Civil War Confederate Brigadier General. Born in Talbot County, Maryland, he graduated 22nd in the West Point class of 1850. He served on garrison and frontier duty for the next decade. While en route to California in 1854, he displayed outstanding heroism when the troopship he was on was battered by a hurricane. His performance earned him promotion to Captain, supposedly the youngest man of that rank in the army at the time. Resigning his commission on April 1, 1861, he entered Confederate service as a Major of artillery. He participated in the bombardment of Fort Sumter, South Carolina, and on July 8 he became Colonel of the 6th South Carolina. On March 7, 1862, he was promoted to Brigadier General and selected by Major General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson to command the Stonewall Brigade. Jackson's decision enraged both the officers and men of his old command. A strict, disciplinarian, he enforced the rules, and veterans despised him. The regimental commanders greeted him coldly, and the enlisted men hissed their new commander when he rode past the ranks. Some in the ranks threatened to kill him when an opportunity in battle offered. He, however, refused to bend. He led them into battle for the first time during Jackson's 1862 Shenandoah Valley Campaign. Though his conduct did not gain the brigade's affection, it earned their grudging respect. On one occasion, when he stood up to Jackson, the brigade cheered him. During the Seven Days' Campaign, he directed his men with gallantry. On August 9, 1862, during the Battle of Cedar Mountain, he was horribly mangled by an exploding shell. He died a few hours later on the field, his death mourned by Jackson and General Robert E. Lee, but not by the Stonewall Brigade.