William Barksdale William Barksdale ( August 21 , 1821 – July 3 , 1863 ) was a lawyer , newspaper editor , U . S . Congressman , and a Confederate general in the American Civil War . A staunch secessionist , he was mortally wounded during the Battle of Gettysburg while leading his brigade ' s attack on Union forces not far from Cemetery Ridge . Early life . William Barksdale was born in Smyrna , Tennessee , the son of William Barksdale and Nancy Hervey Lester Barskdale . He was the older brother of Ethelbert Barksdale , who would serve in both the antebellum U . S . Congress and then the Confederate States Congress during the Civil War . Barksdale graduated from the University of Nashville and practiced law in Mississippi from the age of 21 , but gave up his practice to become the editor of the " Columbus [ Mississippi ] Democrat " , a pro - slavery newspaper . He enlisted in the 2nd Mississippi Infantry Regiment and served in the Mexican War as a captain and quartermaster , but often participated in the infantry fighting as well . After the war , he entered the U . S . House of Representatives and achieved national prominence as a States ' rights Democrat , serving from March 4 , 1853 , to January 12 , 1861 . He was considered to be one of the most ferocious of all the " Fire - Eaters " in the House . He allegedly stood by the side of Representative Preston S . Brooks as Brooks attacked Massachusetts abolitionist Senator Charles Sumner in the Senate chamber with a cane , although he was not one of the members that the House tried to censure after the incident . Civil War . After the state of Mississippi seceded just before the start of the Civil War , Barksdale resigned from Congress to become adjutant general , and then quartermaster general , of the Mississippi Militia , at the rank of brigadier general , with date of rank March 1 , 1861 . On May 1 , he was appointed colonel in the Confederate States Army of the 13th Mississippi Infantry , a regiment that he led in the First Battle of Bull Run that summer , and the Battle of Ball ' s Bluff in October . The following spring , he took his regiment to the Virginia Peninsula and fought in the Peninsula Campaign and the Seven Days Battles . When his brigade commander , Brig . Gen . Richard Griffith , was mortally wounded at the Battle of Savage ' s Station on June 29 , 1862 , Barksdale assumed command of the brigade and led it in an heroic , but bloody and futile , charge at the Battle of Malvern Hill . The brigade became known as " Barksdale ' s Mississippi Brigade . " He was promoted to brigadier general on August 12 , 1862 . In the Northern Virginia Campaign , Barksdale ' s Brigade was stationed at Harpers Ferry , and thus did not participate in the Second Battle of Bull Run . In the Maryland Campaign , his brigade was assigned to the division of Maj . Gen . Lafayette McLaws in Lt . Gen . James Longstreet ' s First Corps of the Army of Northern Virginia . It was one of the brigades that attacked Maryland Heights , leading to the surrender of the Union garrison at Harpers Ferry . At the subsequent Battle of Antietam , McLaws ' s Division defended the West Woods against the assault by Maj . Gen . John Sedgwick ' s division , saving the Confederate left flank . At the Battle of Fredericksburg , Barksdale ' s Brigade defended the waterfront of the city from Union forces attempting to cross the Rappahannock River , sniping at infantry and engineer forces from buildings that had been turned into rubble by Union artillery . At the Battle of Chancellorsville in May 1863 , Barksdale ' s Brigade was one of the few units in James Longstreet ' s Corps that was present at the battle ; most of the corps was detached for duty in Suffolk , Virginia . Once again , Barksdale ' s brigade defended the heights above Fredericksburg , this time against his previous adversary , Sedgwick , whose VI Corps was over ten times the size of his brigade . Sedgwick ' s assault was successful and Barksdale pulled back after delaying the Union force , but he was able to rally his brigade and retake the lost ground the next day . At the Battle of Gettysburg , Barksdale ' s Brigade arrived with McLaws ' s Division after the first day of battle , July 1 , 1863 . The plan from General Robert E . Lee was for Longstreet ' s Corps to maneuver into position and attack northeast , up the Emmitsburg Road , to roll up the Union left flank . Barksdale ' s sector of the attack placed him directly at the tip of the salient in the Union line anchored at the Peach Orchard , defended by the Union III Corps . At about 5 : 30 p . m . , Barksdale ' s Brigade burst from the woods and started an irresistible assault , which has been described as one of the most breathtaking spectacles of the Civil War . A Union colonel was quoted as saying , " It was the grandest charge that was ever made by mortal man . " Although he ordered his subordinate commanders to walk during the charge , Barksdale himself rode on horseback " in front , leading the way , hat off , his wispy hair shining so that it reminded [ a Confederate staff officer ] of ' the white plume of Navarre ' . " The Confederates smashed the brigade manning the Peach Orchard line , wounding and capturing the Union brigade commander himself . Some of Barksdale ' s regiments turned to the north and shattered Maj . Gen . Andrew A . Humphreys ' s division . Others of his regiments went straight ahead . By the time his men had gone as far as Plum Run , a mile into the assault , they were counterattacked by a brigade under Colonel George L . Willard . Barksdale was wounded in his left knee , followed by a cannonball to his left foot , and finally was hit by another bullet to his chest , knocking him off his horse . He told his aide , W . R . Boyd , " I am killed ! Tell my wife and children that I died fighting at my post . " His troops were forced to leave him for dead on the field and he died the next morning in a Union field hospital ( the Joseph Hummelbaugh farmhouse ) . Barksdale is buried in Greenwood Cemetery in Jackson , Mississippi . In popular media . Barksdale is portrayed in the film " Gettysburg " and in the prequel , " Gods and Generals " , by Lester Kinsolving , who is a descendant of Barksdale . Barksdale is also featured in the 2011 History Channel film " Gettysburg " . The streets in the Potomac Crossing subdivision in Leesburg , Virginia , are named ( in part ) after the regimental commanders of the Battle of Ball ' s Bluff ( October 21 , 1861 ) . Barksdale Drive was named for Col . Barksdale and is the primary east - west conduit in the development , running just short of a mile to either end of the neighborhood . Other Barksdales . Jim Barksdale , one of the founders of Netscape , and a native of Mississippi , referred to General Barksdale in speeches , citing his aggressive nature as a model for business success , but there is no documentation to suggest that the two men were related . Barksdale Air Force Base , Louisiana , is named for Lt . Eugene Hoy Barksdale , a U . S . Army Air Corps test pilot from Mississippi , a distant cousin of the Civil War general .