Daniel Govan Daniel Chevilette Govan ( July 4 , 1829 – March 12 , 1911 ) was an American miner , planter , and soldier . He served as a Confederate general during the American Civil War , prominent in campaigns and battles in the Western Theater . Early life and career . Daniel C . Govan was born in Northampton County , North Carolina . His father was U . S . Representative Andrew R . Govan from South Carolina , who in 1832 relocated the family to Marshall County , Mississippi , where he was raised . Govan received his primary education from private tutoring and then attended South Carolina College ( modern day University of South Carolina ) graduating in 1848 . Govan participated in the 1849 California Gold Rush along with his cousin Benjamin McCulloch , who would also become a Confederate general . In 1850 Govan was elected deputy sheriff of Sacramento , and two years later he returned to Mississippi and took up work as a planter . In December 1853 Govan married Mary Fogg Otey , the daughter of prominent theologian James Hervey Otey , with whom he would have 14 children . In 1860 he moved to Helena , Arkansas , and again became a planter . Civil War service . At the beginning of the American Civil War in 1861 , Govan chose to follow his home state and the Confederate cause . He raised a company of men and in May he was appointed a captain in the Arkansas State forces . On June 5 he was elected lieutenant colonel in the 2nd Arkansas Infantry , and on January 28 , 1862 , was promoted to colonel and given command of the regiment . Govan and his men participated in the Battle of Shiloh in April 1862 . Following Shiloh , Govan took part in Edmund Kirby Smith ' s Kentucky Campaign and fought at the Battle of Perryville in October . At one point during this battle Govan temporarily commanded a brigade . He then fought at the Battle of Stones River that winter and at the Battle of Chickamauga in September 1863 . Govan led a brigade in the Reserve Corps of the Army of Tennessee from August to November . During the Battle of Missionary Ridge Govan played a prominent role in the Battle of Ringgold Gap , receiving high praise from his commander , Maj . Gen . Patrick Cleburne . On December 29 , 1863 , Govan was promoted to the rank of brigadier general . His command consisting of the 5th , 6th , 7th , and 8th Arkansas Infantry Regiments . Govan ' s brigade participated in the Atlanta Campaign , and he received particular mention for his conduct at the Battle of Pickett ' s Mill in May 1864 . Govan was captured after a fierce battle at the Battle of Jonesborough on September 1 , but was exchanged for George Stoneman on October 2 . Govan served the remainder of the war with the Army of Tennessee , participating in the Franklin - Nashville Campaign and then the Carolinas Campaign . He was seriously wounded in his throat on December 16 at Nashville . Govan surrendered in 1865 with Gen . Joseph E . Johnston at Greensboro , North Carolina . He was paroled from there on May 1 and was pardoned by the U . S . Government on December 12 . Postbellum career . Following the war , Govan returned home and resumed farming . He later served as the Indian agent at the Tulalip Agency in the state of Washington in 1894 . Govan died in 1911 at the home of one of his children in Memphis , Tennessee . His body was brought to Holly Springs , Mississippi , and was buried at the city ' s Hillcrest Cemetery .