Lewis Armistead Biography (Written and Submitted by Mr. Gabe Weaver) General Lewis Addison Armistead was born on February 18, 1817 in New Berne North Carolina. He graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1834. On March 16,
1861 Armistead was given the rank of Major in the Confederate Army and later that year became Colonel of the 57th Virginia Infantry Regiment, which he commanded at Suffolk and the defenses of Blackwater the following winter. General Armistead was promoted to Brigadier General on April 1, 1862 and was given command of a brigade in Benjamin Huger's division. On the first day at the
Battle of Seven Pines General Armistead was distinguished for personal bravery while making a stand with a small part of his men while being attacked by a Federal Brigade, until he was reinforced by
General Pickett. General Armistead was stationed near
Richmond on June 25. At the Battle of Malvern Hill. General
Robert E. Lee ordered Armistead to "charge with a yell" on the enemy's position. On September 6 he was assigned Provost Marshall General of the Army. He then went to
Gettysburg arriving on July 3. He then led a charge on Cemetery Hill, he was 50 yards ahead of his men, when he breached the enemy lines and was wounded. But General Armistead drove the enemy from its position and lived long enough to see his colors raised over the position. General Lewis Armistead died at
the Battle of Gettysburg on July 3, 1863. He is buried in Baltimore, Maryland. |
Lewis Armistead
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