Stephen Dodson Ramseur

Background

Stephen Dodson Ramseur, the son of Jacob Abel and Lucy Mayfield Dodson Ramseur and a descendant of John Wilfong who fought in the Revolution was born on May 31, 1837, in Lincolnton, North Carolina. He came from a well-to-do family.

Education

Stephen Dodson Ramseur attended the schools of Lincolnton and Milton and at sixteen matriculated as a freshman at Davidson College, Davidson, North Carolina. Deciding upon a military career, he left Davidson in April 1855, to accept an appointment to the United States Military Academy from which he was graduated on July 1, 1860, standing fourteenth in a class of forty-one.

Career

Stephen Dodson Ramseur was appointed brevet second lieutenant, 3rd Artillery with station at Fortress Monroe, Virginia, and was for a short time at Washington, D. C. He was promoted to the rank of second lieutenant of the 4th Artillery on February 1, 1861, but, the Civil War had begun, he resigned on April 6, 1861, without having joined his new regiment, and offered his services to the Confederacy. By this government, he was commissioned first lieutenant of artillery and shortly thereafter was appointed captain of a North Carolina battery.

In the spring of 1862 he reported with his battery at Yorktown, Virginia, to Gen. John Bankhead Magruder, who was opposing the advance of General McClellan up the Peninsula, was detached from his battery to be placed in command of the artillery of the right-wing, and was promoted to the rank of major.

In April 1862, he was elected colonel of the 49th North Carolina Infantry. He rapidly trained his new regiment, led it with distinction in the Seven Days' Battle in front of Richmond, and though severely wounded at Malvern Hill, refused to leave the field until the engagement was over. Upon the recommendation of General Lee, he was promoted to brigadier-general on November 1, 1862, and assigned to command a brigade of four North Carolina regiments in D. H. Hill's division of Stonewall Jackson's corps in the Army of Northern Virginia. He fought gallantly with his brigade at Chancellorsville where he was again wounded, participated in the battles at Gettysburg, in the Wilderness, and at Spotsylvania, where he received another wound and where his brigade won fame by its charge which drove General Hancock's men from the "bloody angle."

On June 1, 1864, he was promoted to the rank of major-general. He commanded a division at Cold Harbor and in the force of Gen. Jubal A. Early, which invaded Maryland in June and July 1864. Returning to the Shenandoah Valley his division bore the brunt of General Sheridan's attack at Winchester, Virginia, and fell back in good order.

At Cedar Creek, Virginia, on October 19, 1864, after assisting in the initial defeat of the Union forces, Stephen fell mortally wounded while rallying his men to stop Sheridan's counter-attack. He was taken prisoner and died the next day at Sheridan's headquarters in Winchester.

Achievements

• Stephen Dodson Ramseur was the youngest West Pointer to achieve the rank of Major General in the Confederate army.
  
  He impressed Lee by his actions at Malvern Hill and Chancellorsville, where his brigade led Stonewall Jackson’s flank attack, taking 50% casualties.
  
  In the Piedmont Triad region, the town of Ramseur in eastern Randolph County, North Carolina is named in Stephen Dodson Ramseur's honor.
  
  A monument on the Cedar Creek battlefield commemorates Ramseur's death in the Belle Grove House.

Personality

Ramseur earned a reputation for being an aggressive fighter and this fearlessness contributed to his mortal wound at Cedar Creek on October 19, 1864.

Quotes from others about the person

• "He was a most gallant and energetic officer whom no disaster appalled, but his courage and energy seemed to gain new strength in the midst of confusion and disorder." - General Early
  
  "I consider its brigade and regimental commanders as among the best of their respective grades in the army, and in the battle of Chancellorsville, where the brigade was much distinguished and suffered severely, General Ramseur was among those whose conduct was specially commended to my notice by Lieutenant General Jackson, in a message sent to me after he was wounded." - Robert E. Lee

Connections

On October 22, Stephen married Ellen Richmond of Milton, North Carolina, and only the day before receiving his fatal wound he learned of the birth of a daughter.

Father:

Jacob Abel Ramseur

1808-1880

Mother:

Lucy Mayfield Dodson Ramseur

1812-1859

Wife:

Ellen Richmond Ramseur

1840-1900

Daughter:

Mary Dodson Ramseur

1864-1935

References

• Stephen Dodson Ramseur: Lee's Gallant General by Gallagher, Gary W.
  1995
• The Bravest of the Brave: The Correspondence of Stephen Dodson Ramseur
  2014
• Becoming Confederates: Paths to a New National Loyalty
  2013
• Sketches of Stephen Dodson Ramseur
  2018
• Civil War High Commands by John Eicher
  2002
• Who Was Who in the Civil War
  1988
• The Generals of Gettysburg: The Leaders of America's Greatest Battle
  1998
• Generals in Gray: Lives of the Confederate Commanders
  2006