Turner Ashby
| Turner Ashby, Jr. | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Nickname(s) | "Black Knight of the Confederacy" |
| Born |
October 23, 1828 Fauquier County, Virginia |
| Died | June 6, 1862 (aged 33) Harrisonburg, Virginia |
| Place of burial | Stonewall Cemetery, Winchester, Virginia |
| Allegiance |
 Confederate States of America
|
| Service/branch |
 Confederate States Army Cavalry
|
| Years of service | 1861–62 |
| Rank |
 Captain (Virginia Militia) Colonel (CSA) Brigadier General (unconfirmed)
|
| Commands held |
 7th Virginia Cavalry
|
| Battles/wars | |
Turner Ashby, Jr. (October 23, 1828 – June 6, 1862) was a Confederate cavalry commander in the American Civil War. He had achieved prominence as Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's cavalry commander, with the rank of colonel, in the Shenandoah Valley before he was killed in the Battle of Good's Farm. Although he is sometimes referred to as a general and his name often appears in lists of Confederate generals, his appointment as brigadier general was never confirmed by the Confederate Senate. He died two weeks after his appointment and the Confederate Senate did not act to confirm the appointment during that time.
Turner Ashby, Jr. was born at Rose Bank Plantation in Fauquier County, Virginia, to Turner Sr. and Dorothea Green Ashby. As a child he often played in the waters of nearby Goose Creek. His father died when he was young, and Turner was raised by his mother. In later years, he bought a residence near his childhood home and named it Wolfe's Crag. His father had fought as a colonel in the War of 1812, and his grandfather Jack Ashby served as a captain during the American Revolutionary War.
Ashby was privately educated. Prior to military service he was engaged in business and farming, enjoying modest success at both.
He was also known throughout the Shenandoah Valley for his strict adherence to a Code of Chivalry. Once a young male guest at a party given by Ashby was insulted and goaded into a duel with a rejected rival for a young lady's attention. Though totally unskilled in firearms, the youth accepted the challenge and the duel was set to be immediately fought with pistols at a nearby grove. When word of the altercation reached Ashby in the next room, he barged through the door and approached the more experienced challenger. In his low, gentle voice he asked "What is the time fixed for our meeting?" The prospective duelist responded, "I am to fight [him] immediately." Ashby replied, "I beg your pardon, but he has nothing to do with this affair. He came to my house tonight as my guest. When I invited him to come the invitation was Turner Ashby's word of honor that he should be treated here as a gentleman. I am sorry to have to explain these points of good breeding to you, but you have shown your ignorance of them by insulting my guest. The insult is mine, not his, to resent. He is here under my protection. If you are not prepared to make a proper and satisfactory apology at once, both to my guest and to me, you must fight Turner Ashby and the time and place agreed upon will answer as well as any other. What do you say, sir?" Now fighting a duel with a young man wholly unacquainted with the use of firearms and dueling was one thing; fighting a duel with Turner Ashby in a rage was very well understood to be quite another, and a much more serious thing, and his realization of this difference brought a complete change to the challenger's mind...and he signed the pair of written apologies.
...
Wikipedia