caption serviceyears branch death_date death_place birth_place allegiance image_size battles birth_date rank image article_title name
j. thompson brown 1861 & ndash ; 64 csa 06 may 1864 spotsylvania county , virginia virginia confederate states of america 1863 200 american civil war 06 february 1835 35px colonel -lrb- csa -rrb- john thompson brown.jpg j. thompson brown
 john thompson brown
j. thompson brown

john thompson brown -lrb- february 6 , 1835 -- may 6 , 1864 -rrb- was a confederate states army colonel and artillerist in the american civil war .
he participated in the first exchange of cannon fire , in fact the first shots fired , between a confederate force and a union force in virginia during the civil war .
brown 's company of the virginia -lrb- soon to be confederate -rrb- richmond howitzers artillery regiment , with brown in command according to some sources , and a union force , the gunboat uss `` yankee '' , had a minor engagement at the battle of gloucester point , virginia on may 7 , 1861 .
neither side suffered casualties .
brown is credited by some sources with firing the first shot of the civil war in virginia at that first , minor engagement in the state .
during the war , he advanced from the rank of first lieutenant to the rank of colonel in charge of a division of artillery in the army of northern virginia .
he was killed by a sharpshooter at the battle of the wilderness , may 6 , 1864 .
