James M . Goggin James Monroe Goggin ( October 23 , 1820 – October 10 , 1889 ) was a Confederate States Army major and Assistant Adjutant General during the American Civil War ( Civil War ) . He began his service as a major in the 32nd Virginia Volunteer Infantry Regiment until May 21 , 1862 . Although he was a staff officer for most of the rest of his war service , he commanded a brigade at the Battle of Cedar Creek on October 13 , 1864 . On December 4 , 1864 , he was appointed as a ( special ) brigadier general . The appointment was soon cancelled and he returned to his duties as a staff officer for Major General Joseph B . Kershaw for the remainder of the war . Early life and Texas . James Monroe Goggin was born on October 23 , 1820 in Bedford County , Virginia . He was married to Elizabeth Nelson Page . Goggin entered the United States Military Academy at West Point , New York in the Class of 1842 but left before graduating . After leaving West Point , Goggin relocated to Texas , where he joined the Army of the Republic of Texas as a first lieutenant . Goggin also began purchasing real estate in Waller County , Texas . In 1848 , Goggin moved to California where he took a job establishing mail routes . Goggin then moved to Memphis , Tennessee , where he began working as a cotton broker . He was engaged in this business until the beginning of the Civil War . Civil War service . In 1861 , Goggin moved back to Virginia , entering the Confederate States Army on July 1 , 1861 as a major in the 32nd Virginia Volunteer Infantry Regiment where he was assigned to lead a battalion . Goggin and the 32nd Virginia Infantry served under Maj . Gen . John B . Magruder in 1861 and into 1862 during the Peninsula Campaign . Goggin joined the First Corps , Army of Northern Virginia in April 1862 , serving on the staff of Maj . Gen . Lafayette McLaws as his assistant adjutant general . He served in this capacity during all of the First Corps ' engagements , in both the Army of Northern Virginia and the Army of Tennessee , until the spring of 1864 . During the Battle of Fort Sanders in November 1863 , Goggin carried a message from McLaws to Lt . Gen . James Longstreet , informing him that the attack was beginning to fail and it was futile to carry in on . When McLaws was replaced with Maj . Gen . Joseph B . Kershaw in May 1864 , Goggin served as his assistant adjutant general as well . His service in this post was highly praised by Goggin ' s superiors . On October 13 , 1864 , during the Battle of Cedar Creek in the Valley Campaigns of 1864 , Goggin was given temporary command of Brig . Gen . James Conner ' s brigade . Conner had lost his left leg in combat earlier that day , and Kershaw assigned Goggin to lead his brigade in the battle at Cedar Creek . On December 4 he was appointed a " special " brigadier general , but this appointment was canceled soon afterwards . Goggin returned to the staff of Kershaw in December 1864 , once again as assistant adjutant general , and served until Goggin , Kershaw , and the rest of the staff were captured on April 6 , 1865 at the Battle of Sayler ' s Creek during the Appomattox Campaign . They were paroled from that location on the same day . Postbellum . After the American Civil War ended in 1865 , Goggin returned to Texas , initially in the state ' s Waller County , and then in Austin . James Monroe Goggin died at the age of 68 on October 10 , 1889 in Austin , Texas . He was buried in the city ' s Oakwood Cemetery .