Raleigh Edward Colston

Colston was born in Paris, France, on October 31, 1825, the son of the Duchess of Valmy. He came to the United States after adoption by an American doctor living in Virginia in 1842.

Colston graduated from VMI in 1846 and became a professor of French there. When the War began, Colston was appointed colonel of the 16th Virginia. He was only briefly with the regiment, however, as he was appointed to brigadier general on December 24, 1861.

Colston led a brigade under Longstreet in the Peninsula Campaign. He later became ill and left the Army, rejoining it under Jackson's command in December 1862. He led the "Stonewall Division" at Chancellorsville as the senior brigadier general; with little combat experience, however, Colston was in over his head. On May 3d he lost control of his troops, and on May 20th he was removed from command. In 1864, Colston joined Beauregard in command of the Petersburg defenses. By the end of the War, he had a command in Lynchburg, Virginia.

After the War, Colston established a military school in North Carolina and became a colonel in the Egyptian army. However, he was badly injured when he fell from a camel and returned to the United States in 1879. The accident left Colston basically a cripple. He died on July 29, 1896 in the Confederate Soldiers' Home in Richmond, Virginia. Colston was buried in Richmond's famous Hollywood Cemetery, the resting place of many famous Confederate generals and officers.