Page:Confederate Military History - 1899 - Volume 3.djvu/823

Rh until 1860. When he was called to be a member of the convention he steadfastly opposed secession until the call for troops to invade the South, and then he as earnestly advocated Southern independence. His wife, Mary Lumpkin Glenn, was descended from and connected with some of the wealthiest and most influential families of southern Virginia, and of direct descent from Archibald Glenn, for many years lord provost of Glasgow, Scotland.

Benjamin F. Brown, now a prominent citizen of Petersburg, Va., rendered active and faithful service throughout the war as a private in the artillery of the army of Northern Virginia. He was born in Albemarle county in 1833, the son of William Brown, a staunch old Jacksonian Democrat and patriotic citizen and soldier, who served as a lieutenant in the war of 1812, was subsequently captain of militia, and died in 1851. B. F. Brown was among those who entered the Confederate service in 1861 and served during that year on provost duty at Petersburg. In the spring of 1862 he was transferred to the Branch artillery, a Petersburg battery which subsequently was distinguished in the campaigns of the army in the battalion of Colonel Walker, attached to A. P. Hill's division. He was first stationed at Halifax, N. C., and thence moved to the Yorktown peninsula and participated in the Seven Days' battles. He took part in the capture of Harper's Ferry, and the battle of Sharpsburg, and on December 13, 1862, fought at Fredericksburg. He was subsequently stationed on the James river below Richmond, at Deep Bottom, until late in 1863, when he participated in the operations in North Carolina, and passed the winter in that State. Early in 1864 he was on duty a short time at Drewry's Bluff, and then returned to North Carolina to take part in the campaign under General Hoke. He was actively engaged in the siege of Plymouth and took part in the three days' fighting which compelled the surrender of the Federal garrison. The battery was then recalled to Petersburg by General Beauregard, and they rendered effective service in repelling the threatening advance of Butler's and Grant's armies. They were stationed at the salient, under which the Federal mine was exploded, July 30, 1864, and on that occasion nineteen of the men of the battery were killed and three buried in the debris. Mr. Brown fortunately escaped injury, though he was a close eye-witness of the explosion. He took part in the desperate fight which resulted in the repulse of the Federal attack, and remained on duty at that point until about three days before the evacuation, when, in a fight about four miles from Petersburg, he was captured by the enemy. He was subsequently imprisoned at Hart's island, N. Y., about three months. On his return home he entered the business of a manufacturer of brick and builder and contractor, in which he has been very successful. Some of the most important buildings of Petersburg, such as the Dunlap tobacco factory, the Central colored asylum, St. John's church, the silk mills, and a number of fine buildings are his handiwork. He is held in high regard by his Confederate comrades and is a member of the A. P. Hill camp of Petersburg. In 1865 he was married to Miss Ann M. Alley, and they have three children, Hattie, Benjamin F., Jr., and Virginia.

Jesse A. Brown, of Hanover Court House, a worthy Confederate soldier, who rode in campaign and battle with Stuart, Fitz Lee and Wickham, since 1875 has held the office of clerk of the circuit