Henry K . Burgwyn Henry King Burgwyn , Jr . ( October 3 , 1841 – July 1 , 1863 ) was a Confederate colonel in the American Civil War killed at the Battle of Gettysburg . Early life . Burgwyn was born in Jamaica Plain , Massachusetts , to Henry King Burgwyn , Sr . and Ann Greenough Burgwyn while his parents were vacationing there . He was the second cousin of Brig . Gen George B . Anderson . Burgwyn grew up in Northampton County , North Carolina , at Thornberry , the family plantation . He attended Burlington College in North Carolina . Hoping , but never receiving an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point , New York , Burgwyn instead graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1857 . He then graduated from the Virginia Military Institute as a member of the class of 1861 . Burgwyn spent a few tours as a recruiting officer in North Carolina and then as commandant of Camp Crabtree in Raleigh , North Carolina , where he drilled and attempted to instill discipline in the recruits . Civil War . In August 1861 , after a personal recommendation from VMI professor , Thomas Jonathan Jackson , for an appointment as a Confederate officer , Burgwyn became the lieutenant colonel of the 26th North Carolina Regiment at just 19 years of age . He took part in the 26th North Carolina ' s fight against Ambrose E . Burnside at the Battle of New Bern and narrowly escaped capture . The regiment next took part in the failed attack on the Union position at Malvern Hill . Burgwyn was promoted to colonel in August 1862 and took command of the regiment when its commander , Zebulon B . Vance ( who Burgwyn felt was unfit for command ) was elected governor of North Carolina , despite the fact that the 26th North Carolina ' s brigade commander , Brig . Gen . Robert Ransom was against the promotion . Ransom and Burgwyn disliked each other and the 26th was transferred from Ransom ' s command to the brigade of Brig . Gen . J . Johnston Pettigrew . Burgwyn spent much of the fall and winter of 1862 in eastern North Carolina with minor engagements against Union forces . During this period he was also instrumental in recruitment and conscription activity and drilling these new soldiers . Burgwyn next led the 26th at the Battle of Goldsboro Bridge . The regiment was heavily involved in Daniel Harvey Hill ' s New Bern and Washington Campaigns . The 26th was then sent north to join the Army of Northern Virginia , arriving shortly after the Battle of Chancellorsville . When his regiment joined Lee ' s Army , Burgwyn was thought to be the youngest colonel to have served to that point with the Army , and the 26th was the largest regiment in the Army . Gettysburg and death . Burgwyn and the 26th North Carolina moved north toward Pennsylvania as part of the Gettysburg Campaign . The 26th engaged in brutal fighting against Solomon Meredith ' s vaunted Iron Brigade in Herbst ' s Woods on the afternoon of July 1 , 1863 , at Gettysburg . As the regiment was exiting Herbst ' s Woods and reaching the crest of McPherson ' s Ridge , Burgwyn was shot through both lungs and mortally wounded carrying the colors of the 26th ( Historian Earl J . Hess wrote that Burgwyn had just passed the colors to a private then the colors fell again and Burgwyn turned to see what had happened and was then shot ) . According to William M . Cheek , an eyewitness at the time , In all , 13 color bearers for the 26th North Carolina were either killed or wounded . Burgwyn died about two hours after he was wounded and was buried on the field north of the Chambersburg Pike in an empty gun case . Another eye witness and a member of Burgwyn ' s command , Fred A . Olds , wrote in a letter that he was with the Colonel when he died : For his gallantry and heroism , Colonel Burgwyn was awarded the Confederate Southern Cross of Honor for his actions on July 1 , 1863 , and is listed on the Confederate Honor Roll . His family had his body exhumed in 1867 and he was laid to rest in Raleigh ' s Historic Oakwood Cemetery .