James J . Archer James Jay Archer ( December 19 , 1817 – October 24 , 1864 ) was a lawyer and an officer in the United States Army during the Mexican - American War , and he later served as a general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War . Taken as a prisoner of war at the Battle of Gettysburg , Archer was the first general officer captured from Gen . Robert E . Lee ' s Army of Northern Virginia . Early life and career . Archer was born at Stafford , near Havre de Grace , Maryland , to John and Ann Stump Archer , a wealthy military family . He graduated from Princeton University in 1835 before attending Bacon College in Georgetown , Kentucky . Nicknamed " Sally " at Princeton for his frail and slight physique , he studied law at the University of Maryland and passed the bar exam . He subsequently established a successful law practice . When the Mexican - American War erupted , he volunteered as a captain and served in the U . S . Army in numerous battles , being cited for bravery at Chapultepec and brevetted to the rank of major . After Mexico , Archer moved to Texas in 1848 , and was wounded there in a duel with Andrew Porter , where his " second " in the duel was Thomas J . Jackson . Returning to Maryland , Archer resumed his law practice , but decided in 1855 to join the regular army as a captain in the 9th U . S . Infantry , with whom he served primarily in the Pacific Northwest . Archer never married . Civil War service . When the American Civil War began in 1861 , Archer was stationed in Fort Walla Walla in the Washington Territory . He resigned his commission on May 14 , traveled to the South , and joined the Confederate Army as a captain in the Provisional Army . He soon was named colonel of the 5th Texas Infantry , serving in the brigade organized by former Texas Senator Louis T . Wigfall . After Brig . Gen . John Bell Hood assumed command , the Texas Brigade fought in the Peninsula Campaign in Virginia . Archer served with distinction at the Battle of Eltham ' s Landing and Seven Pines , but never found favor in the eyes of his Texans , who thought him a " tyrant . " He was promoted to brigadier general on June 3 , 1862 , and initially given command of three regiments from Tennessee , after the brigade commander , Robert H . Hatton , had been killed at Seven Pines . Later in June , Archer ' s brigade joined five others to form the " Light Division " under Maj . Gen . A . P . Hill . Soon , two more regiments were added to Archer ' s brigade , which fought well in the Seven Days Battles , at Cedar Mountain , and at Second Bull Run , where his horse was killed under him . His men dubbed him " The Little Gamecock " for his slight build and fierce attitude in combat . During the Maryland Campaign of September 1862 , Archer was suffering from an illness that forced him to direct his brigade from an ambulance , being too sick to ride his horse . His men made a forced march from Harpers Ferry and arrived in Sharpsburg on the left flank of the Union IX Corps . In a fierce assault , Archer drove back the enemy and recaptured a Confederate artillery battery . Three days later at the Battle of Shepherdstown , Archer and Brig . Gen . William Dorsey Pender led an attack that drove a Union pursuit force back across the Potomac River , enabling Lee ' s army to slip away into Virginia . Despite his continued ill health , Archer ' s leadership contributed to victories at the battles of Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville . During the 1863 Gettysburg Campaign , Archer ' s health continued to deteriorate as a result of long marches in the summer heat and humidity . His brigade was now part of the division of Maj . Gen . Henry Heth . Arriving at Gettysburg on July 1 , Archer ' s troops were engaged with Federal cavalry under John Buford for over two hours , before being counterattack ed by rapidly arriving Union infantry , including the famed Iron Brigade . Archer ' s men were likely those who killed Union commander Maj . Gen . John F . Reynolds ( the exact cause of Reynolds ' death is controversial ) , but were quickly pushed back across Willoughby Run , where the exhausted Archer took cover in a thicket . A Union soldier , Private Patrick Maloney of the 2nd Wisconsin , seized Archer and escorted him behind enemy lines , where he briefly met an old colleague , Union Maj . Gen . Abner Doubleday . Archer became the first general officer to be taken captive from the Army of Northern Virginia since General Lee assumed command . Birkett D . Fry assumed command of Archer ' s Brigade and led it during Pickett ' s Charge , while Archer and his younger brother and aide - de - camp Robert Harris Archer ( 1820 – 1878 ) were sent to Fort Delaware for prisoner processing . Archer , along with many other officers captured at Gettysburg , was eventually sent to the Johnson ' s Island prisoner of war camp on the coast of Lake Erie , where his health rapidly declined due to exposure to the inclement Ohio weather . He wrote a letter to the Confederate War Department in which he advocated a plot to overthrow the guards , but the conspirators would require assistance from the government to get the men back home . After a stay of nearly a year , he was sent , along with 600 officers from various prisons , to Fort Delaware , in accordance with a scheme to reship them to Morris Island in South Carolina , a place under constant fire from Confederate cannon . Archer and the others would be hostages to prevent further shelling . This plan never materialized . Archer was finally exchanged late in the summer of 1864 , and rejoined the army . On August 9 , he was ordered to report to the Army of Tennessee under Hood in Atlanta , but this order was revoked ten days later , possibly due to his bad health . He traveled to Petersburg , Virginia to the command of his old brigade , and briefly serving in the Siege of Petersburg before his health finally collapsed after the Battle of Peebles ' Farm . He died in Richmond , Virginia , and was buried in Hollywood Cemetery .