Civil War Confederate Brigadier General. He was born in Clarksburg, western Virginia. In his antebellum career he was a lawyer, judge, state legislator, and Lieutenant Governor of Virginia. When the war began, he resigned as judge of the 19th judicial circuit, enlisting in the Confederate army with the rank of Private. He soon received a commission as a Colonel of the 31st Virginia and led the regiment in the summer and fall 1861 campaigning of Brigadier General Robert S. Garnett in western Virginia. Following this disastrous Confederate operation, he joined the staff of his second cousin, Major General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson, serving in the Shenandoah Valley, Seven Days', Cedar Mountain, Second Bull Run, Antietam, and Fredericksburg campaigns. In February 1863, he received authorization to recruit a regiment for operations within the Union lines in western Virginia. In April of that year he was elected Colonel of a new command, the 19th Virginia Cavalry. He and his unit then joined the brigade of Brigadier General Albert G. Jenkins. During 1863 Jenkins' brigade rode on several raids, with Jackson commanding his regiment and acting as the brigade's adjutant general. He saw considerable duty in the various campaigns of 1864. He fought at Cloyd's Mountain in early May, assisted in the defense of Lynchburg in June, and commanded a brigade during Lieutenant General Jubal A. Early's July raid on Washington D.C. His performance as a cavalry officer earned him the, justifiably or not, the nickname of "Mudwall" in reference to his cousin. During the late summer and fall his brigade fought at Winchester, Fisher's Hill, Tom's Brook, and Cedar Creek. On December 19, 1964, he received his promotion to Brigadier General. When the war ended in Virginia, he refused to surrender. He headed west, finally receiving a parole in Brownsville, Texas, on July 26, 1865. He temporarily emigrated to Mexico, returning to what had become West Virginia, where he learned that ex-Confederates were prohibited from practicing law. He moved to Kentucky and gained appointment as a jurist, remaining on the bench until his death in Louisville.