Joseph W . Latimer Joseph White Latimer ( August 27 , 1843 – August 1 , 1863 ) , " The Boy Major , " was a promising young officer in the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia ' s artillery branch during the American Civil War . He was mortally wounded at the Battle of Gettysburg . Early life . Latimer was born in Oak Ridge , Prince William County , Virginia . He was educated at the Virginia Military Institute ( VMI ) and studied artillery tactics under Stonewall Jackson . Civil War . During Latimer ' s second year of studies , the Civil War broke out and Latimer left VMI to serve the Southern Confederacy . He first served as cadet drillmaster for the Richmond Hampden Artillery during the spring and summer of 1861 . In the fall , he was commissioned as a first lieutenant and saw action with Maj . Gen . Richard S . Ewell ' s division in the Shenandoah Valley Campaign of 1862 . After distinguishing himself with his battery at such battles as First Winchester and Cedar Mountain , Latimer was promoted to command of the battalion that had previously belonged to A . R . Courtney . After commanding the battalion at Fredericksburg in December 1862 , Latimer was promoted to major in March 1863 . Ewell referred to him as the " Young Napoleon " , but his contemporaries noted his youth and small , slight stature by calling the " Boy Major . " He became an officer in Maj . Richard Snowden Andrews ' s Battalion of Maj . Gen . Edward " Allegheny " Johnson ' s Division . Gettysburg Campaign . When Andrews was wounded at the Battle of Stephenson ' s Depot , Latimer took command of the artillery battalion for the Gettysburg Campaign . During the Battle of Gettysburg , on the afternoon of July 2 , 1863 , Latimer was commanding the artillery battalion , which was located on Benner ' s Hill , a small rise located about 1 , 400 yards northeast of Cemetery Hill . The Confederate guns engaged in a duel with their Federal counterparts while attempting to support the attack on Culp ' s and Cemetery Hill s . The position on Benner ' s Hill was open and exposed , and the Confederate guns found themselves at a severe disadvantage . Latimer requested that he be allowed to move the guns to a more favorable position . " Such an admission by so stubborn a fighter did not have to be verified , " as historian Douglas Southall Freeman put it , and Latimer was allowed to begin withdrawing the guns . He was wounded after he returned to the hill to direct the fire of his remaining four guns . An exploding shell severely wounded his arm and killed his horse , which fell on him and pinned him to the ground . Division commander Allegheny Johnson noted in his official battle report that , " Major J . W . Latimer , of Andrews ' battalion , the " boy major , " whose chivalrous bearing on so many fields had won for him a reputation to be envied by his seniors , received a severe wound on the evening of the 2d , from the effects of which he has since died . " Cpt Charles I . Raine took charge of the battalion after Latimer was wounded . Latimer ' s right arm had to be amputated . The amputation was performed at the Daniel Lady Farm , which is today preserved by the Gettysburg Battlefield Preservation Association . Initially hospitalized in Winchester , movements by the Federal troops required that Latimer be transported somewhere safer . He was moved to Harrisonburg , Virginia , to the home of the E . T . H . Warren family . The constant movement — first from Gettysburg , then from Winchester — did not aid his recovery , and soon after he was transported to Harrisonburg , gangrene appeared . From that point on , Latimer rapidly worsened and he died on August 1 , 1863 . He was buried in the Woodbine Cemetery at Harrisonburg . The grave of the " Boy Major " is marked by a monument placed 51 years after his death by the Ladies Memorial Association and the United Daughters of the Confederacy .