John Pegram ( general ) John Pegram ( January 24 , 1832 – February 6 , 1865 ) was a career soldier from Virginia who served as an officer in the United States Army and then as a brigadier general in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War . He became the first former U . S . Army officer to be captured in Confederate service in 1861 and was killed in action near the end of the war . Early life and career . John Pegram was born in Petersburg , Virginia , the oldest son of third generation planter James West Pegram and Virginia Johnson Pegram . His grandfather and namesake , John Pegram , had been a major general , commanding all Virginia forces during the War of 1812 . His father , James Pegram , was a prominent attorney , militia brigadier general , and bank president in Richmond . However , in October 1844 , James Pegram was killed in a steamboat accident on the Ohio River , leaving a widow , who had to open a girls ' school to support her five children . One of John Pegram ' s younger brothers was the future Confederate artillerist William Ransom Johnson Pegram . His great grandmother ' s half - brother was North Carolina senator Nathaniel Macon . Pegram was appointed to the United States Military Academy in 1850 . He graduated four years later , ranking tenth in his class , which included future general J . E . B . Stuart . Pegram was commissioned as a second lieutenant and assigned to the dragoons . He served at a variety of garrisons and outposts in the West . In January 1857 , he was appointed Assistant Instructor of Cavalry at West Point . Pegram was granted a leave of absence in 1858 – 59 to travel to Europe to observe the Austro - Sardinian War . Returning home , he was assigned in 1860 to duty on the frontier in the New Mexico Territory . Civil War . In May 1861 , when news arrived that his native Virginia had seceded , Pegram resigned his lieutenant ' s commission and returned home . In July , he accepted a commission as a lieutenant colonel and was assigned command of the 20th Virginia Infantry . His regiment was part of the brigade of Brig . Gen . Robert S . Garnett and served in western Virginia fighting Union troops under Maj . Gen . George B . McClellan . In August , cut off from Garnett ' s main body during the Battle of Rich Mountain , Pegram controversially surrendered his entire regiment to the Federals . Pegram became the first former U . S . Army officer to be captured while in Confederate service . His men were paroled , but Pegram was imprisoned for six months in Fortress Monroe . In January 1862 , Pegram was paroled in Baltimore , Maryland , and allowed to travel to Richmond while awaiting a formal exchange for a captive Union officer . There , he met prominent socialite Hetty Cary , who became his fianceé . When finally exchanged , Pegram was promoted to colonel and became the Chief Engineer of the army of General Pierre G . T . Beauregard and then to Braxton Bragg . Within a short time , he was assigned as Chief of Staff for Maj . Gen . Edmund Kirby Smith and served in the Kentucky Campaign . Pegram was promoted to brigadier general in November 1862 and given command of a cavalry brigade . His performance before the Battle of Stones River in December was criticized by his superiors for failing to provide proper intelligence on enemy movements . In March 1863 , he led an ill - fated raid into Kentucky that was defeated at the battle of Somerset and drew criticism from his subordinate officers , including John Hunt Morgan . He remained in command , however , and was ordered to report to the Army of Northern Virginia in October after he requested reassignment back to the Eastern Theater . However , before leaving , Pegram and his division fought under Nathan Bedford Forrest at the Battle of Chickamauga . Pegram was given command of a veteran Virginia infantry brigade in the division of Jubal A . Early . In May , Pegram was wounded at the Battle of the Wilderness and went home to recuperate . Returning to field duty that fall , he served with distinction during Early ' s independent Valley Campaign as a division commander . Following the disastrous Battle of Cedar Creek , Early ' s survivors , including Pegram , returned to the Army of Northern Virginia in the Petersburg trenches . On January 19 , 1865 , Pegram married Hetty Cary in a well - attended ceremony in St . Paul ' s Church in Richmond . Among the celebrants was Confederate President Jefferson Davis and his wife , Varina . Less than three weeks later , Pegram was killed in action during the Battle of Hatcher ' s Run . His funeral was held in the same church where he had recently been married , with many of the same attendees . His younger brother William would be killed in some of the war ' s last fighting at the Battle of Five Forks in April . Pegram was buried in Richmond ' s Hollywood Cemetery .