Elisha F . Paxton Elisha Franklin Paxton ( March 4 , 1828 – May 3 , 1863 ) was an American lawyer and soldier who served as a general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War . He died in combat leading the famed Stonewall Brigade during the Battle of Chancellorsville . Early life and career . Paxton was born in Rockbridge County , Virginia . He was the son of Elisha Paxton and Margaret McNutt , a Presbyterian family , and his grandfather was American Revolutionary War veteran William Paxton . His first education came from his cousin James H . Paxton ' s school . In 1845 he attended Washington College in Lexington , Virginia , and in 1847 he entered Yale University located in New Haven , Connecticut . Paxton then attended the University of Virginia Law School in Charlottesville in 1849 , graduating at the top of his class . When fully grown Paxton was described as " five feet ten inches high , heavily built and of great bodily strength " , a physique that inspired his childhood nickname , " Bull " . He was known not to drink alcohol . Upon graduating Paxton settled in Virginia and became a lawyer , then a bank president in Lexington . He also later worked as a planter , and then moved to Ohio . After passing the state ' s bar examination , he worked for several years in Ohio prosecuting land claims . His law practice ended in 1860 because of his failing eyesight , but this did not stop him from becoming prominent in political matters . His son Matthew wrote that " he was a man of ardent temperament and strong convictions such as did not permit him to remain an indifferent spectator of the exciting political occurrences of era . " His " blunt and outspoken views " on behalf of the secession of South Carolina caused a rift in his friendship with Lexington resident Thomas J . Jackson ; the two men did not speak to each other until after each had joined the Confederate Army . When he was 26 , Paxton married 23 year old Elizabeth Hannah White ( died February 16 , 1872 ) on November 2 , 1854 . She was the daughter of Matthew White and lived in Lexington . They would have four children together , three of whom out - lived Paxton : Matthew W . Paxton , John G . Paxton , and Frank Paxton . The actor Bill Paxton is a direct descendant of Elisha Paxton ( great - great - grandson ) and his son John Gallatin Paxton . Matthew became the editor of the newspaper " Rockbridge County News " and John a lawyer in Kansas City , Missouri . Frank lived in San Saba County , Texas . Civil War service . At the start of the American Civil War in 1861 , Paxton chose to follow his home state and the Confederate cause . Despite a lack of any military training , Paxton entered the Confederate Army on April 18 as a first lieutenant of the Rockbridge Rifles , part of Col . James F . Preston ' s 4th Virginia Infantry Regiment . The 4th Virginia fought on July 21 during the First Battle of Bull Run ( First Manassas ) in Brig . Gen . Thomas J . Jackson ' s First Brigade of the Army of the Shenandoah , soon to be known as the Stonewall Brigade . Paxton was wounded in an arm during this battle and his actions won him praise from his comrades . After recovering , Paxton was elected major of the 27th Virginia Infantry on October 14 , 1861 , but was not re - elected to the position the following spring because of his " heavy - handedness and a lack of tact " . On May 30 , 1862 , Paxton was appointed aide - de - camp to Jackson ' s staff , and participated in the Valley Campaign of the Shenandoah Valley and the Seven Days Battles , both in Virginia . By August 4 , 1862 , Paxton was made Jackson ' s assistant quartermaster , and fought in the Northern Virginia Campaign . Paxton was appointed assistant adjutant general ( chief of staff ) on Jackson ' s staff on August 15 , and took part in the Second Battle of Bull Run on August 28 – 30 , and then in the Maryland Campaign and the Battle of Antietam on September 17 . Stonewall Brigade . Col . Andrew J . Grigsby had taken over the Stonewall Brigade when its commander Col . William Baylor was killed at Second Bull Run . At Antietam , the loss of Brig . Gen John R . Jones and Brig . Gen William Starke left Grigsby in charge of an entire division , two command levels above his rank . Despite this , Jackson refused to give him permanent command of anything above regimental level . On November 1 , 1862 , Paxton was promoted from major to brigadier general and assigned command of the Stonewall Brigade . It was a move that did not sit well with the men he passed over , officers with more experience as well as seniority . Paxton was the choice of Jackson and the posting was made directly by Confederate President Jefferson Davis . Although Jackson rarely deviated from protocol for promotions , his justification for selecting Paxton was that none of the subordinate commanders in the Stonewall Brigade was the " best qualified " for the position because " I did not regard any of them as competent as another . " Paxton assumed command of the brigade on November 15 . Grigsby was " as mad as thunder " and resigned his commission in protest . During the Battle of Fredericksburg on December 13 , Paxton and his brigade in the division of Brig . Gen . William B . Taliaferro were on the right of the Confederate defense when Union Maj . Gen . George G . Meade ' s division made a brief ( and unsupported ) successful attack , but Paxton ' s men counterattacked and drove the Federals off . Fredericksburg campaign historian Frank O ' Reilly criticized Paxton ' s performance during the engagement , judging that : Chancellorsville and death . By the spring of 1863 , Bull Paxton , who a member of his staff described as a " rather profane and godless man " found new solace in religion , possibly because of his association with the religious Stonewall Jackson . He started carrying a pocket Bible and on the night before the Battle of Chancellorsville , he admitted a premonition of his death and prepared himself for it . On the second day of battle , the brigade was part Jackson ' s audacious flanking movement around Union Maj . Gen . Joseph Hooker ' s army . Paxton and his brigade were stationed to guard Germanna Junction on May 2 , and that night his men were ordered to the front line . After Jackson was wounded , command of the Second Corps went briefly to Maj . Gen . A . P . Hill , but when he too was hit , cavalry commander Maj . Gen . J . E . B . Stuart was given command . On May 3 Paxton led his men through densely wooded terrain towards the Union position . He was on foot at the head of his brigade when he was shot through his chest , killing him within an hour . Lt . Randolph Barton of Paxton ' s staff wrote that Paxton fell only two feet away from him . " I placed my arm under him , when he muttered , ' Tie up my arm ' , and died . He was not shot in the arm , but through the heart . " Later that day army commander Gen . Robert E . Lee sent a wire to the authorities in the Confederate capitol of Richmond , saying : Paxton was initially buried at Guinea Station , Virginia , a short distance from where Jackson lay dying . He was later brought back to Lexington and was re - buried there in the Stonewall Jackson Memorial Cemetery , within a few feet of his former commander .