Winder resigned his U.S. Army commission on April 1, 1861, and was appointed a captain of
artillery in the Confederate Army on March 16, and then quickly promoted to
major later that day.
[1] He was appointed
colonel of the
6th South Carolina Infantry on July 8,
[1] leading it to prominence in the Confederate army.
He was promoted to
brigadier general on March 1, 1862,
[1] and assigned to the
Shenandoah Valley under the command of
Stonewall Jackson. Having recently
court-martialed Brig. Gen.
Richard B. Garnett, Jackson placed Winder in command of his old brigade. This, combined with Winder's reputation as a strict disciplinarian, was widely resented by both the officers and men now under him. In fact, so general was the feeling of animosity toward him, by August 1862 it was widely rumored Winder would be shot by one of his own men in the next battle.
[3]
[edit] Cedar Mountain and death
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Approximate location at Cedar Mountain battlefield where Gen. Winder was standing when mortally wounded by a Union shell. Facing south.
On August 9, 1862, Winder led his men into battle at Cedar Mountain, on the left flank of the Confederate line. He did so despite having been ill for several days, and in defiance of a surgeon's order to rest. He was personally directing the fire of a battery when a
Union shell struck him in his left side, horribly mangling him. Borne to the rear on a stretcher, Winder died later that evening.
[4]
Winder's body was initially buried in nearby
Orange Court House, before being disinterred and transported to
Richmond. There, a state funeral was given in his honor, followed by re-interment at
Hollywood Cemetery. Three years later, his family had his body again removed, this time to be permanently buried in the family cemetery at
Wye House, located near his birthplace of Easton, Maryland.
[5]
In his official report of the battle, Stonewall Jackson lamented General Winder's loss, writing,
It is difficult within the proper reserve of an official report to do justice to the merits of this accomplished officer. Urged by the medical director to take no part in the movements of the day because of the then enfeebled state of his health, his ardent patriotism and military pride could bear no such restraint. Richly endowed with those qualities of mind and person which fit an officer for command and which attract the admiration and excite the enthusiasm of troops, he was rapidly rising to the front rank of his profession. His loss has been severely felt.
[6]
Don't normaly like to use wikipedia as a source, but the information seemed pretty accurate.
Bringing the 