The College of William and Mary in the Civil War by Sean M. Heuvel & Lisa L. Heuvel

Author:Sean M. Heuvel & Lisa L. Heuvel [Heuvel, Sean M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Published: 2013-06-17T23:00:00+00:00

Col. William Lamb, CSA, B.P.—1854, L.B.—1855. From Battles and Leaders of the Civil War, Vol. 4 (New York: Century Co., 1888), 646.

Unlike his fellow alumni who served as regimental commanders, Col. William Lamb made his military contributions to the Confederacy by serving as a garrison commander. A Norfolk native, Lamb was a member of a wealthy family who first enrolled at the College in 1852. He originally had no intention of studying a profession, but Lamb’s attitude changed quickly once he was immersed in Williamsburg’s historic atmosphere. Specifically, “the speeches he heard at the [1853] commencement from Ex-President John Tyler, Henry A. Wise, James Lyons, and others kindled an ambition for professional and public life.” After earning degrees from William and Mary in 1854 and 1855, Lamb served as a newspaper editor and militia officer during the late-antebellum era.47

Following the outbreak of war, Lamb was appointed a captain in the 6th Virginia Infantry. However, he was promoted to major later in 1861 and served on the staff of Brig. Gen. Joseph R. Anderson at Wilmington, North Carolina. It was in this capacity that he began his wartime career as a garrison commander. Following a short tenure commanding Fort St. Philip on the Cape Fear River, Lamb was appointed commander of Fort Fisher, which was also located along the North Carolina coast, on July 4, 1862. President Jefferson Davis also promoted him to full colonel shortly thereafter. An avid student of military history and defensive fortifications, Lamb oversaw extensive modifications to the installation’s defensive works, and by December 1864, it was regarded as the largest and most powerful earthen fort in the Confederacy. However, Union forces overran Fort Fisher in January 1865, during a large battle in which Lamb was wounded and taken prisoner. Nevertheless, even after the fortress fell to Federal forces, Fisher’s design and physical features drew praise from Union authorities. Lamb would go on to serve as mayor of Norfolk in the postwar era.48

Two alumni, Edwin Gray Lee and William Booth Taliaferro, reached the rank of general in the Confederate Army. While they are not normally listed among the ranks of the most famous Confederate commanders, Lee and Taliaferro both achieved levels of high authority and interacted with some of the Confederacy’s top military and political leaders. Born on May 27, 1836, in northern Virginia, Edwin Gray “Ned” Lee received his early education from Hallowell’s School in Alexandria before enrolling at William and Mary in 1851. At the College, he formed several close friendships that continued into his later life. One of his best friends was William Lamb, with whom he would interact again, a fellow Confederate officer during the Civil War. Although he was a key player in forming a debating society on campus, Lee’s behavior at the College left much to be desired, and he was frequently reprimanded for mischievous behavior. He was finally suspended in December 1852 after ringing the Wren Building’s bell in the middle of the night. Although he was later invited to

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