Roger Hanson Roger Weightman Hanson ( August 27 , 1827 – January 4 , 1863 ) was a general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War . The commander of the famed " Orphan Brigade , " he was mortally wounded at the Battle of Murfreesboro . He was nicknamed " Old Flintlock . " Early life . Hanson was born in Clark County , Kentucky . His father , Samuel Hanson , was a well - known attorney and judge who had moved to Kentucky from Virginia . Hanson ' s father was Swedish . His mother Matilda Calloway was the daughter of a general . At age 18 , Hanson was elected a lieutenant in a volunteer company in the Mexican - American War . He was cited for bravery at the Battle of Cerro Gordo . He returned home and studied law in Lexington , Kentucky , where he engaged in a duel with a classmate . He was shot in the leg just above the knee , making him lame for the rest of his life . When he recovered , Hanson travelled to California , losing his horse on the way and being forced to walk over 200 miles to San Francisco on his injured leg . He returned to Kentucky within a year . In 1853 , he married Virginia Peters of Woodford County , Kentucky . The following year , Hanson moved to Lexington and established a profitable law practice . Entering politics , Hanson was elected to the Kentucky state legislature as a representative from his home district . He was nominated in 1857 to run for the United States House of Representatives from Kentucky ' s 8th District , but was defeated by James B . Clay . In 1860 , he was one of the electors in the Electoral College from Kentucky . Civil War . With the outbreak of the Civil War , Kentucky declared its neutral and stayed in the Union . Hanson was named as colonel of a regiment of Confederate troops he had raised in Lexington , Kentucky but which enlisted in Tennessee because of Kentucky ' s neutrality . When President Abraham Lincoln sent Federal troops into Lexington and raised the Union flag over the city , Hanson and his 2nd Kentucky Infantry Regiment were " orphaned " , since they could not return home unless Lexington fell to the Confederates . The regiment was taken prisoner with the surrender of Fort Donelson . After being exchanged 7 months later , Hanson was presented with a new horse by admiring friends . He regiment reenlisted for the war , and Hanson was promoted to brigadier general in December 1862 , commanding his old regiment as well as the 4th , 6th and 19th Kentucky Infantry regiments , plus the 41st Alabama Regiment and Cobb ' s Battery , in Breckinridge ' s division , Hardee ' s corps . In his first battle as a general , Hanson was severely wounded on January 2 , 1863 , during a charge at Murfreesboro ( Stones River ) when he was struck above the knee by the fuse of a spent artillery shell . His brother - in - law vainly tried to stop the bleeding . He died two days later at the age of 35 , with his last words as " I die in a just cause , having done my duty . " General Breckinridge remarked in his official report , " Endeared to his friends by his private virtues and to his command by the vigilance with which he guarded its interest and honor , he was , by the universal testimony of his military associates , one of the finest officers that adorned the service of the Confederate States . " Hanson was buried at Lexington Cemetery in Lexington , Kentucky . Legacy . The General Roger W . Hanson Camp # 1844 ( Winchester , Kentucky ) of the Sons of Confederate Veterans was named in his memory .