On October 20, 1864, Maj. Gen. Stephen Dodson Ramseur died from wounds received the previous day. Born in 1837 in Lincolnton, he attended Davidson College, where he studied mathematics briefly before entering the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1856. There he became close friends with several future Union generals including George Armstrong Custer.
After graduation Ramseur served with the 3rd United States Artillery stationed in Washington, D.C. He never reported to his new command after a promotion in February 1861 and instead he resigned his commission and offering his services to the Confederacy.
After briefly serving with an artillery unit, Ramseur was appointed colonel of the 49th North Carolina, a regiment he led with distinction at Malvern Hill where he was severely wounded. Promoted to brigadier general and assigned a brigade in the Second Corps of the Army of Northern Virginia, he led his brigade at Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, the Wilderness, Spotsylvania and Cold Harbor. In the fall of 1864, Ramseur led his division in the Shenandoah Campaign. On October 19, 1864, he was mortally wounded at Cedar Creek, Virginia. Taken prisoner, he died the next day at Union headquarters surrounded by many of his former friends and West Point classmates including General George A. Custer.
Other related resources:
- Images of the Civil War from the State Archives
- The Civil War on NCpedia
- North Carolina and the Civil War from the N.C. Museum of History
- The North Carolina Civil War Sesquicentennial Committee
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