Civil War Confederate Brigadier General. He was the youngest general officer in Confederate service when he was promoted at age twenty-three. At age nineteen he enlisted Confederate Army, and was mustered into the 2nd North Carolina Cavalry Regiment NC Cavalry. Promoted through the grades from 3rd Lieutenant to Major, he was then commissioned Colonel and commander of the unit in June of 1864. He fought with distinction at the August 1864 Battle of Reams Station, Virginia, where his command made a gallant charge on the Federal works. On February 23rd, 1865 he was appointed Brigadier General, PACS, with Confederate Army commander General Robert E. Lee presenting his own gauntlets to William Roberts to mark the occasion. Assigned to command a brigade of North Carolina cavalry in the division of Major General William H.F. Lee, he and his men captured the last enemy artillery of the war at Appomattox Court House, Virginia on the morning of April 9, 1865. Post-war he served in the North Carolina State Legislature, and as United States Consul in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.
Civil War Confederate Brigadier General. He was the youngest general officer in Confederate service when he was promoted at age twenty-three. At age nineteen he enlisted Confederate Army, and was mustered into the 2nd North Carolina Cavalry Regiment NC Cavalry. Promoted through the grades from 3rd Lieutenant to Major, he was then commissioned Colonel and commander of the unit in June of 1864. He fought with distinction at the August 1864 Battle of Reams Station, Virginia, where his command made a gallant charge on the Federal works. On February 23rd, 1865 he was appointed Brigadier General, PACS, with Confederate Army commander General Robert E. Lee presenting his own gauntlets to William Roberts to mark the occasion. Assigned to command a brigade of North Carolina cavalry in the division of Major General William H.F. Lee, he and his men captured the last enemy artillery of the war at Appomattox Court House, Virginia on the morning of April 9, 1865. Post-war he served in the North Carolina State Legislature, and as United States Consul in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.
Bio by: Jeff Stepp
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