Seth Barton Seth Maxwell Barton ( September 8 , 1829 – April 11 , 1900 ) was a United States Army officer and , then , a brigadier general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War . He later became noted as a chemist . Early life and career . Barton was born in Fredericksburg , Virginia , on September 8 , 1829 , to Thomas Bowerbank Barton ( 1792 - 1871 ) and Susan Catherine Stone Barton ( 1796 - 1875 ) . At the age of 15 , he was accepted into the United States Military Academy , graduating in 1849 . Following his graduation , Barton served in various frontier posts in New Mexico Territory and Texas , where he participated in campaigns against the Comanche Indians . By 1861 , Barton had become a Captain in the United States Army . Civil War Service . With the outbreak of the Civil War , he resigned his commission and joined the 3rd Arkansas Infantry as a lieutenant colonel in the Confederate army . Serving under Gen . Robert E . Lee , Barton saw action at the battles of Cheat Mountain and Greenbrier River , and later with Gen . Thomas " Stonewall " Jackson as chief engineer during the Valley Campaign in 1862 . Promoted to brigadier general in March 1862 , Barton was assigned to Gen . E . Kirby Smith in the Department of East Tennessee , where for a short time during the June 1862 Cumberland Gap Campaign , Barton led the 4th Brigade , consisting of Anderson ' s Virginia battery as well as Alabama and Georgia regiment s . Later transferred with Maj . Gen . Carter L . Stevenson ' s division to Vicksburg , Mississippi , Barton was captured following the Siege of Vicksburg on July 4 , 1863 . Released following a prisoner exchange , Barton was assigned command of the Virginia brigade once led by Lewis Armistead , serving under Maj . Gen . George Pickett . Stationed at Kinston , North Carolina , for the remainder of the year , Barton was commanding one of the forward columns marching on New Bern , in February 1864 , when he was censured after Pickett had issued a formal complaint against him for lack of cooperation . He was transferred to Gen . Robert Ransom ' s command at Drewry ' s Bluff . However , Barton was again relieved of command following the Battle of Drewry ' s Bluff when Ransom issued a similar charge , despite accounts of Barton ' s gallantry during the battle as well as his unit being the first to reach the Union guns . Barton ' s brigade was assigned to Col . Birkett D . Fry . Barton was later returned to command due to the intervention of other officers on his behalf and assigned to a brigade defending Richmond , Virginia , under Lt . Gen . Richard S . Ewell . He remained at Chaffin ' s Farm until the eventual evacuation of Richmond and joined the retreating forces under Maj . Gen . Custis Lee . Barton was captured on April 6 , 1865 at the Battle of Sayler ' s Creek along with eight other Confederate Generals . Imprisoned for three months at Fort Warren in Boston , Massachusetts , he was released after signing a loyalty oath to the Union Post - War Life . After the war , Barton returned to Fredericksburg , where he began practicing chemistry , eventually becoming one of the most prominent chemists in the United States . In 1900 , while visiting his son in Washington , D . C . , he died suddenly . He was buried in the City Cemetery in Fredericksburg , Virginia .