Dabney H . Maury Dabney Herndon Maury ( May 21 , 1822 – January 11 , 1900 ) was an officer in the United States Army , instructor at West Point , author of military training books , and a major general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War . Early life . Maury was born in Fredericksburg , Virginia , the son of Naval officer John Minor Maury , who died of yellow fever in the West Indies when Dabney was two years old . He was brought up by his uncle , Matthew Fontaine Maury , studied law in Fredericksburg and graduated from the University of Virginia in the class of 1841 . He finished his studies at the United States Military Academy in 1846 and was brevetted as a second lieutenant in the Regiment of Mounted Rifles . Maury served in the Mexican - American War at the Battle of Cerro Gordo , and suffered a painful wound that almost resulted in the amputation of his arm . He was soon sent home to recuperate and was brevetted to First Lieutenant for bravery . His gallantry in this event prompted the citizens of Fredericksburg and the Legislature of Virginia to honor him with a special presentation sword . After further convalescence in White Sulphur Springs , he was reassigned to West Point as an instructor , serving in that capacity from 1847 until 1852 . He then returned to active field duty with the Mounted Rifles , serving in the Oregon Territory , then on the Texas frontier . He returned East and commanded the Cavalry School at the Carlisle Barracks in 1858 . He authored a book , " Tactics for Mounted Rifles " , which became the standard textbook . Civil War . When the Civil War began , Maury was the Assistant Adjutant General in the New Mexico Territory , based in Santa Fe . Hearing the news of the firing on Fort Sumter , he resigned from the United States Army and travelled back to Virginia . He entered the Confederate Army as a colonel , serving as an Adjutant General , then was Chief of Staff under General Earl Van Dorn . Following the Battle of Pea Ridge , he was promoted to the rank of brigadier general and assigned to field command . Maury led a division at the Second Battle of Corinth , and was appointed major general in November 1862 . He participated in army operations around Vicksburg , Mississippi , and in the defense of Mobile , Alabama . In the latter military campaign , Maury commanded the Department of the Gulf . Postbellum career . With the conclusion of the Civil War , Maury came home to Virginia and established an academy in Fredericksburg to teach classical literature and mathematics . He moved to New Orleans , where a business venture failed and he returned to Virginia . In 1868 he organized the Southern Historical Society , based in Richmond . D . H . Maury spent 20 years working for the Southern Historical Society that produced 52 volumes of Southern history and genealogies . Two years after his wife died , Maury began a movement in 1878 to reorganize the National Militia . Dabney Herndon Maury was later appointed by U . S . President Grover Cleveland as United States Ambassador to Colombia . He authored a treatise entitled " Skirmish Drill for Mounted Troops " in 1886 . General Maury died at the home of his son ( Dabney Herndon Maury Jr . ) in Peoria , Illinois , and his remains were interred in the Confederate portion of the city cemetery in Fredericksburg , Virginia where so many hard fought battles had taken place .