Civil War Confederate Army Officer. Born in Warrenton, Virginia, he graduated 2nd in the 1846 class of the Virginia Military Institute, later, for a time he taught there, then took over management of family land holdings. In the years before the Civil War he was county treasurer, sheriff, and presiding justice of county courts. Following John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry in 1859, he organized the Warrenton Rifles militia for home defense and in 1861 sat as a delegate in the Virginia secession convention. Commissioned Lieutenant Colonel on May 5, 1861, he served on garrison duty with the Warrenton Rifles at Dumfries, Bristoe Station, and Fairfax Court House. In the predawn hours of June 1, 50 men of the 2nd United States Cavalry under Lieutenant Charles H. Tompkins rode through Fairfax Court House firing their weapons. One random bullet killed him while he was standing in a clover field at the roadside; thus making him the first Confederate officer killed in the war. His body was undiscovered for a few hours, while others skirmished with the 2nd Cavalry, a few more casualties were sustained in the fighting. In 1904 he was memorialized with a stone monument at Fairfax Court House. His uniform shako cap, jacket, epaulets, overcoat and sword are in the collection of the Museum of the Confederacy, in Richmond, Virginia.

Civil War Confederate Army Officer. Born in Warrenton, Virginia, he graduated 2nd in the 1846 class of the Virginia Military Institute, later, for a time he taught there, then took over management of family land holdings. In the years before the Civil War he was county treasurer, sheriff, and presiding justice of county courts. Following John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry in 1859, he organized the Warrenton Rifles militia for home defense and in 1861 sat as a delegate in the Virginia secession convention. Commissioned Lieutenant Colonel on May 5, 1861, he served on garrison duty with the Warrenton Rifles at Dumfries, Bristoe Station, and Fairfax Court House. In the predawn hours of June 1, 50 men of the 2nd United States Cavalry under Lieutenant Charles H. Tompkins rode through Fairfax Court House firing their weapons. One random bullet killed him while he was standing in a clover field at the roadside; thus making him the first Confederate officer killed in the war. His body was undiscovered for a few hours, while others skirmished with the 2nd Cavalry, a few more casualties were sustained in the fighting. In 1904 he was memorialized with a stone monument at Fairfax Court House. His uniform shako cap, jacket, epaulets, overcoat and sword are in the collection of the Museum of the Confederacy, in Richmond, Virginia.

Bio by: Ugaalltheway