Birkett D . Fry Birkett Davenport Fry ( June 24 , 1822 – January 21 , 1891 ) was an adventurer , soldier , lawyer , cotton manufacturer , and a Confederate general in the American Civil War . A survivor of four battle wounds , he commanded one of the lead brigade s during Pickett ' s Charge at the Battle of Gettysburg . Early life . Fry was born in Kanawha County , Virginia ( now West Virginia ) . He received his education at Virginia Military Institute in Lexington , and attended the United States Military Academy , but did not graduate with the Class of 1846 , having failed mathematics and being subsequently dismissed . He then returned to his native Virginia to study law . He resumed his interest in the military with the outbreak of the Mexican - American War , serving as a first lieutenant of voltigeurs . Following the war , as with so many other adventurers , Fry moved to California as a " Forty - Niner . " Fry hung out his shingle as a practicing lawyer in Sacramento City and was elected Justice of the Peace , Fourth Ward in 1852 . In October 1856 , he accompanied the filibusterer , William Walker , during his expedition to Nicaragua as a colonel ( and later general ) in Walker ' s mercenary army . Fry returned to California , living there until 1859 when he moved to Alabama and engaged in cotton manufacturing . Fry had married Martha MiCou , whose family were among the owners of the cotton mills in Tallassee , Alabama . Civil War . With Alabama ' s secession from the Union , Fry enlisted in the Confederate army and was appointed Colonel of the 13th Alabama Infantry . The regiment was transported to Virginia and fought in the Peninsula Campaign . Colonel Fry was wounded in action at the Battle of Seven Pines . He recovered in time to command his regiment in the savage fighting at Antietam , where he was again wounded , suffering a shattered arm . Fry rejoined his regiment and led it during the 1863 Battle of Chancellorsville , where he suffered a third wound . During the subsequent Gettysburg Campaign , Fry ' s regiment was among the first Confederate units to deploy into battleline and engage the Union cavalry of John Buford at the opening of the Battle of Gettysburg on July 1 , 1863 . His men suffered considerable casualties as the day progressed after being driven off McPherson ' s Ridge by the arrival of the Federal Iron Brigade . With the capture of Brig . Gen . James J . Archer , Fry assumed command of Archer ' s Brigade of Tennesseans and Alabamans . Held in reserve on July 2 , Fry ' s brigade was a key part of the July 3 attack that became famous as Pickett ' s Charge . He suffered yet another wound , and fell near the Union lines . Held as a prisoner of war at Fort McHenry in Baltimore , Fry was treated in a local field hospital . There , rumors circulated that Fry had been involved in the August 1862 murder of Union general Robert L . McCook in Alabama . Fry ' s West Point classmate , John Gibbon , who ironically commanded the troops that had shot Fry at Gettysburg , vouched for his character and the matter was forgotten . Exchanged in 1864 , Fry rejoined the Army of Northern Virginia in time for the beginning of the Siege of Petersburg . During Philip H . Sheridan ' s raid on Richmond in early May , Fry was assigned command of Seth Barton ' s Virginia brigade , leading it during the Battle of Meadow Bridge . He was promoted to brigadier general on May 24 , 1864 . During the final months of the war , Fry was placed in command of a military district in South Carolina and Georgia . Postbellum . After surrendering in Augusta , Fry emigrated to Cuba at the close of hostilities , lodging in Havana hotels with several other former prominent Confederates , including Jubal A . Early , John C . Breckinridge , Robert A . Toombs , and John B . Magruder , among others . He did not return to the United States until 1868 , when he returned to Tallassee , Alabama as a businessman . He resided at No . 1 , King Street , in a house built for Confederate Officers in charge of the Tallassee Armory . His home is still standing and after renovations now serves as the law offices of The Segrest Law Firm . Fry later expanded his business career in Florida , and , in 1881 , moved to Richmond , Virginia , where he was president of a cotton mill for a decade . Fry died in Richmond and was buried in Oakwood Cemetery in Montgomery , Alabama .