Stephen Dodson Ramseur (May 31, 1837 – October 20, 1864) was a Confederate general in the American Civil War, at one point the youngest in the army. He impressed Lee by his actions at Malvern Hill and Chancellorsville, where his brigade led Stonewall Jackson’s flank attack, taking 50% casualties. On the first day of Gettysburg, he dramatically routed a Union brigade, sending it running through the town, though his superiors did not authorize further pursuit. Ramseur also distinguished himself in the Overland campaign and the Valley campaign, where he was mortally wounded at Cedar Creek.
Early life
Dodson Ramseur generally did not use his first name; intimate friends called him "Dod". He was born in Lincolnton, North Carolina to Jacob Able and Lucy Mayfield Dodson Ramseur. He was a second cousin to future Confederate generals John Horace Forney and William H. Forney. Ramseur attended Davidson College, where he studied mathematics under Daniel Harvey Hill, another future Confederate general. He continued at the United States Military Academy, graduated in 1860, was commissioned a second lieutenant, and was assigned to the 3rd and 4th U.S. Artillery regiments just before the start of the war. An intensely devout man, he believed slavery a divinely blessed institution, and by the time he entered West Point he bore great hatred for all Northerners.
Civil War
Ramseur did not wait until North Carolina seceded from the Union, joining the Confederate States Army in Alabama, but quickly transferred to the 10th North Carolina Militia. He became the lieutenant colonel of the 3rd North Carolina Infantry on May 27, 1861. He was injured with a broken collarbone while being thrown from his horse in July and was out of service until the following spring.
Peninsula Campaign
At the start of the Peninsula Campaign in 1862, Ramseur commanded artillery in Brig. Gen. John B. Magruder's division, but he was elected colonel of the 49th North Carolina Infantry on April 12, 1862. In the Seven Days Battles, Ramseur saw his first significant action at the Battle of Malvern Hill, where he led a futile charge against the strong Union defense and was severely wounded in the right arm. The arm mangled and paralyzed, Ramseur returned home to recuperate. After the Battle of Antietam, he returned from leave as commander of a brigade of four North Carolina regiments in Brig. Gen. Robert E. Rodes's division of Lt. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's corps. Promoted to brigadier general on November 1, 1862, he became, at 25 years old, the youngest general in the Confederate army at that time. This was a remarkable accession to rank for someone who had missed so many battles, but Gen. Robert E. Lee had been very impressed by Ramseur's aggressive performance at Malvern Hill.
Chancellorsville
In the Battle of Chancellorsville, Ramseur's was the lead brigade in Jackson's famous flank march of May 2, 1863, against the Union right. Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart, in temporary command of the corps after Jackson was mortally wounded, ordered three cheers for the brigade's aggressive assault and recommended that Ramseur be promoted to major general; this would not come to pass for another year. Ramseur's performance was actually overly aggressive because his brigade moved out in front of the other brigades too quickly, became exposed, and ran out of ammunition. They had to have reinforcements rush in from the neighboring brigade to help consolidate their gains. His brigade had higher casualties in the battle—more than 50%—than any other Confederate brigade. On the following day, he was wounded again, this time in the leg. General Lee wrote about Ramseur's brigade after the battle: