Military officer; born in
Culpeper county, Va., May 15, 1802; graduated at the United States Military Academy in 1822, and was assigned the duty of surveying the military road from
Washington to the
Ohio River; resigned in 1832 and became a civil engineer; was with various railroads as chief engineer till the outbreak of the
Civil War, when he took command of the nonuniformed volunteers recruited to defend
Baltimore from Northern soldiers.
In the same year he was made colonel of engineers in
Virginia and directed the construction of the field works and forts at
Norfolk; was promoted brigadier-general on finishing that work, and then took charge of the location and construction of the batteries at
Evansport on the
Potomac River.
With these batteries he blockaded the river against
United States vessels during the winter of 1861-62.
He also participated and won distinction in various battles, including Gaines's Mills,
Slaughter's Mountain,
Second Bull Run,
Chancellorsville, etc.; was promoted major-general for gallantry and meritorious services April 23, 1863.
During the third day of the action at
Gettysburg he lost a leg, was captured, and held a prisoner at
Johnson's Island for twenty-one months before being exchanged.
After the war he settled in
Baltimore, Md., where he died, Jan. 2, 1888.
