George B . Cosby George Blake Cosby ( January 19 , 1830 – June 29 , 1909 ) , was a Confederate States Army brigadier general during the American Civil War . He was an 1852 graduate of the United States Military Academy and served in the United States Army until May 10 , 1861 . In his antebellum years , he was a farmer in California , a sutler in Oregon and held several government positions . Early life . George Blake Cosby was born on January 19 , 1830 in Louisville , Kentucky . He graduated 17th of 43 in the 1852 class of the United States Military Academy at West Point , New York . He was assigned as a brevet second lieutenant to the U . S . Mounted Rifle Regiment on July 1 , 1852 and was appointed a full second lieutenant on September 16 , 1852 . Cosby was wounded fighting Native Americans ( Indians ) at Lake Trinidad , Texas on May 9 , 1854 . Cosby transferred to the 2nd U . S . Cavalry Regiment on March 3 , 1855 . He was promoted to first lieutenant on May 1 , 1856 and to captain on May 8 , 1861 . He taught cavalry tactics at West Point before his resignation to join the Confederate States Army . Cosby resigned on May 10 , 1861 in order to join the Confederate Army . American Civil War . On May 16 , 1861 , George B . Cosby was appointed captain and assistant adjutant general in the regular army of the Confederate States . On June 20 , 1861 , he was promoted to major with the same duties . He also became assistant adjutant general of the Army of the Peninsula until the following month . Between November 9 , 1861 and February 16 , 1861 , he was assistant adjutant general and chief of staff for Brigadier General Simon B . Buckner . As such , Cosby brought the note that opened negotiations for the surrender of Fort Donelson , Tennessee , on February 16 , 1862 , from Brigadier General Buckner to Union Brigadier General Ulysses S . Grant . Cosby was captured as a result of the surrender of the Fort Donelson . He was not exchanged until August 15 , 1862 . Upon his return to duty in August 1862 , Cosby was appointed colonel of cavalry . In October , 1862 , he was appointed chief of staff of the Army of Mississippi and on December 23 , 1862 , chief of staff for the District of the Gulf , Department No . 2 . Cosby was promoted to brigadier general on January 20 , 1863 and given command of a cavalry brigade in the Department of Mississippi and East Louisiana . In February and March , 1863 , his brigade was assigned to the Army of Tennessee . They served under General Joseph E . Johnston in the campaign around Jackson , Mississippi which was planned to relieve the Siege of Vicksburg . In March 1863 , Cosby ' s brigade was assigned to the division of Brigadier General William H . Jackson in the Army of Mississippi and then to the Department of Mississippi and East Louisiana . The brigade was assigned to Major General Earl Van Dorn in August and September , 1863 , then returned to the Department of Mississippi and East Louisiana , which became the Department of Alabama , Mississippi and East Louisiana . While under Van Dorn ' s command , Cosby fought in the Battle of Thompson ' s Station , Tennessee . In February 1864 , Cosby and his brigade were assigned to the Department of Southwest Virginia and East Tennessee until September 1864 , when they were assigned to the Department of West Virginia and East Tennessee until the end of the war . Cosby had between 2 , 000 and 4 , 000 men under his command at various times during this assignment . Cosby was paroled in Kentucky in May , 1865 . He had disbanded his men when he heard about the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia . Aftermath . After the Civil War , Cosby moved to Butte County , California where he was a farmer . For a period of time , he also was a sutler in Oregon . He held several government positions , including Secretary of the Board of State Engineers and member of the West Point Board of Visitors . General Cosby committed suicide on June 29 , 1909 at Oakland , California , allegedly due to continuing pain from his old war wounds . George Blake Cosby was buried in the City Cemetery , Sacramento , California .