State dragoons as a Second Lieutenant. After three years of garrison duty in the West, Pegram was appointed as Assistant Instructor of Cavalry at West Point. He took a leave in 1858-59 to go to Europe and observe the Austro - Sardinian War. After returning from Europe in 1860 Pegram was assigned on the frontier in New Mexico Territory.

Pegram received news in May 1861 that his home state of Virginia had seceded. He resigned his Untied State Lieutenant commission. In July of 1861 Pegram was assigned to the 20th Virginia Infantry and commissioned a Lieutenant Colonel. The 20th Virginia was part of Brigadier General Robert Selden Garnett’s brigade serving in western Virginia. In August 1861 Pegrem’s men were cut off from the brigade during the Battle of Rich Mountain on July 11th 1861, and Pegram surrendered his men to the Union forces. Making Pegram the first former United States Army officer to be captured as a Confederate, he spent six months imprisoned in Fort Monroe. Paroled on January 1862, Pegram was prompted to Colonel and made the Chief Engineer of the army of General Braxton Bragg. In November 1862 Pegram was promoted to Brigadier General and given command of a Cavalry Brigade. In November 1862 he reported to the Army of Northern Virginia, where he was given command of a brigade in Jubal A Early’s division. Pegram was wounded during the Battle of the Wilderness, but was back in time for Early’s Valley Campaign.

Pegram married Hetty Cary January 19th 1865 in Richmond, Virginia. The wedding was attended by Confederate President and Mrs Jefferson Davis. Pegram was killed in action February 6th 1865 at the Battle of Hatcher’s Run. His funeral would be held in the same church he was just married in. Pegram is buried in the Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia.

Jackson's Ordnance Officer

Alexander “Sandie” Swift Pendleton was born September 28th 1840 in Alexandria Virginia. He was the son of Minister and Confederate General William N and Anzolette Elizabeth [Page] Pendleton. He grew up in Maryland. Pendleton graduated in 1857 from Washington College were he first met Thomas J “Stonewall” Jackson. He was studying for a Master’s degree at the University of Virginia when the war started.

Pendleton received a commission of Second Lieutenant in the Provisional Army of Virginia. “Stonewall” Jackson, who was in command of the Confederate forces in Harpers Ferry had Pendleton assigned to his staff as an Ordnance officer. Pendleton would serve with Jackson until the General’s death after the Battle of Chancellorsville. Pendleton would continue with the Confederate Second Corps under General Richard S Ewell. General Jubal A Early took over command in 1864, and he promoted Pendleton to Lieutenant Colonel and chief of staff. During the Third Battle of Winchester on September 19th 1864 the Confederates were forces to retreat to Fisher’s Hill. When the Union force under Major General Philip H Sheridan attacked the hill on September 22nd 1864; Pendleton was mortally wounded. He was moved to the town of Woodstock, where he died on September 23rd 1864. He was buried near the battle field, but latter his body was exhumed and sent home to his family. He was reburied October 24th 1864 near “Stonewall” Jackson.