George B . Anderson George Burgwyn Anderson ( April 12 , 1831 – October 16 , 1862 ) was a career military officer , serving first in the antebellum U . S . Army and then dying from wounds inflicted during the American Civil War while a general officer in the Confederate Army . He was among six generals killed or mortally wounded at the Battle of Antietam in September 1862 . Early life . George B . Anderson , the oldest son of plantation owner William E . Anderson and his wife Frances Eliza Burgwyn , was born near Hillsboro , North Carolina . Anderson was the second cousin of Col . Henry K . Burgwyn of the 26th North Carolina . He entered the Caldwell Institute , where he graduated at the top of his class . While attending the University of North Carolina , he received an appointment to the United States Military Academy and graduated tenth of forty - three cadets in the Class of 1852 . He was brevetted as a second lieutenant in the 2nd U . S . Dragoons and trained at the cavalry school at Carlisle Barracks , Pennsylvania . Anderson was promoted to second lieutenant on March 21 , 1854 . Military career and marriage . Following his training , Anderson was sent to California to assist in the survey of a proposed railroad route before joining his regiment at Fort Chadbourne in Texas . On December 13 , 1855 , he was promoted to first lieutenant . He commanded his cavalry troop in the march from Texas across the plains to Fort Riley , Kansas . In 1858 , he was the adjutant of the regiment while serving in the Utah Territory during the Utah War and promoted to Captain . In 1859 , he was ordered to Louisville , Kentucky , for duty as a recruiting officer . There , he met and married Mildred Ewing . He also served another stint as Adjutant from August 1858 to September 1859 . Civil War service . With the outbreak of the Civil War , Anderson resigned his U . S . Army commission on April 25 , 1861 and returned home . The Governor of North Carolina , John Willis Ellis , appointed him as colonel of the 4th North Carolina Infantry on July 16 . Anderson capably led his regiment at the Battle of Williamsburg in May 1862 and was rewarded a month later with a promotion to brigadier general on June 9 . He was assigned command of a brigade in Maj . Gen . D . H . Hill ' s division , fighting at the Seven Days Battles and Malvern Hill , where he was wounded in the hand during the Confederate assault . While recovering , he was part of the defenses around Richmond , Virginia in July 1862 , serving in the 4th Brigade of Maj . Gen . G . W . Smith ' s Division . Maryland Campaign and death . Now able to return to active duty , Anderson resumed his brigade command in time for the Maryland Campaign . He fought at the Battle of South Mountain before marching into the Cumberland Valley to Sharpsburg , Maryland , as the Army of Northern Virginia concentrated . During the subsequent Battle of Antietam , Anderson ' s veteran North Carolinians defended a portion of the Sunken Road ( known as " Bloody Lane " ) against repeated Union attacks . A Minié ball struck Anderson near his ankle , injuring it badly . Anderson was transported to Shepherdstown and then by wagon up the Shenandoah Valley to Staunton , Virginia , to recuperate . He was eventually shipped by train to Raleigh , North Carolina , where he died following surgery to amputate the infected foot . Anderson is buried in Historic Oakwood Cemetery in Raleigh .