William E . Jones William Edmondson Jones , known as Grumble Jones , ( May 3 , 1824 – June 5 , 1864 ) was a planter , a career United States Army officer , and a Confederate cavalry general , killed in the Battle of Piedmont in the American Civil War . Early life . Jones was born in Washington County , Virginia . After graduating from Emory and Henry College in Virginia in 1844 , he graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1848 and was commissioned a brevet second lieutenant in the U . S . Mounted Rifles . He served with the cavalry fighting Indians in the west until he resigned his commission in 1857 to become a farmer . His nickname , " Grumble " , reflects his irritable disposition , undoubtedly exacerbated by the death of his wife , who was washed from his arms in a shipwreck shortly after their marriage in 1852 while en route to Texas . Civil War . At the start of the Civil War , Jones joined the 1st Virginia Cavalry Regiment as a captain , commanding a company he had raised . On May 9 he was promoted to major in Virginia ' s Provisional Army , and later that month both Jones and the regiment were transferred into the Confederate Army . Jones served under Col . J . E . B . Stuart in the First Battle of Bull Run in July 1861 . The following month he was promoted to the rank of colonel was given command of the 1st Virginia Cavalry . In the fall of 1861 the Confederate forces underwent a massive reorganization , during which the enlisted men could elect their officers . As a result Jones was not re - elected to his post as commander of the 1st Virginia Cavalry . That September he was appointed to command the 7th Virginia Cavalry . He led the regiment into Western Virginia , along the Potomac River . In March 1862 Jones was given command of all cavalry in the Valley District . Returning to eastern Virginia , Jones ' s cavalry was distinguished in the Second Bull Run Campaign ; he was wounded in a skirmish at Orange Court House on August 2 . He was part of Stuart ' s ostentatious raid around Maj . Gen . George B . McClellan ' s army preceding the Seven Days battles . He was promoted to brigadier general on September 19 , 1862 , and on November 8 , was assigned to command the 4th Brigade of Stuart ' s Cavalry Division in the Army of Northern Virginia . This brigade was known as Robertson ' s , or the " Laurel brigade , " and consisted entirely of Virginians , formerly commanded by Turner Ashby . Based on the request of Lt . Gen . Thomas J . " Stonewall " Jackson , on December 29 , 1862 , he assumed command of the Valley District . In the spring of 1863 , Jones and Brig . Gen . John D . Imboden raided the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad west of Cumberland , Maryland , destroying much of the railroad and public property in the area , including the Burning Springs Complex on May 9 , 1863 . Rejoining Stuart , he fought in the largest cavalry engagement of the war , the Battle of Brandy Station , June 9 , 1863 , at the start of the Gettysburg Campaign . He was surprised , as was all of Stuart ' s command , to be hit out of blue by Union cavalry under Maj . Gen . Alfred Pleasonton . Jones ' s brigade was outnumbered by the division of his West Point classmate , Brig . Gen . John Buford , but it held its own and ended the fight with more horses and more and better small - arms than at the beginning , capturing two regimental colors , an artillery battery , and about 250 prisoners . As the Gettysburg Campaign continued , Jones screened the Army of Northern Virginia ' s rear guard during the advance north through the Shenandoah Valley , by holding gaps in the mountains that separated them from Union observation and interference . As the Battle of Gettysburg commenced on July 1 , 1863 , Jones ' brigade crossed the Potomac River at Williamsport , Maryland , but stayed away from the principal battlefield , guarding the trains and Harpers Ferry . Jones was disgruntled that Stuart had not taken him on his movement around the Union flank to join up with General Richard S . Ewell ' s Second Corps on the Susquehanna River . Before moving into Pennsylvania , General Robert E . Lee ordered Ewell to capture Harrisburg if practicable . The disagreeable Jones often clashed with Stuart . On July 3 , Jones ' s brigade fought a sharp battle with the 6th U . S . Cavalry at Fairfield , Pennsylvania , then again at Funkstown , Maryland , a few days later . After Lee ' s army completed its retreat back to Virginia , Jones ' s men fought twice again with Buford at Brandy Station , on August 1 and October 10 , 1863 . In October , Stuart ' s dissatisfaction with Jones reached a boil and he court - martial ed Jones for insulting him . Although Grumble was found guilty , Robert E . Lee intervened , and he was transferred to the Trans - Allegheny Department in West Virginia . Jones recruited a brigade of cavalry there and campaigned in eastern Tennessee with Lt . Gen . James Longstreet ' s forces during the winter and spring of 1864 . In May , Jones assumed command of the Confederate forces in the Shenandoah Valley who were defending against the halting advance of Maj . Gen . David Hunter towards Lynchburg , Virginia , in the Valley Campaigns of 1864 . In the Battle of Piedmont on June 5 , 1864 , Jones was shot in the head and killed while leading a charge against a superior attacking force . Grumble Jones is buried in the Old Glade Spring Presbyterian Church graveyard , Glade Spring , Virginia . His fellow cavalry general , Brig . Gen . Imboden , wrote that Jones In popular culture . The bluegrass band The Dixie Bee - Liners have a biographical ballad about Jones on their 2008 album " Ripe " ( Pinecastle Records ) entitled " Grumble Jones " . The song was co - written by band members Buddy Woodward , Brandi Hart , and Blue Highway guitarist Tim Stafford . A street in Centreville , Virginia is named Grumble Jones Court .