Love From The Tomb

Love From The Tomb

Brigadier General Junius Daniel

Junius Daniel was born in 1828 in Halifax, North Carolina. He lived there until given an appointment to West Point by President James K. Polk. He graduated 33 out of 42 in the class of 1851. His graduation was delayed a year because of an injury that occurred during artillery practice. He would serve seven years in the army before resigning to run a plantation in Louisiana. When the war began, Daniel immediately returned to North Carolina and offered his services to the Confederacy.

Daniel was made colonel of the 14^th North Carolina Infantry. He was offered the position of colonel of the 43^rd North Carolina Infantry and the 2^nd North Carolina Cavalry. Moving to Virginia, he saw action during the Peninsula Campaign and the Seven Days Battles. He had a horse killed beneath him at Malvern Hill. Dazed, he walked to the rear and regaining his senses, mounted another horse and returned to the fight.

President Jefferson Davis was so impressed with Daniel that he promoted him brigadier general in September 1862. Sent to North Carolina with his brigade, Daniel missed Chancellorsville. Lee placed his brigade in Rodes Division for the Gettysburg Campaign. Daniel again distinguished himself in the fighting on the first day at Gettysburg where he lost more men than any other Confederate brigadier.

Daniel and his brigade wouldn’t be absent from Lee’s army again. He would see action in the Battle of the Wilderness. At the Battle of Spotsylvania when the Federal army overran the Mule Shoe, Daniel would see his last battle. As parts of the Confederate army attempted to resist the Federal onslaught, Daniel had his brigade well in hand. He urged his brigade forward against the enemy force and saluted his old 14^th North Carolina Infantry personally.

He was then struck in the stomach by a bullet. There was nothing surgeons could do for him. They eased his pain as best they could. The next day he sent his wife Ellen Long (who he’d married just before the war began) a “message of love, love from the tomb.” He sent her his pocket watch and asked her to care for his servant, William. He also asked that his horse be taken care of and asked about how his brigade had fared in the fight. He then died.

General Daniel's pocket watch

General Robert E. Lee, Lieutenant General Richard Ewell, Major General John B. Gordon, and Brigadier General Bryan Grimes all praised the leadership ability of Junius Daniel. He was one of the Confederacy’s better brigade commanders and rumors circulated that Lee intended to promote him to major general.

Brigadier General Junius Daniel was 35 years old. He rests today in the Old Colonial Churchyard, Halifax, North Carolina. 

A Live Major General or a Dead Brigadier: Abner Monroe Perrin

Brigadier General Abner Monroe Perrin

       Part of the problem of living with a sleep disorder is finding yourself wide awake at five in the morning and wishing you were asleep. Of course falling asleep about four yesterday afternoon and waking up at midnight has something to do with it. I thought I would use this time writing about one of my favorite Confederate generals. 

       Abner Perrin was born in 1827 in South Carolina. He fought in the Mexican War at the age of 19 and earned promotion to lieutenant while there. Following that war, he returned to South Carolina where he became an attorney. When the Civil War began, Perrin was elected captain in the 14th South Carolina Infantry.

       They would see their first action in the Seven Days battles around Richmond in the summer of 1862. Perrin and his men were heavily engaged at both Gaines' Mill and Frayser's Farm during the now famous Seven Days Campaign. 

       They fought at Cedar Mountain, Second Manassas, Sharpsburg (Antietam), and Fredericksburg. Perrin was slightly wounded at Fredericksburg where his brigade commander Maxcy Gregg was killed. Perrin received a promotion to colonel in January of 1863. At Chancellorsville when all the senior officers were killed or wounded, Perrin was placed in charge of the brigade. He would travel to Gettysburg in command of the brigade, but still only ranked colonel. He lost almost half his brigade in the attack on the first day there, but he led the brigade forward and broke the Federal line in his front. 

       Perrin was promoted to brigadier general in September of 1863. When his former commander Samuel McGowan returned to duty in February of 1864 after his long recuperation from Chancellorsville, Perrin took command of Wilcox's Alabama Brigade. He led his new brigade at the Wilderness, again proving himself to be a great leader. 

The "Mule Shoe" at Spotsylvania

       At Spotsylvania on May 12, 1864, Perrin was ordered to lead his brigade of Alabamians into the breach when the Federals overran the "Mule Shoe." He said, "I shall come out of this fight a live major general or a dead brigadier." He led his men into the breach and helped close the gap, stopping the Federal advance. Perrin didn't live to see his men triumph. He fell from his horse struck by several bullets. His body would be carried back to Fredericksburg, Virginia and buried in the City Cemetery. Although he didn't receive his desired promotion to major general, he was deserving of such rank. He'd proven himself on many battlefields and the wonder is that such a brave man lived as long as he did. 

Grave of Abner Monroe Perrin