Carter L . Stevenson Carter Littlepage Stevenson , Jr . ( September 21 , 1817 – August 15 , 1888 ) was a career military officer , serving in the United States Army in several antebellum wars and then in the Confederate States Army as a general in the Western Theater of the American Civil War . Early life and career . Stevenson was born to a prominent family in Fredericksburg , Virginia . His father and namesake served as the Commonwealth of Virginia ' s attorney for Fredericksburg . Carter Stevenson was an 1838 graduate of the United States Military Academy , receiving a commission as a brevet second lieutenant in the 5th Infantry Regiment and assigned to garrison duty in Wisconsin . Two years later , he was promoted to first lieutenant and participated in the Second Seminole War in Florida . He married Martha Silvery Griswold at Fredericksburg on June 15 , 1842 . They had four children , but their first two died in infancy . Transferred to Texas , Stevenson served on frontier duty until the Mexican - American War . He fought with distinction in the battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma , and participated in several other fights before returning to the United States at posts in Mississippi , Indian Territory , and Texas . He helped explore parts of the proposed Southern route for the Pacific railroad , often skirmishing with Apache Indians . In 1856 – 57 , Stevenson again was in combat in Florida , this time in the Third Seminole War , fighting in the battles of Big Cypress Swamp and Bowleytown . By now a veteran warrior , Stevenson returned to the West and fought in the Utah War . During his stay in the Utah Territory , Stevenson joined Rocky Mountain Lodge # 205 of the Freemasons . He later returned to routine garrison duty on the frontier until 1861 . Civil War . Stevenson , as with many other officers from Virginia stationed in the West , returned home when the state seceded from the Union in early 1861 . He rendered his services to the governor and received a commission as a lieutenant colonel in the Confederate army . He was soon promoted to colonel and given command of the 53rd Virginia Infantry at the recommendation of Pierre G . T . Beauregard . When openings were created with Beauregard ' s transfer of several officers to serve with him in the Western Theater , Stevenson was promoted to brigadier general in February 1862 . On March 15 , he reported to General Benjamin Huger and assigned to guard the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad in Virginia . However , this duty was short - lived , as Stevenson was sent to East Tennessee and given command of a division . When Federals seized the Cumberland Gap , Stevenson , exercising independent command , led a Confederate force that captured the Union garrison at Munfordsville , Kentucky and compelled Gen . George W . Morgan ' s withdrawal . In July , Stevenson ' s division helped pursue the Union forces into Kentucky , where he combined his forces in the Department of East Tennessee with Edmund Kirby Smith , serving under Smith during the return trip to the Confederate base at Murfreesboro , Tennessee . Recognized again for his leadership ability , he was promoted to major general in October 1862 and led his division at the Battle of Perryville . In December , Braxton Bragg sent Stevenson with 10 , 000 men to reinforce John C . Pemberton ' s force at Vicksburg , Mississippi , which was threatened by a Union army under Ulysses S . Grant . His division bore the brunt of fighting at the Battle of Champion ' s Hill . The main Federal assault ( nearly 25 , 000 troops ) was against Stevenson ' s line , held by barely 6 , 500 men . After stubborn resistance , Stevenson finally withdrew when his lines began breaking . When Pemberton ' s force was defeated at the Battle of Big Black River Bridge , Stevenson ( whose men had seen no significant action in the battle ) commanded the retreating columns while General Pemberton hastened to Vicksburg to prepare the defenses of the city . During the Siege of Vicksburg , Stevenson commanded the right of the entire Confederate defensive line . When Pemberton surrendered the army on July 4 , 1863 , Stevenson briefly became a prisoner of war before receiving a parole . General Stevenson reported to the Army of Tennessee at Chattanooga , Tennessee , and was given command of a division in William J . Hardee ' s corps , stationed on the right flank guarding Lookout Mountain . He withdrew his troops after the Battle of Lookout Mountain and destroyed the bridges over Chickamauga Creek and other waterways to delay the advance of Joseph Hooker ' s Union corps . He reinforced the main Confederate battle line on Missionary Ridge just before the Battle of Chattanooga . During the 1864 Atlanta Campaign , Stevenson ' s division was in John Bell Hood ' s corps and fought in the battles around Atlanta , including Resaca , Kennesaw Mountain and Peachtree Creek . When General Hood was elevated to command of the army , Stevenson temporarily assumed command of Hood ' s Corps . During the Tennessee Campaign , Stevenson commanded a division in Stephen D . Lee ' s corps in the center of the line at the Battle of Nashville . When Lee was wounded , he took charge of organizing and leading the retreat . His division had suffered enormous casualties and had been unable to recruit significant numbers of replacements . Down to approximately 2 , 600 men , the depleted division participated in the Carolinas Campaign against William T . Sherman , including the Battle of Bentonville . For the second time in the war , Stevenson surrendered to the Federals when Joseph E . Johnston surrendered his army in April 1865 to Sherman . Stevenson again was paroled and sent home . Postbellum activities . After the war , he was occupied as a civil and mining engineer until his death in Caroline County , Virginia . He was buried in the Confederate Cemetery in Fredericksburg . In 1914 , Maj . Gen . Carter L . Stevenson was commemorated with a marble bust at the Vicksburg National Military Park .