Mosby Parsons Mosby Monroe Parsons ( May 21 , 1822 – August 15 , 1865 ) was a United States officer in the Mexican - American War and brigadier general of the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War . Early life and career . The eldest child of Gustavus Adolphus Parsons and his wife Patience Monroe Bishop , Mosby M . Parsons was born in Charlottesville , Virginia . When he was 13 , his parents moved to Cole County , Missouri . Two years later , they moved again to Jefferson City , which Parsons would thereafter make his home . As a young man , Mosby read law and was admitted to the bar in 1846 . He served as a volunteer in the Mexican - American War with the rank of captain in Colonel Alexander W . Doniphan ' s regiment and was cited for gallantry at the Battle of Sacramento on February 28 , 1847 . Returning to Missouri after the war , he married Mary Wells on September 18 , 1850 . However , his wife died just three years later , leaving him with an infant son , Stephen Kearney Parsons . Parsons served as the United States District Attorney for western Missouri . In 1856 was elected to the state legislature . He became a state senator in 1858 , serving until the Civil War began in early 1861 . Civil War . During the secession crisis in Missouri , Parsons was appointed brigadier general in command of the Sixth Division of the Missouri State Guard . He arrived too late to participate in the skirmish at Boonville , but he went on to lead his division at Carthage and the Battle of Wilson ' s Creek in Missouri . Although his Missouri State Guardsmen participated in the Battle of Pea Ridge in Arkansas , Parsons was absent from this action seeking an appointment into the Confederate Army in Richmond , Virginia . Parsons was commissioned a brigadier general of the Confederacy on November 5 , 1862 and led his infantry brigade in the Battle of Prairie Grove , Arkansas one month later . His force would participate in the attack at Helena , Arkansas on July 4 , 1863 , and assisted Richard Taylor in thwarting Union Major General Nathaniel Banks ' Red River Campaign of 1864 in Louisiana ( Battle of Pleasant Hill ) , as well as opposing Union Major General Frederick Steele ' s Camden Expedition in Arkansas , including participation at the Battle of Jenkins ' Ferry . Parsons was appointed a major general by Trans - Mississippi Departmental Commander Kirby Smith on April 30 , 1864 , although his promotion was never confirmed by Jefferson Davis . Post - war death . After the war ' s end , Parsons , like many other Missouri Confederates , chose to go to Mexico rather than return to Missouri . He and three companions , including his brother - in - law , Capt . Austin M . Standish , and former Confederate Congress man Aaron H . Conrow were attacked , captured , and executed by a band of regular Mexican cavalry near China , Mexico on August 15 , 1865 . The bodies of Parsons and his comrades were thrown into the San Juan River . In 1868 , Parsons ' s son ( Kearny Parsons ) and sister ( Mildred Standish ) , along with the family of Aaron Conrow , sued the Mexican government via the United States and Mexico Claims Commission Convention . In 1875 , a judgment in the amount of almost $ 50 , 000 . 00 in gold was awarded to each of the plaintiffs .