James Conner ( general ) James Conner ( September 1 , 1829 – June 26 , 1883 ) , was a Confederate States Army brigadier general during the American Civil War ( Civil War ) . He was a lawyer in South Carolina both before and after the war and was elected State attorney general of South Carolina in 1876 . Early life . James Conner was born on September 1 , 1829 in Charleston , South Carolina . After graduating from South Carolina College in 1849 , he studied law and practiced law in Charleston . In 1856 , he was appointed United States district attorney and served in this office until 1860 . Conner authored " The History of a Suit at Law " ( 1857 ) . Conner prosecuted the famous case against the slave ship " Echo " . He also prosecuted a member of William Walker ' s filibustering effort . Conner was a secessionist and supported the calling of a secessionist convention . Although he was a member of the convention , he did not vote on the ordinance of secession . American Civil War . James Conner participated in the bombardment of Fort Sumter as captain of the Montgomery Guards , a South Carolina militia unit . At the beginning of the Civil War , Conner declined appointment as a district attorney for the Confederacy . Instead , he became a captain in the Hampton Legion and fought at the Battle of First Bull Run ( First Manassas ) , taking temporary command of the legion after Colonel Wade Hampton was wounded . On July 21 , 1861 , he was appointed major of Hampton ' s Legion . After the Battle of Seven Pines during the Peninsula Campaign , he took command of the 22nd North Carolina Volunteer Infantry Regiment . During the Seven Days Battles , his leg was broken by a rifle ball during the Battle of Gaines Mill . After a two - month recovery period , he returned to lead his regiment at the Battle of Chancellorsville and the Battle of Gettysburg . He resigned his command on August 13 , 1863 and became a member of the military court of the 2nd Corps , Army of Northern Virginia . Returning to field command in 1864 , Conner was promoted to brigadier general on June 1 , 1864 . Conner temporarily commanded the brigades of Brigadier Generals Samuel McGowan and James H . Lane consecutively during the opening months of the Siege of Petersburg . Then he led Major General John B , Kershaw ' s former brigade during the Shenandoah Valley Campaigns of 1864 . Six days before the main battle , Conner was severely wounded during a skirmish at Cedar Creek ( Fisher ' s Hill ) and he lost a leg to amputation . This effectively ended his Confederate States Army field service , although his service record shows an assignment to General Joseph E . Johnston ' s command on February 25 , 1865 . There is no record of his parole . Aftermath . After the Civil War , James Conner returned to his law practice in Charleston , South Carolina . In 1876 , he was elected attorney general of South Carolina . In that office , Conner was able to obtain judicial confirmation of the election of former Confederate Major General Wade Hampton as governor of the state . James Conner died in Richmond , Virginia on June 26 , 1883 . He is buried in Magnolia Cemetery ( Charleston , South Carolina ) . " The Letters of General James Conner , C . S . A . " was published posthumously in 1933 .