Joseph B . Palmer Joseph Benjamin Palmer ( November 1 , 1825 – November 4 , 1890 ) was an American lawyer , legislator , and soldier . He served as a Confederate general in the American Civil War , during which he was wounded four times . After the conflict he resumed his law practice in Tennessee . Early life and career . Joseph B . Palmer was born in 1825 in Rutherford County , Tennessee . He was orphaned when he was an infant and was subsequently raised by his grandparents . Palmer received his education at the Union University located in Murfreesboro , Tennessee . He was admitted to the state bar association in 1848 and began practicing as a lawyer . In 1849 Palmer was elected to the Tennessee General Assembly , and in 1851 he was re - elected . In 1855 he was then elected as mayor of Murfreesboro , serving until 1859 . Civil War service . At the beginning of the American Civil War in 1861 , Palmer chose to follow his home state and the Confederate cause . He organized a company of soldiers and in May was elected a captain in the 18th Tennessee Infantry , into which this company was added . That June he was elected colonel , assuming command of the regiment . Palmer fought primarily in the Western Theater of the American Civil War . He was part of the garrison surrendered at Fort Donelson on February 15 , 1862 , and was exchanged on August 15 . That October Palmer was given brigade command in the Army of Mississippi . He fought in the Battle of Stones River and was wounded in his right shoulder and his right leg on January 2 , 1863 . Palmer fought during the Battle of Chickamauga that fall , and was wounded on September 19 when he again hit in his right shoulder . Temporarily unfit for active field service , Palmer was appointed to district command in the Department of Tennessee beginning on November 18 , 1863 . He resumed brigade command on June 27 in the Army of Tennessee , and then participated in the Atlanta Campaign . Palmer fought during the Battle of Jonesborough , and was wounded on the third day of the fight on September 1 , 1864 . He was promoted to the rank of brigadier general on November 15 . Palmer fought in the 1864 Franklin - Nashville Campaign , participating in the Battle of Franklin on November 30 , in the Battle of Nashville on December 15 – 16 , and was part of the army ' s rearguard during the retreat following Nashville . What remained of the Tennessee regiments of the Army of Tennessee were consolidated , were placed under Palmer ' s command , and he led them during the 1865 Carolinas Campaign . On March 19 , 1865 , Palmer fought during the Battle of Bentonville and was again wounded , but remained in brigade command until April 26 . He surrendered with Gen . Joseph E . Johnston on May 1 and was paroled from Greensboro , North Carolina . Palmer was pardoned by the U . S . Government on October 26 , and again on May 21 , 1866 . Postbellum career . Following the war , Palmer returned home and resumed his law practice . Despite several requests to run for governor of Tennessee he chose to avoid public service . Palmer died in 1890 at his home in Murfreesboro , Tennessee , and his body was buried in the city ' s Evergreen Cemetery .