Rice E . Graves Major Rice E . Graves , Jr . ( 18381863 ) Early years . Graves was born in Rockbridge , Virginia but grew up near Yelvington , Daviess County , Kentucky ( 12 miles east of Owensboro , Kentucky ) after a near tragedy in 1844 interrupted his family ' s planned move to St . Louis . His parents , wealthy planter Rice E . Graves , Sr . and his wife Amelia Rucker Gregory ( widowed daughter of American Revolutionary War Patriot CPT Jesee Richeson ) , had booked passage on the riverboat " Star of the West " . With their family and all their worldly possessions on board , they began the journey down the Ohio River to Missouri and a new life . Just below Breckinridge County , Kentucky , the " Star of the West " collided with the " Hark - Away " and sank . The frantic parents saved themselves and their eight children . However , everything they owned was lost . They decided to remain in Cloverport , where the father rented a farm . When they were financially able , the family moved to Daviess County where they to purchased land and improved it . By that time , the number of children in the household had increased to eleven and with so large a family , education opportunities were limited . All of the children were expected to help out with the farm work , so their schooling was done locally . Rice E . Graves , Jr . , spent three semesters at the Owensboro ( KY ) Academy . West Point Cadet . Rice E . Graves was a cadet at the United States Military Academy at West Point , New York through a scholarship presented by Congressman Samuel O . Peyton representing the second Congressional district of Kentucky . Graves was in the fifth class at West Point , with 48 members in the class . The two years he spent in West Point set the standard for his later military career . He resigned his Presidential appointment after two years at the distinquished military academy to join the Confederate States of America Army at Camp Boone , Tennessee . Graves was appointed with the rank of captain upon enlistment at Camp Boone , ( Saint Bethlehem , Tennessee ) Clarksville , Tennessee . Confederate States of America Army Officer . Graves was known for his excellent skills as an artillery leader and commanded an artillery battery known as " Graves ' Battery " He was promoted to the rank of Major under the command of General John C . Breckinridge and served as Breckinridge ' s Chief of Artillery . Military Campaigns and Battles . Graves served in many civil war battles and campaigns to include the battle at Fort Donelson , TN , Battle of Shiloh ; Siege of Vicksburg ; Battle of Stones River at Murfreesboro , TN where he was twice wounded in battle ; Atlanta Campaign ; Battle of Jackson , MS ; and was killed in action at the Battle of Chickamauga in Georgia . General John C . Breckinridge wrote of Major Graves in his official report of the Battle of Chickamauga : " One member of my staff I cannot thank ; Major Rice Graves received a mortal wound on the ( Sunday morning ) ( September ) 20th ( 1863 ) . Although a very young man he gave promise of the highest distinction . A truer friend , a purer patriot , a better soldier , never lived " . Death . A military grave marker for Major Rice E . Graves , Jr . , erected on the anniversary of his death in 1996 by members of the General Ben Hardin Helm Sons of Confederate Veterans Camp in the center of the Ringgold cemetery . Little was recorded of Maj . Graves after the first night at the field hospital , but it is thought that he lived longer than hours after his wounding . Apparently he was still alive when Breckinridge ' s troops left the area or else his body would have been transported along with Gen . Helm to Atlanta for burial . There were several hospitals set up in the nearby town , Ringgold , and he most likely perished in one of them a day or two later . He was buried in the Citizen ' s Cemetery in Ringgold . Sadly , the exact burial location of Maj . Graves was lost through the years . Tribute . On September 21 , 1900 , the Breckinridge Chapter of the Owensboro , KY UDC unveiled the first Confederate monument by the organization in Kentucky . The dedication date chosen was in honor of Daviess County , Kentucky hero Maj . Rice E . Graves , whose memory highlighted the ceremonies . C . H . Todd , Commander of the Rice E . Graves United Confederate Veterans Camp # 1121 said that he " could recall no other soldier that he met during the war who so impressed him and so rapidly won his confidence and friendship . "