Rufus Barringer Rufus Clay Barringer ( December 2 , 1821 – February 3 , 1895 ) was a North Carolina lawyer , politician , and American Civil War brigadier general . Early life . Barringer was born in Cabarrus County , North Carolina , the ninth of ten children of Elizabeth Brandon and Paul Barringer . His brother Victor Clay Barringer was also an officer in the Confederate States Army . He attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill , graduating in 1842 . He studied law in Concord with his older brother , Daniel Moreau Barringer , who would enjoy a successful law practice and serve two terms in the U . S . House of Representatives . Entering politics as a Whig , Rufus Barringer represented Cabarrus County in the House of Commons in the North Carolina General Assembly from 1848 until 1850 . A Unionist in his political views , he represented his district as an elector during the 1860 presidential election . First two marriages . Barringer ' s first wife , Eugenia Morrison Barringer , died of typhoid fever in 1858 , four years after their marriage . They had two children , Paul and Anna . Two of Eugenia ' s sisters also married future Civil War generals , Stonewall Jackson and D . H . Hill . In 1861 , Barringer remarried , this time to Rosalie Chunn of Asheville , who bore him a son , Rufus Clay Barringer , Jr . Rosalie died in 1864 . Civil War . When North Carolina seceded from the Union in May 1861 , Barringers first loyalty was to his state , even though he ' d been opposed to secession . He raised a company of 100 horsemen , the " Cabarrus Rangers , " who were designated as Company F of the 1st North Carolina Cavalry with Barringer as their captain . The regiment performed picket and scouting duty under J . E . B . Stuart during the Peninsula Campaign , the Seven Days Battles , Second Manassas and the Maryland Campaign in 1862 . Barringer led his company during the 1863 Gettysburg Campaign , where he was severely wounded in the face at the Battle of Brandy Station , an injury that took five months for his recovery . He was promoted to major for his gallantry and served in the Bristoe Campaign . During the winter , he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and assigned temporary command of the 4th North Carolina Cavalry . Barringer was promoted to brigadier general on June 6 , 1864 , and assigned command of North Carolina ' s cavalry brigade until his capture during the Battle of Namozine Church in Virginia on April 3 , 1865 . After a brief interview with President Abraham Lincoln behind Union lines at City Point , Virginia , he was sent to Fort Delaware as a prisoner of war . Lincoln , a personal friend and former Congressional colleague of Barringer ' s brother , provided a note to Secretary of War Edwin M . Stanton asking for special treatment for Barringer in captivity . Unfortunately , Lincoln ' s favor backfired . After his assassination , Barringer fell under suspicion due to his brief meeting with Lincoln less than two weeks prior . He was repeatedly questioned regarding any role he may have played in the conspiracy . He wasn ' t released from custody until late July , months after most other Confederate prisoners had been freed . During the war , he had fought in seventy - six engagements and had suffered three separate wounds . Post - War . Barringer returned to North Carolina in August and established a law practice in Charlotte . He also owned a tenant farm and helped expand the state ' s railroad system . He again married in 1870 , taking Miss Margaret Long of Orange County , North Carolina , as his third wife . They had one son , Osmond L . ( 1878 – 1961 ) . Barringer was a delegate to the 1875 North Carolina Constitutional Convention . He unsuccessfully ran for lieutenant governor in 1880 as a Republican , losing to James L . Robinson . He retired from his law practice in 1884 and became a writer , authoring a history of the 9th North Carolina Cavalry . His grave site is in the Elmwood Cemetery in Charlotte .