Lawrence O'Bryan Branch | |
---|---|
Born |
November 28, 1820 Enfield, North Carolina |
Died |
September 17, 1862 (age 41) Sharpsburg, Maryland |
Allegiance | Confederate States of America |
Service/branch | Confederate States Army |
Years of service | 1861–62 |
Rank | Brigadier General |
Battles/wars | |
Spouse(s) | Nancy Haywood Blount |
Other work | U.S. Congressman |
Seminole Wars
American Civil War
Lawrence O'Bryan Branch (November 28, 1820 – September 17, 1862) was a North Carolina representative in the U.S. Congress and a Confederate brigadier general in the American Civil War, killed at the Battle of Antietam.
Branch was born in Enfield, Halifax County, North Carolina to Major Joseph Branch and Susan Simpson O'Bryan Branch. His childhood home, The Cellar, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. His family moved to Williamson County, Tennessee but his mother died when he was five and his father died in 1827. His uncle, Secretary of the Navy John Branch (then serving as Governor of North Carolina) assumed his guardianship and took him back to North Carolina. Branch moved to Washington City with his uncle when the latter took the position as Secretary of the Navy and he was tutored by Salmon P. Chase. He pursued a preparatory course under a private teacher in Washington, D.C., before going on to train at North Carolina's Bingham Military Academy. He also attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for a short time and, in 1838, graduated first in his class from Princeton College before going to study law in Nashville, Tennessee, where he also owned and edited a newspaper.