Peter Burwell Starke Peter Burwell Starke ( 1815 – July 13 , 1888 ) was a Mississippi politician and sheriff , and a brigadier general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War . He was active in several important campaigns and battles in the Western Theater , including the Vicksburg , Atlanta , and Franklin - Nashville campaigns . He commanded a brigade of veteran cavalry in many of these operations . Early life and career . Starke was born in Brunswick County , Virginia . His older brother William Edwin Starke also became a general in the Confederate army . Prior to the Civil War , the brothers worked in the family ' s stagecoach business that operated between Lawrenceville and Petersburg , Virginia . In early 1840 , Peter Starke moved to the South , settling in Bolivar County , Mississippi , where he became active in local politics . In 1846 , while his brother was in the United States Army during the Mexican War , Starke run for a seat in the United States Congress as a member of the Whig Party to replace Jefferson Davis ( who had resigned to lead a Mississippi regiment ) . However , Starke was defeated in the general election by Democrat Henry T . Ellett . Four years later , he was elected to the Mississippi House of Representatives . In 1856 , he was elected to the Mississippi State Senate . Civil War . Starke remained active in state politics after Mississippi passed its ordinance of secession , and was a commissioner to Virginia to help encourage the leaders of that state to join Mississippi in seceding from the Union . He helped recruit and equip a company of cavalry in mid - 1861 while still a state senator . In late February 1862 , he received a commission as the colonel of the 28th Mississippi Cavalry , a new regiment raised in Bolivar County that mustered into service in May . He took an active role in military operations in central and northern Mississippi , leading his men on a series of scouting missions and raids . He was assigned to the cavalry division of Brig . Gen . William H . Jackson as the commander of the 1st Brigade ( still with the rank of colonel ) and served in the Vicksburg Campaign . Five companies of Starke ' s regiment reinforced Brig . Gen . Martin L . Smith at Vicksburg , Mississippi , and were posted to watch the flanks along the Yazoo River . During the campaign , Union troops burned Starke ' s mansion along Lake Bolivar . From December until February , he was in temporary command of the brigade . In February 1864 , Colonel Starke served under Stephen D . Lee in the forces that opposed Union Maj . Gen . William T . Sherman ' s advance on Meridian , Mississippi , and he fought in the ensuing Battle of Meridian . Later that year , Starke returned to his role as the commander of the 28th Mississippi Cavalry during the Atlanta Campaign , serving under Frank C . Armstrong , and saw action in several small cavalry engagements throughout the summer . He was promoted to brigadier general on November 4 , 1864 , and assigned command of a cavalry brigade in the forces of Maj . Gen . Nathan B . Forrest . He was involved in the Franklin - Nashville Campaign . When Forrest reorganized his command structure , Starke was initially without a field command , although he maintained his rank as a brigadier general . He spent the last few months of the war serving in Brig . Gen . James R . Chalmers ' division in Alabama . Postbellum career . When the war ended later in 1865 , Starke returned to Bolivar County , Mississippi . He subsequently held several public appointments . He served on the board of Mississippi levee commissioners and was the sheriff of Bolivar County for a term . In 1872 , he retired to his farm near Lawrenceville , Virginia . P . B . Starke died on his farm on July 13 , 1888 , from what was described as " debility . " He was buried in a previously unmarked grave near Lawrenceville in the Percival Family Cemetery on what formerly had been the farm of his second wife ' s family .