John W . Frazer John Wesley Frazer ( January 6 , 1827 – March 16 , 1906 ) was an American soldier , planter , and businessman . He was a career officer in the United States Army , and then served as a Confederate general during the American Civil War . Frazer ' s most notable action during the Civil War was when he surrendered the Cumberland Gap and was captured in the autumn of 1863 . He was held as a prisoner of war until after hostilities ended in the spring of 1865 , and then took up work in farming and business . Early life and career . Frazer ( variously written as Fraser or Frazier ) was born in 1827 in Hardin County , Tennessee . He was a brother of Charles W . Frazer , who also would serve as a Confederate general . In 1845 Frazer entered the United States Military Academy at West Point , and graduated four years later standing 34th out of 43 cadets . He was appointed a brevet second lieutenant in the 2nd U . S . Infantry Regiment on July 1 , 1849 . Frazer was promoted to second lieutenant on June 30 the following year , and to first lieutenant in the 9th U . S . Infantry on March 3 , 1855 . Two years later he was promoted to the rank of captain on May 1 . Frazer had spent his U . S . Army career on " routine garrison duty at various points " across the United States , until resigning his commission , which was accepted on on March 15 , 1861 . Civil War service . When the American Civil War began , Frazer chose to follow the Confederate cause . At the time he was likely living in Mississippi , the state that had appointed Frazer to West Point and to the Confederate Army in 1861 . On March 16 Frazer was commissioned a captain in the Confederacy ' s regular army infantry . On April 5 was ordered to Louisiana to supervise the regular army recruiting for Baton Rouge and for New Orleans , Frazer ' s headquarters . On May 11 he was ordered to end his recruiting duties and proceed to Baton Rouge and directly command the city ' s barracks . On June 17 he was appointed to the provisional army in the 8th Alabama Infantry with the rank of lieutenant colonel . Frazer chose to resign from the Confederate Army in March 1862 , but re - entered the service as colonel and commander of the 28th Alabama Infantry on November 2 . Cumberland Gap . Following the Kentucky Campaign , Frazer again resigned from the Confederate Army in late 1862 . His most notable military service occurred after he was appointed a brigadier general on May 19 , 1863 , and given command of the 5th Brigade of the Army of Tennessee that July . His force consisted of about 2 , 300 men in three regiments and a battery of artillery , and was ordered to defend the Cumberland Gap " at all hazards " by area commander Maj . Gen . Simon B . Buckner , who was himself ordered to rejoin the Army of Tennessee just prior to the Battle of Chickamauga . Frazer began strengthening the fortifications already there to try to block any Federal advance into East Tennessee . That fall , forces under Union Maj . Gen . Ambrose Burnside moved toward the Cumberland Gap . Burnside sent a brigade under Col . John F . DeCourcy to deal with Frazer ' s men , while the rest of the Union soldiers quickly marched on and captured Knoxville , Tennessee , on September 2 . DeCourcy threatened the Gap from the north , but Frazer did not think this force sufficient to remove him and held his position . On September 7 , Burnside sent another brigade led by Brig . Gen . James M . Shackelford , who approached Frazer ' s men from the south and demanded surrender of the Confederates , which Frazer again rejected . On September 8 , both DeCourcy and Shackelford sent messages requesting Frazer ' s surrender , and those too were rejected . The next day , Burnside himself along with yet another brigade ( under Col . Samuel A . Gilbert ) closed on Frazer ' s position . At about 10 : 00 a . m . , Burnside demanded a surrender , saying he now had enough soldiers to assault and take the Confederate garrison . This was finally enough to convince Frazer to give up the Gap , which he did at about 3 p . m . on September 9 . No blood was shed in the three - day Battle of the Cumberland Gap . Burnside had succeeded in deceiving Frazer , leading him to believe that the opposing Federals were much stronger than they appeared . Frazer thought his Confederates to be surrounded , outnumbered , and lacking enough provisions needed for a prolonged siege , and he unconditionally surrendered his garrison . The Confederate defeats at Vicksburg and Gettysburg earlier in July may also have affected Frazer ' s decision . As they lined up , the Confederates were shocked to see the size of the force to which they had surrendered . Although around 100 – 300 men did escape through DeCourcy ' s lines just after the surrender , Frazer , his men and their weapons , and 14 guns were turned over to Burnside . This also gave the Union control of the Cumberland Gap , which it retained until the war ' s end . Confinement . Frazer was sent to join other captured Confederate officers at Fort Warren in Boston Harbor , where he spent the rest of the war . During this time the Confederate Congress took up Frazer ' s nomination to brigadier general . Due to public and political criticism of his actions at the Cumberland Gap , Frazer ' s appointment was promptly rejected on February 16 , 1864 . After the conflict ended he was finally released and paroled from Fort Warren on July 24 , 1865 . Postbellum . After the Civil War Frazer relocated to Arkansas , where he began operating a plantation . Several years later he moved to New York City , where he engaged successfully in business . Frazer died there from an accident in the spring of 1906 , and was buried in Clifton Springs .