Victor Girardey Victor Jean Baptiste Girardey ( June 26 , 1837 – August 16 , 1864 ) was a Confederate States Army staff officer during the American Civil War . He was promoted from captain to temporary brigadier general less than a month before his death in battle . Girardey had served as a staff officer from the beginning of the war until August 3 , 1864 . Then , he was promoted to temporary brigadier general , to rank from July 30 , 1864 , and assumed command of Ambrose R . Wright ' s former brigade on the Darbytown Road on the eastern end of the defenses of Richmond , Virginia . On August 16 , 1864 , during the Second Battle of Deep Bottom , Girardey was killed in action near Fussell ' s Mill in Henrico County , Virginia . Early life . Victor Jean Baptiste Girardey was born on June 26 , 1837 at Lauw , France . His family emigrated to Georgia in 1842 . By the age of 16 , he was an orphan . He completed his education in New Orleans , Louisiana , where he married a Louisiana woman of French descent . American Civil War . Although historian Ezra Warner wrote that Girardey was living in Georgia at the outbreak of the Civil War , and he was later nominated to the Confederate Senate as an assistant adjutant general as from that state , his first Confederate service was as a second lieutenant of Louisiana militia , then as a second lieutenant of the 1st Louisiana Infantry Battalion . He resigned from that position on October 12 , 1861 and on the same day was appointed aide - de - camp to Brigadier General Albert G . Blanchard . On June 21 , 1862 , Girardey became a captain and assistant adjutant general for Brigadier General Ambrose Wright ' s brigade . Girardey received several commendations for skill , bravery and efficiency , having fought in the Seven Days Battles , Battle of Chancellorsville and Battle of Gettysburg . He took command of a regiment during the Battle of Manassas Gap when the regiment ' s colonel was wounded . During the Siege of Petersburg , Girardey was transferred to the divisional staff of Major General William Mahone . During the Battle of the Crater , Girardey distinguished himself by his performance in organizing and timing Mahone ' s counterattack after the Union Army ' s mine exploded under the Confederate line . He led two brigades from behind the Confederate line in order to fill the gap in the line caused by the mine explosion . On August 3 , 1864 , Girardey was promoted several grades from captain to temporary brigadier general , to rank from July 30 , 1864 . Historian Mark Boatner says that General Lee made the promotion in the field . Unlike Ezra Warner , historians John and David Eicher do not list Girardey as a brigadier general because his appointment was never confirmed by the Confederate Senate . On August 16 , 1864 , Girardey was in command of Wright ' s former brigade , of which he had been assistant adjutant general , near Fussell ' s Mill on the Darbytown Road on the east end of the defenses of Richmond in Henrico County , Virginia . On that date , during the Second Battle of Deep Bottom , Girardey was shot in the head and killed while directing a defense against the Union Army assault on the Confederate position near Fussell ' s Mill . Aftermath . Victor Jean Baptiste Girardey is buried in Magnolia Cemetery at Augusta , Georgia . See also . List of American Civil War generals ( Confederate )