Chest-up view of Colston. He wears a double-breasted frock with general’s collar insignia. Image contrast is very good. A period ink identification is on the lower edge of the mount. Photographer’s backmark, E. & H.T. Anthony, New York.

Raleigh Edward Colston (October 1, 1825 – July 29, 1896) was a French-born American professor, soldier, cartographer, and writer. He was a controversial brigadier general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. Colston was among a handful of former Confederates who served in Egypt following the war.

With Virginia's secession in early 1861, Colston was commissioned as the colonel of the 16th Virginia Infantry. On December 24, 1861, Colston was appointed as a brigadier general. He served under James Longstreet in the Peninsula Campaign. His performance at the Battle of Seven Pines elicited criticism. Becoming ill from exposure, Colston left the Army of Northern Virginia until December 1862.

In April 1863, he led a brigade under Stonewall Jackson. Because he knew Colston from the time when both were professors at VMI, Jackson recommended Colston to lead a division. At the Battle of Chancellorsville on May 2, Colston led one of the divisions involved in Jackson's flank attack on the Union army's right flank. Lee relieved Colston of command of the division on May 20.

R. E. Colston served under P.G.T. Beauregard in 1864 in the Siege of Petersburg. In early 1865, he was in command of the defense of Lynchburg, Virginia, guarding one of the Confederacy's last open railroads.
He lived the rest of his life as an invalid in the Confederate Soldiers' Home in Richmond, Virginia, where he died penniless. He was buried in Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond.  [jet]    [ph:L]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

THIS ITEM, AS WITH ALL OTHER ITEMS AVAILABLE ON OUR WEB SITE,

MAY BE PURCHASED THROUGH OUR LAYAWAY PROGRAM.

CLICK HERE FOR OUR POLICIES AND TERMS.

THANK YOU!