Civil War Confederate Army Brigadier General. He was born in Camden, South Carolina and attended South Carolina College. He then studied law and was admitted to the bar in January 1861, one month after his state seceded. Forgetting his law practice, he became a Captain in the 2nd South Carolina Infantry in April 1861. In July of that year, his regiment, under Colonel Joseph B. Kershaw, was engaged along the Confederate left at First Bull Run. During the battle he was wounded. He rose steadily in rank, becoming Colonel of the 2nd on Kershaw's promotion to Brigadier General in early 1862. He led his regiment through most of the Seven Days' Campaign, before being incapacitated by illness after Savage's Station. He recovered in time to participate in the Antietam Campaign, including the capture of Harpers Ferry. In December, at Fredericksburg, he led his own and a second regiment in supporting the brigade of Brigadier General Thomas R. R. Cobb by the stone wall at the base of Marye's Heights. He later served gallantly during the second day at Gettysburg, falling severely wounded while leading a charge against a Federal battery near the Peach Orchard. In 1864 he fought from the Wilderness to Petersburg, then in the Shenandoah Valley under Lieutenant General Jubal Early. His final battle in Virginia was Cedar Creek on October 19, 1864. On December 22nd of that year, he was promoted to Brigadier General and dispatched to South Carolina at the request of Governor Andrew Magrath, who foresaw Major General William T. Sherman's invasion of the state. In the Carolinas Campaign, he fought at Averasborough and Bentonville under General Joseph E. Johnston. Despite being wounded 6 times and struck by 15 spent balls, he managed to survive the war. Following Johnston's surrender, he returned to Camden and took up his law career. Elected to Congress in December 1865, he was denied his seat after refusing to take the ironclad oath of allegiance to the Federal government. Later he was prominent in the campaign to return his state to white majority rule. Following military Reconstruction, he served as a state legislator, then as lieutenant governor. He also served as consul general in Shanghai, China. He later retired to his native Camden where he died of a stroke.