Joseph died of wounds received in an ambush by the Loudoun County Rangers on Locust Grove Plantation near Clarke's Gap.

The following obituary, was sent to me by a fellow Find-A-Graver. Note the partisan language--this is a fascinating lesson in the way an event can be tilted one way or another, depending upon the source. I find this obituary absolute delightful and a real treasure:

OBITUARY: Among the many noble spirits who have fallen a sacrifice to their Country's freedom since the war began there has been none whose premature death caused deeper sorrow in the hearts of friends and relatives than Hector Braden of Loudoun County, Virginia.

Kind hearted and possessed of a brave and noble soul he was beloved and respected by all who knew him. Though too young to be subject to military duty, he had been serving in the army as courier since the beginning of the war. Preferring the hardships and privations of soldiers life to living in luxury within the lines of the enemy. A short time ago he united himself to the Sixth Virginia Cavalry and went with his company to which he belonged, to Loudoun for the purpose of recruiting. He fondly hoped that he would thus have an opportunity of enjoying, for a short season, the society of the loved ones at home. But, Alas! how sadly he was disappointed. On the morning of the 4th of March while he and three companions were at the house of his uncle's near the village of Hamilton, not dreaming of the presence of an enemy, they were attacked and fired into by a party of sixteen headed by the notorious renegade Means. One of the balls passed through Hector mortally wounding him. Another severely wounded his brother. The other two were captured. Several ladies present narrowly escaped being shot.

The perpetrators of this cowardly and inhuman outrage have become so notorious for committing dark and infamous deeds that it is not necessary to speak further of them. Their captain, like all other traitors to the land that gave them birth, has become so lost to human feeling that he appears to delight in doing deeds of infamy near the home of his childhood.

After five days of intense suffering, which he bore with marked patience, the spirit of Hector Braden took its flight, we trust, to a brighter clime.

Though he never made any public profession of religion his conduct through life was exemplary. He was never heard to use the name of his creator in any light or trifling way, and his language in his last moments, as he took death by the hand, gives an assurance that he is not dead, but gone home. While many tears of sorrow will fall over his early grave, there is the consoling thought that he gave his life willingly to the cause he loved more than life. Though his companions and friends in the army may not be able to offer words of comfort to those who suffer most by sad bereavement they can do their best to avenge his untimely death. May the flowers bloom brightly over his grave.

COMRADE

Camp at Orange Court House, VA., April 4, 1864