John Echols
| John Echols | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
March 20, 1823 Lynchburg, Virginia |
| Died | May 24, 1896 (aged 73) Staunton, Virginia |
| Place of burial | Thornrose Cemetery, Staunton, Virginia |
| Allegiance |
 United States of America Confederate States of America
|
| Service/branch |
 Confederate States Army
|
| Years of service | 1861–65 |
| Rank |
 Brigadier General
|
| Battles/wars | |
John Echols (March 20, 1823 – May 24, 1896) was a general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War.
John Echols was born in Lynchburg, Virginia, and was educated at the Virginia Military Institute, Washington College and at Harvard College. A tall imposing man, standing 6 feet 4 inches tall, Echols quickly became a leader among his peers. Echols married twice. His first wife was a sister of Senator Allen T. Caperton (also of what became West Virginia). After she died, he married Mrs. Mary Cochrane Reid of New York.
On becoming a lawyer in 1843 he settled in Union, Monroe County (now West Virginia). Echols represented Monroe County in the Virginia House of Delegates 1852–1853 and in the Virginia Secession Convention of 1861.
Both Echols and Allen T. Caperton voted for Virginia's secession from the United States on April 17, 1861 at the Richmond convention. When the secession ordinance was put to public vote on May 23 Monroe County voted 1,085 to 79 in favor of secession. Echols offered his service to Virginia. He gathered a group of volunteers and was commissioned as a lieutenant colonel. On May 6, 1861, General Robert E. Lee ordered Lieutenant Colonel Echols to call out and muster in volunteer forces, not to exceed two regiments, to rendezvous these men at Staunton for Joseph E. Johnston's fledgling army.
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