David Lang ( Civil War ) David Lang ( May 9 , 1838 – December 13 , 1917 ) was a land surveyor , Confederate States Army officer during the American Civil War , civil engineer , and Florida politician . Early life . Lang was born in Camden County , Georgia . He attended the Georgia Military Institute in Marietta , graduating in the Class of 1857 and ranked 4th of 16 . He moved to Suwannee County , Florida , and became a surveyor . Civil War . With the secession of Florida and the outbreak of the Civil War , Lang enlisted in the Confederate Army on April 2 , 1861 , as a private in Company H of the 1st Florida Infantry . Barely over a month later , he was promoted to sergeant . He was discharged in April 1862 after his term of enlistment expired . In May , Lang enrolled in the 8th Florida Infantry and was commissioned as captain of Company C . He was wounded at the Battle of Antietam in September and again at the Battle of Fredericksburg in December . Stationed in the town of Fredericksburg , Lang ' s men stubbornly contested Federal attempts to lay pontoon bridges across the Rappahannock River . An artillery shell fragment struck the chimney of the building that Lang occupied , and a large chunk of masonry struck him in the head , gravely injuring him . Recovering from his wounds , Lang was promoted to colonel of the 8th Florida on April 30 , 1863 , and fought at the Battle of Chancellorsville , where his brigade commander , Brig . Gen . Edward A . Perry , was stricken with typhoid fever . Lang led Perry ' s Brigade during the Gettysburg Campaign . On July 2 , 1863 , he attacked the center of the Union defensive line on Cemetery Ridge , advancing past the Codori farm before being repulsed by troops from the II Corps . On the following day , the brigade supported Pickett ' s Charge , but failed to advance very far under heavy fire from Lt . Col . Freeman McGilvery ' s line of artillery . It was attacked in one flank by the 2nd Vermont Brigade of Brig . Gen . George J . Stannard , losing about 60 % of its 700 plus soldiers . With General Perry ' s return , Lang returned to command of the 8th Florida , leading it in the Bristoe and Mine Run Campaign s , as well as in the 1864 Overland Campaign . Lang led the brigade again briefly at the Battle of Cold Harbor . Perry had to leave the Army of Northern Virginia because of his wounds , Brig . Gen . Joseph Finegan and then Brig . Gen . Theodore W . Brevard led the Floridians . However , by the end of the war , Lang was again leading the Florida Brigade , surrendering it at Appomattox Court House on April 9 , 1865 . Postbellum career . After the cessation of hostilities , Lang returned to Florida and became a civil engineer . He married Mary " Mollie " Quarles Campbell on February 28 , 1866 , and fathered four children . He was elected as a state representative from Tallahassee , Florida , from 1885 until 1893 . He served an eight - year tenure as Florida ' s Adjutant General during the administrations of Governors Perry and Fleming ( 1885 – 1894 ) . He was influential in the reorganization and training of Florida ' s state militia troops , which contributed to the creation of Florida ' s modern National Guard . Serving as major general , he led efforts in increase funding and pay rates for the troops . Lang returned to the Gettysburg Battlefield in 1895 to help stake out the location for the Florida state monument . He resumed his political career , serving in the legislature until 1901 , then served as a private secretary to Florida Governors Henry L . Mitchell and William D . Bloxham . Lang was also Cashier of the Florida State Hospital . Lang was among the last brigade commanders of the Third Corps of the Army of Northern Virginia to die . He was buried in the Old City Cemetery in Tallahassee . Honors . The David Lang Camp # 1314 of the Sons of Confederate Veterans in Tallahassee was named in his honor .