Lawrence O'Bryan Branch
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Lawrence O'Bryan Branch | |
|---|---|
| November 28, 1820 – September 17, 1862 | |
 |
|
| Place of birth | Enfield, North Carolina |
| Place of death | Sharpsburg, Maryland |
| Allegiance | Confederate States of America |
| Years of service | 1861–62 |
| Rank | Brigadier General |
| Battles/wars | American Civil War - Battle of Antietam |
| Other work | U.S. Congressman |
Lawrence O'Bryan Branch (November 28, 1820 – September 17, 1862) was a North Carolina representative in the U.S. Congress and a Confederate general in the American Civil War, killed at the Battle of Antietam.
Contents |
[edit] Early Life and Career
Branch was born in Enfield, Halifax County, North Carolina. He was orphaned as a child; his guardian was Secretary of the Navy John Branch and he was tutored by Salmon P. Chase. He pursued a preparatory course under a private teacher in Washington, D.C., before going on to train at North Carolina's Bingham Military Academy. He also attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for a short time and, in 1838, graduated from Princeton College before going to study law in Nashville, Tennessee, where he also owned and edited a newspaper.
In 1840, Branch moved to Tallahassee, Florida and was admitted to the bar to practice law by a special act of the legislature. Just one year later, he went to fight in the Seminole Wars. In 1852, he moved to Raleigh, North Carolina, where he continued to practice law and became president of the Raleigh & Gaston Railroad Co. Branch was elected as a Democrat to the 34th, 35th, and 36th Congresses (March 4, 1855, to March 3, 1861) but was not a candidate for renomination in 1860. On December 2, 1860, he was appointed, (but declined), the position of Secretary of the Treasury by President James Buchanan.
[edit] Civil War
Branch entered the Confederate Army, in May 1861, and was appointed brigadier general the same year. He was the senior brigadier general in A.P. Hill's division, Stonewall Jackson's corps.
On September 17, 1862, he led his troops on a rapid march from Harpers Ferry to Sharpsburg, Maryland where the Battle of Antietam was raging. Branch arrived on the field in time to help stop the Union advance, thus saving General Robert E. Lee's right flank from a crushing defeat. Soon after this victory, Branch stood talking with three fellow officers, General Lee, A.P. Hill when a Federal sharpshooter, seeing the group, fired a shot that hit him in the right cheek and exited behind his left ear, killing him instantly. He fell dead in the arms of a staff officer.
[edit] Memorials
Branch had won the respect of his fellow officers and after his death Hill said of him, "He was my senior brigadier and one to whom I could have entrusted the command of the division with all confidence. No country has a better son or nobler champion, no principle a bolder defender than the noble and gallant soldier, General Lawrence O'Bryan Branch."
A memorial cannon now stands at the location where Branch was killed. Five other memorial cannons are placed throughout the battlefied marking the locations other commanders lost their lives. Branch is buried at the Old City Cemetery, Raleigh, North Carolina.
[edit] References
- Eicher, John H., & Eicher, David J., Civil War High Commands, Stanford University Press, 2001, ISBN 0-8047-3641-3.
- This article incorporates facts obtained from the public domain Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
[edit] External links
- Branch, Lawrence O'Bryan, Congressional Intervention in Regard to Slavery in the Territories. Letter of Lawrence O'B. Branch to His Constituents, 1860
