Complex sentence: A farmer, he enlisted in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War, serving in Company D, First Regiment, of the North Carolina Volunteer Infantry; he was with the army of Gen. Robert E. Lee until the Lee's surrender at Appomattox.
Split into simpler sentences: A farmer, he enlisted in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War, serving in Company D, First Regiment, of the North Carolina Volunteer Infantry. Atwater was with the army of Gen. Robert E. Lee until the Lee's surrender at Appomattox.