James B . Terrill James B . Terrill , often identified as James Barbour Terrill , was born on February 20 , 1838 in Bath County , Virginia . He was practicing law in Warm Springs , Virginia when the American Civil War began . He joined the Confederate States Army and was elected major of the 13th Virginia Infantry Regiment in May 1861 . He became colonel of the regiment after the Battle of Chancellorsville on May 15 , 1863 . On May 30 , 1864 , he was killed in action at the Battle of Totopotomoy Creek or Battle of Bethesda Church , which immediately preceded the Battle of Cold Harbor during the Overland Campaign . Terrill had already been nominated to the grade of brigadier general . The Confederate Senate posthumously confirmed the appointment on May 31 , 1864 , to rank from June 1 , 1864 . Early life . James Barbour Terrill was the son of Colonel William H . Terrill . For many years , William Terrill was the prosecuting attorney for Bath County , Virginia . James B . Terrill was a graduate of Virginia Military Institute , class of 1858 . He studied law in Lexington , Virginia at the school of the Hon . John W . Brockenbrough . Starting in 1860 and when the Civil War began , he was practicing law in Warm Springs , Virginia . James Terrill was the brother of Confederate Private Phillip Terrill , who was killed in action at the Battle of Cedar Creek , Union General William Rufus Terrill , an 1853 graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point , New York , who was mortally wounded on October 8 , 1862 at the Battle of Perryville , and died the next day , and Emily Terrill Porterfield , the wife of Confederate Colonel George A . Porterfield . Virginia Governor Henry A . Wise appointed Terrill a major of cavalry in the state militia in 1859 . When the Virginia Secession Convention effectively took Virginia out of the Union , Terrill hurried to Harpers Ferry to report for duty . American civil war service . In May 1861 , James B . Terrill was elected major of the 13th Virginia Infantry Regiment . The colonel of the regiment was A . P . Hill , later Lieutenant General , and the lieutenant colonel was James A . Walker , later Brigadier General . Terrill served at the Battle of First Manassas , in Jackson ' s Valley Campaign , during the Seven Days battles , at the Battle of Cedar Mountain , Battle of Second Manassas , Battle of Antietam , Battle of Fredericksburg , Battle of Chancellorsville , Gettysburg Campaign , the Battle of the Wilderness and the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House . He was promoted first to lieutenant colonel and then after the Battle of Chancellorsville , on May 15 , 1863 , he was promoted to colonel of the regiment . Terrill was killed in action at the Battle of Totopotomoy Creek or Battle Bethesda Church in Hanover County , Virginia on May 30 , 1864 , a few days before the Battle of Cold Harbor , which took place about 3 or 4 miles to the south . Terrill was buried at Bethesda Church , near the battlefield , by Union troops . Posthumous promotion . James Barbour Terrill had already been nominated to the grade of brigadier general when he was killed at the Battle of Bethesda Church . The Confederate Senate confirmed his appointment the next day , May 31 , 1864 , to rank from June 1 , 1864 .