Armistead Lindsay Long Armistead Lindsay Long ( September 13 , 1825 – April 29 , 1891 ) was a brigadier general for the Confederate States of America , and the author of the 1886 book " Memoirs of Robert E . Lee " . Early life and career . Long was born in Campbell County , Virginia , to Armistead Long and Calista Rosser Cralle . He was an 1850 graduate of the United States Military Academy . He was appointed second lieutenant June 30 , 1851 , and served for two years at Fort Moultrie before being assigned to frontier duty in New Mexico . After two years on the frontier , he was moved back to Fort McHenry and Barrancas Barracks and promoted to first lieutenant on July 1 , 1854 . In 1855 he was sent back for five more years of frontier - duty , this time serving in Kansas , Nebraska and Indian Territory with a brief stint at Fort Monroe . Civil War . Long was stationed at Augusta Arsenal when tensions began between the Northern and Southern states . He was among the garrison that was surrendered to state authorities . He was transferred to serve an aide - de - camp to General Sumner , and ended up marrying Sumner ' s daughter , Mary Heron Sumner , in 1860 . They had their first child , Virginia Tunstall , on March 5 , 1861 . When Sumner was summoned to lead the Department of the Pacific in California on June 10 , 1861 , Long resigned his commission in the United States Army the same day , and accepted a rank of major and chief of artillery in the Provisional Army of the Confederate States in western Virginia . He was later promoted to colonel dating from March 1861 . Long accompanied its commander General William Loring in the Trans - Allegheny . During the summer and autumn of 1861 , he acted as Inspector General , in addition to his regular duties . He was summoned to appear before General Robert E . Lee at the end of the year , and the two of them would foster a close friendship over the coming years . Long was transferred to the southern coast as chief of artillery for both Generals John C . Pemberton and Robert E . Lee . When Lee became the military adviser to President Jefferson Davis in early 1862 , he appointed Long as his military secretary with the rank of colonel . When on May 31 , 1862 , Lee took command of the Army of Northern Virginia , Long assumed his military secretary position on Lee ' s staff . He served Lee through the Seven Days , Northern Virginia Campaign of August 1862 , Antietam Campaign , Fredericksburg Campaign , the campaign culminating in the Battle of Chancellorsville , and the Gettysburg Campaign . Long was considered a valuable asset with " vigor and unfailing judgment " . On September 23 , 1863 , Long was promoted to brigadier general and placed in command of the artillery in Lieutenant General Richard S . Ewell ' s Second Corps . He was present at both the Bristoe Campaign and the subsequent Mine Run Campaign . Long commanded the artillery through the Overland Campaign , including the battles of the Wilderness , Spotsylvania Court House , and Cold Harbor . During Early ' s 1864 Shenandoah Valley Campaign he served intermittently as artillery chief for the Army of the Valley , but was often absent due to illness . He returned with the rest of the army to rejoin Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia around Petersburg and Richmond . Suffering from facial Neuralgia , he surrendered with the remnants of Lee ' s army at Appomattox Court House in April 1865 . In 1864 , his wife gave birth to their second child , Edwin Vose . Postbellum career . Following the war , Long was appointed Chief Engineer at the James River and Kanawha Canal from 1866 to 1869 . On April 12 , 1869 , his wife gave birth to their third child , Eugene Mclean . The following year Long went blind , ostensibly from his exposure during military service . On October 28 , 1875 , Long was elected to a post of Vice President of the Association of the Army of Northern Virginia along with Robert Ransom , Harry Heth , and William R . Terry , under the association ' s president W . H . F . " Rooney " Lee . President Ulysses S . Grant appointed Long ' s wife as postmistress for Charlottesville , Virginia . Although entirely blind , Long moved to Charlottesville and began writing " Memoirs of Robert E . Lee " . The lengthy biographical compendium of the service of the Army of West Virginia was published in 1886 , although his manuscripts on Stonewall Jackson and his own army life were never published . Following three years of ill health after the death of his eldest son , Long died in Charlottesville after requesting that his daughter build a fire in his room and bring him coffee . By the time she returned , he had slipped from consciousness and died shortly thereafter . He is buried in Maplewood Cemetery , Charlottesville .