Waller T . Patton Waller Tazewell Patton ( July 15 , 1835 – July 21 , 1863 ) , was a professor , attorney , and an officer of the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War . Early life and career . Waller T . Patton was born in Fredericksburg , Virginia , into a well - known family . He was named for the Governor of Virginia , Littleton Waller Tazewell . His father , John Mercer Patton , a member of the Council of State , served as Acting Governor in March 1841 . An ancestor , Hugh Mercer , served as a general during the American Revolution . His brother was Confederate colonel George S . Patton , Sr . Patton graduated from the Virginia Military Institute in 1855 , placing 2nd in a class of 16 . While still a student , he became a member of the faculty , serving as acting assistant professor of Latin from 1852 until 1854 . Patton also served as lieutenant in the cadet corps and for a time , as assistant professor of languages and assistant . Following his graduation , Patton was hired as an instructor of tactics , and as assistant professor of mathematics and assistant instructor of tactics . He studied law and passed the bar exam , then established a profitable law practice in Culpeper , Virginia . He commanded a local militia unit , the Culpeper Minutemen . Civil War . With the outbreak of the Civil War and Virginia ' s subsequent secession , Patton enlisted in the Confederate Army in the spring of 1861 and was elected to serve as a major in the 7th Virginia Infantry . He was promoted to lieutenant colonel on April 27 , 1862 . Patton took command of the regiment in June 1862 following the promotion of the previous colonel , James L . Kemper , to the command of the Brigade . He was badly wounded at Second Manassas on August 30 , 1862 , and spent the remainder of the year back home in Fredericksburg recuperating . Patton was elected to the Virginia Senate in 1863 , but chose instead to return to his regiment . His regiment served in North Carolina in the spring of 1863 , then Patton led it northward during the Gettysburg Campaign into Pennsylvania . On July 3 , the 7th Virginia was in Pickett ' s Division , and as part of Kemper ' s Brigade , formed the right of the Confederate line during Pickett ' s Charge . Colonel Patton was mortally wounded while leading his men towards the Union positions on Cemetery Ridge . Part of his jaw had been ripped away by an artillery shell fragment . He died in a makeshift hospital at Pennsylvania College several weeks later . His first cousin , Lewis B . Williams , Jr , commanded another Virginia regiment in Pickett ' s Division and was also mortally wounded . An older brother , George Smith Patton , was killed at the Third Battle of Winchester during the Valley Campaigns of 1864 . Both George and Waller Patton are buried in the Stonewall Cemetery , a part of Mt . Hebron Cemetery , Winchester , Virginia . Four other brothers were officers in the Confederate States Army : Col . John Mercer Patton , Col . Isaac Patton , Lt . James F . Patton , and Lt . Hugh Mercer Patton . Waller Patton was a great - uncle of American World War II General , George S . Patton . Memorialization . The Waller Tazewell Patton Camp # 1661 , Sons of Confederate Veterans , was named in his honor . Media mogul Ted Turner made a cameo appearance in the 1993 film " Gettysburg " , playing Patton . He later reprised the role in the 2003 prequel " Gods and Generals " . George & Tazwell Patton are buried in the Confederate section of Mt . Hebron Cemetery , Winchester , Virginia .