Confederate Military History/Volume 3/Biographical/A

by Clement Anselm Evans

Brigadier-General Joseph Reid Anderson, of Virginia, was a graduate of the United States military academy, class of 1836. He was appointed to a lieutenancy in the Third artillery. He served for a time as assistant engineer in the engineer bureau at Washington, and on July 1, 1837, was transferred to the corps of engineers as brevet second lieutenant. In this line of duty he assisted in the building of Fort Pulaski, at the entrance of the Savannah river. He resigned his commission September 30, 1837, to accept the position of assistant engineer of the State of Virginia; was chief engineer of the Valley turnpike company, 1838-41, and subsequently, until the outbreak of war, was head of the firm of Joseph R. Anderson & Co., proprietors of the Tredegar iron works and cannon foundry at Richmond. Entering the Confederate army, he was commissioned brigadier-general in September, 1861, and was assigned to command of the Confederate forces at Wilmington, N. C. Early in the spring of 1862, he was called to Virginia, and on April 25, 1862, he was ordered with his brigade to the vicinity of Fredericksburg, where General Field was then stationed, and instructed by General Lee to assume command in that quarter, attack the enemy or confine his field of operations. Fredericksburg was occupied by McDowell's Federal troops, and Anderson commanded the Confederate force confronting him during the Peninsula operations under Johnston. He was then assigned to a new division formed under A. P. Hill, and in command of the Third brigade of Hill's light infantry, he participated in the battles of Mechanicsville, Gaines' Mill and Frayser's Farm. In the latter he was particularly distinguished in the gallant action of his Georgia brigade, and was seriously wounded. He resigned July 19, 1862. Subsequently he gave his attention to the management of the Tredegar iron works. His death occurred at the Isle of Shoals, N. H., September 7, 1892.

Brigadier-General Lewis Addison Armistead was born at New Bern, N. C., February 18, 1817, a son of Gen. Walker Keith Armistead, who, with four brothers, served in the war of 1812. He was appointed a cadet in the United States military academy in 1834, and on July 10, 1839, he became second lieutenant in the Sixth United States infantry. In March, 1844, he was promoted first lieutenant, and in this rank entered the war with Mexico, in which he was distinguished, receiving the brevet rank of captain for gallantry at Contreras and Churubusco, and brevet major for his services at Molino del Rey. He continued in the army until the beginning of the Confederate war, serving for some time against the Indians on the border, and being promoted captain in 1855. He was given the rank of major, Confederate States army, to date from March 16, 1861, and later in the same year became colonel of the Fifty-seventh Virginia regiment, which he commanded in the neighborhood of Suffolk and in the defense of the Blackwater in the following winter. April 1, 1862, he was promoted brigadier-general, and in this rank he was assigned to the command of a brigade in the division of Benjamin Huger. At Seven Pines, on the first day, he was distinguished for personal bravery, making a heroic stand with a small part of his men against an entire brigade of the enemy until reinforced by Pickett. On June 25th, he was stationed about 5 miles from Richmond, between York River railroad and the Williamsburg road, where he was engaged in continual skirmishing until the advance to Malvern hill. In this latter battle he was ordered by General Lee to "charge with a yell" upon the enemy's position, after the action of the artillery had been shown to be effective. "After bringing on the action in the most gallant manner by repulsing an attack of a heavy body of the enemy's skirmishers," General Magruder reported, "he skillfully lent support to the contending troops" in front of his position. After this campaign he was identified with the excellent record of R. H. Anderson's and Pickett's divisions, commanding a brigade consisting of the Ninth, Fourteenth, Thirty-eighth, Fifty-third and Fifty-seventh Virginia regiments. On September 6th, at the outset of the Maryland campaign, he was assigned to the duty of provost marshal-general of the army, considered by General Lee at that

Brig.-Gen. L. A. Armistead.	Brig.-Gen. R. H. Clinton.	Brig.-Gen. Jos. R. Anderson.
Brig.-Gen. Turner Ashby.	Brig.-Gen. R. St. Geo. Cooke.	Brig.-Gen. R. L. T. Beale.
Brig.-Gen. Jas. Dearing.	Brig.-Gen. M. D. Corse.	Brig.-Gen. R. E. Colston.
Brig.-Gen. John Echols.	Brig.-Gen. J. H. Chambliss.	Brig.-Gen. S. M. Barton.

juncture of the greatest importance, and in that capacity he brought up the rear of the army as it advanced. He participated in operations of General McLaws against Harper's Ferry, and after the retreat was left at Shepherdstown to guard the ford. He continued with Pickett's division throughout its subsequent duty. Reaching the battlefield of Gettysburg on the 3d of July, he formed his men in the second line of assault against Cemetery hill. "Conspicuous to all, 50 yards in advance of his brigade, waving his hat in the air, General Armistead led his men upon the enemy with a steady bearing which inspired all with enthusiasm and courage. Far in advance of all, he led the attack till he scaled the works of the enemy and fell wounded in their hands, but not until he had driven them from their position and seen his colors planted over their fortifications." This was the testimony of Colonel Aylett, who succeeded to the immediate command of the remnant of the brigade that was led into action. General Lee wrote in his report, "Brigadier-Generals Armistead, Barksdale, Garnett and Semmes died as they had lived, discharging the highest duties of patriots with devotion that never faltered and courage that shrank from no danger."

