Turner Ashby Turner Ashby , Jr . ( October 23 , 1828 – June 6 , 1862 ) was a Confederate cavalry commander in the American Civil War . He had achieved prominence as Thomas J . " Stonewall " Jackson ' s cavalry commander , in the grade of colonel , in the Shenandoah Valley before he was killed in the Battle of Good ' s Farm . Although he is sometimes referred to as a general and his name often appears in lists of Confederate generals , his appointment as brigadier general was never confirmed by the Confederate Senate . He died two weeks after his appointment and the Confederate Senate did not act to confirm the appointment during that time . Early years . Turner Ashby , Jr . was born at Rose Bank Plantation in Fauquier County , Virginia , to Turner Sr . and Dorothea Green Ashby . As a child he often played in the waters of nearby Goose Creek . His father died when he was young , and Turner was raised by his mother . In later years , he bought a residence near his childhood home and named it Wolfe ' s Crag . His father had fought as a colonel in the War of 1812 , and his grandfather Jack Ashby served as a captain during the American Revolutionary War . Ashby was privately educated . Prior to military service he was engaged in business and farming , enjoying modest success at both . He was also known for his chivalry : when a young male guest at a party insulted Ashby and called him out to a duel , Ashby insisted that since he was the host , he would not duel the guest , who being young and inexperienced with guns was unlikely to walk away alive . An accomplished horseman at an early age , Ashby in his 20s organized a cavalry company of his friends known as the Mountain Rangers . The Mountain Rangers were absorbed into the Virginia Militia in 1859 following John Brown ' s raid at Harpers Ferry ; they performed guard duty at Charles Town during Brown ' s trial and execution . Ashby made the statement that the Civil War really began with John Brown ' s insurrection . Ashby was an avid follower of politics and ran for the state legislature , but was a Whig ( the minority party in Fauquier County ) and follower of Henry Clay , and was not elected . After the start of the Civil War , though he ' d disapproved of secession , when it became obvious that Virginia would secede , Ashby persuaded Governor John Letcher to order the militia to capture the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry . When secession was approved , Ashby made his move , but U . S . forces burned most of the arsenal buildings and 15 , 000 small arms before he could arrive . Civil War . At Harpers Ferry , Ashby was assigned to the Virginia Militia command of Colonel Thomas J . " Stonewall " Jackson . He was responsible for guarding fords across the Potomac River and bridges from Harpers Ferry to Point of Rocks , Maryland . His command assisted Maryland men with Confederate sympathies to pass into Virginia , and they disrupted railroad traffic on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and interfered with the passage of boats on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal . Ashby suffered a personal loss when his brother Richard was killed during an engagement with a Union patrol along the Potomac in June 1861 . Ashby , convinced of the rumors that his brother had been bayoneted while trying to surrender after he had a chance to examine his corpse , came to hate Northerners and became obsessed with revenge . On July 23 , 1861 , Brigadier General Joseph E . Johnston appointed Ashby lieutenant colonel of the 7th Virginia Cavalry . Due to the illness of the regimental commander , Ashby had effective control of half of the regiment , which he operated separately . When the commander retired in February 1862 , Ashby assumed command of the entire regiment on March 12 . Ashby organized the first Confederate horse artillery , named Chew ' s Battery , as part of this regiment . The 7th did not participate directly in the First Battle of Manassas , but Ashby aided the Confederate cause by screening the movement of Johnston ' s army to the Manassas area . The Union had hoped that Johnston ' s forces would be pinned down by Major General Robert Patterson , but Ashby ' s screen allowed Johnston to move freely without Patterson ' s interference . By the spring of 1862 , the 7th Virginia Cavalry had reached the enormous size of 27 infantry and cavalry companies , much larger than a typical Civil War regiment . Stonewall Jackson , in overall command of the Shenandoah Valley , tried to correct the situation by stripping Ashby of his cavalry forces , ordering them to be assigned to two infantry brigades . Ashby threatened to resign in protest and Jackson backed down . Jackson continued to resist Ashby ' s promotion to brigadier general , due to his informal military training and consequent lack of discipline . Nevertheless , Ashby ' s promotion came through on May 23 , 1862 , and he received his promotion and general ' s star in a ceremony at the Taylor Hotel in Winchester , Virginia . Ashby cut a striking figure , called by many the " Black Knight of the Confederacy " . He generally rode horses that were pure white or pure black . A civilian in the Valley named Thomas A . Ashby ( no relation ) wrote about an encounter with him : Valley Campaign and death . Ashby ' s vigorous reconnaissance and screening were factors in the success of Jackson ' s legendary Valley Campaign in the Shenandoah Valley in 1862 . However , there were instances in which Ashby failed Jackson . At the First Battle of Kernstown , Jackson attacked a retreating Union column that Ashby had estimated to be four regiments of infantry , about the size of Jackson ' s force . It turned out to be an entire division of 9 , 000 men , and Jackson was forced to retreat . At the First Battle of Winchester , as Union forces under Maj . Gen . Nathaniel P . Banks were retreating , Ashby failed to cut off their retreat because his troopers were plundering captured wagons . It is possible that the Union forces could have been substantially destroyed if it were not for this lack of discipline . As Jackson ' s army withdrew from the pressure of Maj . Gen . John C . Frémont ' s superior forces , moving from Harrisonburg toward Port Republic , Ashby commanded the rear guard . On June 6 , 1862 , near Harrisonburg , the 1st New Jersey Cavalry attacked Ashby ' s position at Good ' s Farm . Although Ashby defeated the cavalry attack , a subsequent infantry engagement resulted in his horse being shot and Ashby charging ahead on foot . Within a few steps , he was shot through the heart , killing him instantly . ( The origin of the fatal shot has been lost to history . Soldiers of the 13th Pennsylvania Reserve Infantry , the " Bucktails " , claimed credit , but some accounts blame friendly fire . ) His last words were " Forward my brave men ! " He had been appointed brigadier general just two weeks before his death . Legacy . Stonewall Jackson ' s report of the engagement sums up the man ( although , considering Jackson ' s resistance to Ashby ' s promotion , the eulogy might be an exaggeration in favor of the young man ) : Ashby was buried at the University of Virginia Cemetery , but in October , 1866 , his body was reinterred at the Stonewall Cemetery in Winchester , Virginia next to the body of his younger brother Richard Ashby , who had died at Harpers Ferry in a skirmish with Union soldiers in 1861 . The Turner Ashby Monument can be found in Harrisonburg , Virginia at the spot where Ashby was fatally shot in the Battle of Harrisonburg at Chestnut Ridge . Turner Ashby High School in Bridgewater , Virginia and Ashby Hall at James Madison University are named in Ashby ' s honor . There is a tie to the naming of prominent Page County , Virginia businessman Major Ashby Roudabush ( August 22 , 1861 – February 16 , 1916 ) . It seems that early in the war then Lieutenant Colonel Turner Ashby was riding with his regiment near one of the family ' s mills . Ashby saw the new child and asked if the boy had yet been named . When he learned that it had not , he pronounced that the boy be named " Major Ashby " , for the boy could not outrank him .