# Confederate Military History/Volume 3/Biographical/S

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​Brigadier-General James E. Slaughter, a native of Virginia, entered the military service of the United States in April, 1847, as second lieutenant of Voltigeurs. He was transferred to the First artillery in June, 1848, and was an officer of that command until the formation of the Confederate States, with promotion in 1852 to the rank of first lieutenant. He received a commission as first lieutenant, corps of artillery, Confederate States army, and became inspector-general on the staff of General Beauregard after the transfer of the latter to the department of Alabama and West Florida. After the bombardment at Pensacola, in which Lieutenant Slaughter rendered valuable service under fire, General Beauregard reported that to him, probably more than to any one else in the command, he was indebted for patient labor and unceasing vigil given to the organization and instruction of the troops. Beauregard earnestly recommended his promotion to brigadier-general, which was bestowed in the spring of 1862. In May he was appointed chief of the inspector-general's department of the army of the Mississippi, under General Bragg. In this duty he continued through the Kentucky campaign, and was then assigned to the charge of the troops of Mobile, that port being threatened by Federal invasion. Thence he was transferred in April, 1863, to Galveston, Tex., as chief of artillery for General Magruder. Later in the year he was given charge of the eastern sub-district of Texas, and command of all the troops of the Second ​division. During the remainder of the war period he played an important part in Confederate affairs in Texas, for some time performing the duties of chief of staff.
Brigadier-General William E. Starke went to the assistance of Gen. R. S. Garnett at Laurel hill, early in July, 1861, as colonel, and served as his aide-de-camp in the disastrous retreat on the Cheat river. His coolness and judgment in the midst of the confusion that followed the death of General Garnett were highly commended by Colonel Taliaferro, who succeeded to command. Subsequently he was put in command of the Sixtieth Virginia regiment, and sent to Lewisburg, to the support of General Floyd, whence, in December, he was ordered to accompany General Donelson's brigade to Bowling Green, Ky. It appears, however, that he was instead, attached to General Wise's command, stationed at Goldsboro, N. C. During the Seven Days' campaign in Virginia he commanded his regiment in Field's brigade, and was commended for gallantry, and his promotion to brigadier-general followed early in August, 1862. Reporting for duty to General Jackson, he was assigned to command of the Second Louisiana brigade and marched with it to Manassas. In that campaign he took command of the Stonewall division, after General Taliaferro was wounded on the 28th. He was with Jackson at the capture of Harper's Ferry, and at Sharpsburg was called on again to take command of the division, after the fall of J. R. Jones. Soon afterward he himself fell mortally wounded, pierced by three minie balls, and survived but an hour. Gen. Bradley T. Johnson, in reporting the battle of Second Manassas, said: "I cannot forbear doing but scant justice to a gallant soldier now no more. It was my fortune during the two days of battle, during which he commanded the division, to be thrown constantly in contact with Brigadier-General Starke. The buoyant dash with which he led his brigade into the most withering fire on Friday, though then in command of the division; the force he showed in the handling of this command; the coolness and judgment which distinguished him in action, made him to me a marked man, and I regretted his early death as a great loss to the army and the cause." His name deserves lasting remembrance in association with the Stonewall division.
Major-General Carter L. Stevenson, a Virginian distinguished in the western armies throughout the war, was a graduate of the National military academy, of the class of 1838. He went into the United States army with the rank of second lieutenant, and was assigned to the Fifth infantry. He served on frontier duty in Wisconsin, and was promoted first lieutenant September 22, 1840. His principal service after this was rendered in the Florida war and in the military occupation of Texas, until the Mexican war. He participated with distinction in the battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma as well as other events of this struggle, and in June, 1847, was promoted captain in the Fifth infantry. He served for a time as aide-de-camp to Brigadier-General Brady; was in garrison at East Pascagoula, Miss.; on frontier duty at Fort Gibson, I. T., and Fort Belknap, Tex.; and while engaged in Pacific railroad exploration, skirmished with the Apache Indians. He took part in the Seminole war of 1856-57, fighting at Big Cypress swamp and near Bowleytown, and marched in the famous Utah expedition; subsequently continuing on frontier duty until 1861, when, obeying the call of his State, he tendered his services for her defense. He received the commission of lieutenant-colonel, corps of infantry, C. S. A., and with the rank of colonel took command of the Fifty-third Virginia infantry. When Beauregard was transferred to the west, he recommended the promotion of Stevenson, among others, to brigade and division command of the western troops, and Stevenson was accordingly made brigadier-general in February, 1862. On March 15th, he was ordered to report to General Huger for assignment on the Weldon railroad, but soon after was transferred to the department of East Tennessee, and given command of a division of troops. After the Federal General Morgan seized Cumberland Gap, he was in command of the ​Confederate force which threatened that position and compelled Morgan's withdrawal. After July 17th he pursued the Federal forces into Kentucky, and there made a junction with Kirby Smith, with whom he served during the return to Murfreesboro. In October he was promoted major-general. In December, 1862, he was sent by Bragg from Murfreesboro with 10,000 men to reinforce Pemberton at Vicksburg, already threatened by the Federal army. He reached the field of battle at Chickasaw bluffs just after the repulse of Sherman, and by reason of his rank was assigned to the command of the forces in front of the enemy. He was subsequently in command of a division under Pemberton, and during the unfortunately planned operations against Grant, bore the brunt of the battle at Champion's hill, and after the defeat at Big Black bridge was left in charge of the retreating columns, while Pemberton hastened to Vicksburg. During the long siege he took a conspicuous part as commander of the right of the Confederate lines. After the surrender of Vicksburg he was for a time under parole, but he returned to the army before Chattanooga and was given a division of Hardee's corps, with command on the right, including Lookout mountain, from which he withdrew just before the battle of Missionary Ridge to reinforce the main line on the ridge. He took part in this battle, and was subsequently identified with the army of Tennessee as a division commander until the close of the war. During the Atlanta campaign he had a division of Hood's corps, and led his troops in brilliant action at Resaca, Kenesaw mountain and elsewhere. After the promotion of Hood he held temporary command of the corps. During the Tennessee campaign he commanded a division of the corps of S. D. Lee, which, holding the center of the line before Nashville, earned distinction by stubborn fighting despite the general disaster, and after the wounding of Lee he had the immediate command of the division covering the retreat, a trust which was ably performed. With his division of the army of Tennessee, reduced to 2,600 men, he participated in the operations in the Carolinas against Sherman, and surrendered with Johnston in April, 1865. After the war he was occupied as a civil and mining engineer until his death in Caroline county, Va., August 15, 1888.