William Andrew Quarles William Andrew Quarles ( July 4 , 1825 – December 28 , 1893 ) was a Tennessee lawyer , politician , railroad executive , and a general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War . Early life . William A . Quarles , the son of Garrett and Mary J . ( Poindexter ) Quarles , was born near Louisa Court House in Louisa County , Virginia . When he was five years old , his family moved to rural Christian County , Kentucky , and then later to Clarksville , Tennessee . He was educated at home as a youth , and attended the University of Virginia until his father ' s untimely death forced him to return home to manage the family estate . He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1848 , and established a law practice in Clarksville . Interested in politics , he was a Democratic presidential elector in 1852 , supporting Franklin Pierce ' s candidacy . Quarles helped incorporate Stewart College in 1856 . He was the state ' s bank inspector in 1858 and was judge of the circuit court for a year , filling in for an ill incumbent . Quarles was an unsuccessful candidate for the United States Congress from Tennessee in 1858 . He was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in both 1856 and 1860 . Quarles joined the Freemasons and became a Master Mason in 1856 . He was appointed President of the Memphis , Clarksville , and Louisville Railway Company , and helped oversee the construction of railroad lines in Tennessee and Kentucky . His brother , James Minor Quarles , was a United States Congressman representing Tennessee from 1859 until 1861 , when the state seceded from the Union . Civil War . With the outbreak of the Civil War , Quarles organized the 42nd Tennessee Infantry and was commissioned on November 28 , 1861 , as its first colonel . His brother James would serve under Quarles for the rest of the war . In February 1862 , Quarles and his men were present at the Battle of Fort Donelson , where they were among the thousands of men forced to surrender . He was sent north to the Johnson ' s Island prisoner - of - war camp in Ohio . After being sent to Vicksburg , Mississippi , in early August 1862 and formally exchanged , Quarles resumed command of his regiment . Quarles was promoted on August 25 , 1863 , to brigadier general and given command of a brigade initially consisting of the 42nd , 46th , 48th , and 53rd Tennessee infantry regiments , serving in the division of Edward C . Walthall . Later augmented by two regiments from Louisiana , another from Tennessee , and an artillery battery , Quarles ' brigade missed the Chattanooga Campaign as his brigade did not arrive in time for the defense of Missionary Ridge . He was ordered back to Mississippi after it seemed certain that Braxton Bragg ' s army would not be attacked again after retreating to Dalton , Georgia , but he and his men returned to Georgia after the start of the Atlanta Campaign . At Pickett ' s Mill , Quarles was severely wounded . After recovering , Quarles led his brigade into Tennessee when army commander John Bell Hood moved northward from Atlanta . He was wounded on November 30 , 1864 , at the Battle of Franklin while leading his brigade against the Union works , and two weeks later captured while recuperating from his wound in a nearby field hospital . Quarles spent the rest of the war as a Union prisoner . He was finally paroled and exchanged at Nashville in May 1865 following the cessation of hostilities . Postbellum . Following the war , Quarles resumed his law career in Clarksville and was a trustee of the Tennessee Orphans Society in 1867 . He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church , and continued his Masonic activities , becoming a Royal Arch Mason in 1865 and joining the Knights Templar in 1871 . He was again a presidential elector in 1872 , supporting Horace Greeley in his unsuccessful candidacy . Resuming his own political career , Quarles failed to garner enough support for the United States Senate in 1874 , finishing well behind former President Andrew Johnson in balloting in the Tennessee legislature . He was subsequently elected to the State Senate , serving in the 39th ( 1875 – 77 ) and 45th ( 1887 – 89 ) General Assemblies . He was a delegate to the Democratic National Conventions of 1880 and 1884 , and served on Democratic State Executive Committee in 1882 . Quarles was married three times — first to a cousin , Miss Poindexter , then to Alice Vivian , and the third marriage to yet another cousin , Mrs . Louisa ( Meriwether ) Barker , daughter of Dr . Charles Hunter Meriwether . Quarles had one son , William A . Quarles died at his father - in - law ' s estate , " Meriville , " in Todd County , Kentucky , and was buried in Flat Lick Presbyterian Church graveyard , Christian County , Kentucky .