Brigadier-General Turner Ashby, a hero of the South whose memory is cherished with peculiar tenderness by the people of the Shenandoah valley, was born at Rose Hill, Fauquier county, in 1824. He was a grandson of Capt. John Ashby, of the revolutionary war. At the time of John Brown's raid he was captain of a volunteer cavalry company, which he led to the scene of trouble. On the 16th of April, 1861, he was at Richmond, with other bold spirits, and took part in the planning of the capture of Harper's Ferry. The next morning, the day of the passage of the ordinance of secession, he went to his home to call out his cavalry company. His brief career from that time was of the most romantic nature, and he speedily became the idol of the volunteer troopers who rallied at Harper's Ferry in April and May, to recruit Jackson's forces. He was assigned to command of the Confederate post at Point of Rocks, where his activity and alertness were of great value. In June he was in command of a troop of Col. Eppa Hunton's regiment, but obtained permission to rejoin his own regiment, Col. Angus McDonald's legion, and McDonald recommended him to promotion as lieutenant-colonel, speaking of him at this early date, June 25th, as "already known as one of the best partisan leaders in the service." Meanwhile Ashby, in addition to his other duties, had attracted attention by his daring in making a trip to Chambersburg, Pa., disguised and unattended, and obtaining complete information regarding the Federal force under Patterson. He was soon promoted lieutenant-colonel, and the rank of colonel followed in a few months. While Johnston was moving to Manassas, to the support of Beauregard, Ashby and Stuart, with their cavalry commands, were very successful in masking the transfer of the troops until it was too late for Patterson to have any influence upon the battle of July 21st. In October, General Jackson was assigned to the Valley district, and Ashby, as colonel of the Seventh Virginia cavalry, was put in command of the cavalry. In February he was authorized by the war department to raise cavalry, infantry and heavy artillery. During one of the engagements of 1861, his brother, Capt. Richard Ashby, to whom he was tenderly attached, had been slain by the enemy, and the circumstances of the death so affected him as to give to his natural heroism an extraordinary enthusiasm. Turner Ashby was of striking aspect and splendid personality when he came to take command of Jackson's cavalry. In form he was trimly built, in movement graceful, and when mounted on his splendid horse, he appeared a chevalier of romance. The attachment of his men to him was displayed on all occasions, and his own devotion to Jackson was so great that he was accustomed to say, "I would follow him or go where he commanded without knowing anything except that it was Stonewall Jackson's order." His faith in Jackson was like Jackson's faith in Lee. It is this trust of the army in its leaders reciprocated by the faith of the leaders in the army which makes heroes in battles. In March he withdrew with Jackson from Winchester, before the advance on Banks, but on the 22d returned and by an audacious attack drove in the enemy's outposts. The battle of Kernstown immediately followed, in which Ashby, with his cavalry and artillery, and an infantry support, rendered effective service upon the Confederate right. After this Jackson was rapidly reinforced, and Ashby's force was recruited to the dignity of a brigade, though his commission as brigadier-general was not issued until May 23d. He pursued the Federals after the battle of McDowell, played a prominent part in the rout of the Federals at Middletown, and defended the rear during the Confederate retreat up the Valley early in June. On the 3d his horse was shot under him while his men were burning the bridge over the Shenandoah. "Ashby has infernal activity and ingenuity in this way," Shields reported to Washington. On June 6th, near Harrisonburg, he repulsed an attack, capturing the Federal commander, Sir Percy Wyndham. He immediately planned an ambush of the pursuing Federal advance, and a fierce combat ensued. As Ashby led the attack, his horse was shot under him, and he rushed forward on foot, urging his men to charge, when a ball pierced his breast and he fell forward dead. His death was felt as a severe loss to the army. Jackson wrote to General Imboden: "Poor Ashby is dead. He fell gloriously. I know you will join with me in mourning the loss of our friend, one of the noblest men and soldiers in the Confederate army." In his official report he wrote: "As a partisan officer, I never knew his superior. His daring was proverbial, his powers of endurance almost incredible, his tone of character heroic, and his sagacity almost intuitive in divining the purposes and movements of the enemy." In October, 1866, his body was reinterred with impressive ceremonies in the Stonewall cemetery at Winchester, where the anniversary of his death is annually commemorated by the strewing of flowers upon the graves of the unknown dead.