Robert Ransom, Jr

After graduating from West Point, he was commissioned 2nd Lieutenant, US Army, and assigned to the 1st Dragoons. His first assignment was at Taos, New Mexico, under then-Lt Colonel Edwin V. Sumner. He was 1st Lieutenant and Regimental Adjutant in the newly established 1st US Cavalry 1855-57, and was promoted to Captain 31 January 1861. He had served in the West, and as Cavalry instructor at West Point. He resigned from US service 24 May 1861.

He was commissioned Captain of cavalry, C. S. A., and then first Colonel of the First North Carolina cavalry (9th Regiment NC State Troops). They saw their first action in a skirmish at Vienna, Virginia, 26 November 1861. He was promoted Brigadier General on 6 March 1862.

Commanded Ransom's Brigade in Walker's Division in Longstreet's Command.

He was in command of the division at Fredericksburg, and then served with his division in North Carolina until May 1863. He was promoted Major General and commanded the district including the Appomattox and Blackwater in Virginia. He was then in command at Richmond until July. In October 1863, he was in east Tennessee commanding Cavalry there until April 1864. He then served again in the defenses of Richmond. In June he was in command of Early's cavalry in the expedition through Maryland against Washington. In August he was relieved on account of illness and served in administrative posts in Kentucky and at Charleston, SC before surrendering 2 May 1865.

He was an express agent and city marshal at Wilmington, NC, and then was a farmer until 1878. He then was a civil engineer in charge of Federal river and harbor works at New Bern.

Source: Heitman, Francis Historical Register and Dictionary of the United States Army 1789-1903, Washington, US Government Printing Office, 1903.; and
A biography from The Confederate Military History, transcribed online by Jeff Weaver.

2/12/1828; Bridle Creek, NC

1/14/1892; New Bern, NC