Alfred Ranson Courtney

A lawyer before the War, he enrolled as 2nd Lieutenant, 38th Battalion Virginia Heavy Artillery on 15 May 1861. He was commissioned Captain of his own (Courtney's Henrico) battery on 8 July of that year. He was promoted to Major and Cutshaw's Battalion commander on 20 July 1862.

He was General Ewell's Chief of Artillery in Maryland. He was at Harpers Ferry for the capture, and remained there to at least September 16th to provision Confederate batteries from captured Federal stores.

He was convicted by court-martial (date not given) for dereliction of duty for not bringing forward more ammunition and 3 batteries of the Battalion as ordered (by Artillery Chief Pendleton) at Sharpsburg on 16 and 17 September, and for being absent without leave for almost a month following the battle. He resigned his commission. He re-entered service in July 1863 and was ordered to duty with General Buckner in the Army of Tennessee. He was severely wounded in action at Resaca, GA on 10 May 1864. He was paroled at Augusta, GA in 1865.

He was a lawyer in Richmond, VA and elected to the State Senate (1870-74).

Service from Krick1 and his service record data compiled by Historical Data Systems. Court martial and other information from research by Kevin Pawlak.

See an excellent blog post by Kevin Pawlak on Antietam Brigades for much more about Courtney and his court martial.

11/17/1833; King and Queen County, VA

11/04/1914; Richmond, VA; burial in Hollywood Cemetery, Richmond, VA