Daniel Ruggles (1810–1897), born in Barre, Massachusetts, became one of the few New Englanders to achieve the rank of general officer in the Confederate Army. After graduating 34th in his class from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1833, he embarked on a long military career. As a young lieutenant, he fought in the Second Seminole War, the Mexican-American War (1846-1848), and the Utah War (1857–1858). For his gallant and meritorious conduct in Mexico, he received brevets to major and then lieutenant colonel. He was a captain in Utah.
Following the Utah War, Ruggles went on extended sick leave and ultimately resigned his commission rather than returning to duty. In the spring of 1861, he offered his services to Virginia. His connection to the state ran deep, having married Richardetta Barnes Mason Hooe, a niece of George Mason, the author of the Virginia Bill of Rights, in 1837. This relationship solidified his decision to make Virginia his home and ardently defend it during the American Civil War.
Governor John Letcher appointed Ruggles brigadier general in the Provisional Army of Virginia and placed him in command of the Military Department of Fredericksburg, encompassing Fredericksburg and the counties of Stafford, Spotsylvania, Caroline, King George, and Westmoreland. When Virginia opted to limit its number of general officers, Ruggles, along with Philip St. George Cocke, was administratively reduced in rank to colonel. There is no record of complaint from Ruggles regarding this demotion.
On June 5, Brigadier General Theophilus H. Holmes superseded Ruggles in command of the Department of Fredericksburg, but Ruggles continued to play a prominent role. In the fall of 1861, he was promoted to brigadier general and transferred out west. Ruggles survived the war and died on June 1, 1897 in Fredericksburg, Virginia. He is buried in Fredericksburg Confederate Cemetery.
Primary Sources
Stuart, Meriwether, ed. “The Military Orders of Daniel Ruggles: Department of Fredericksburg, April 22–June 5, 1861.” The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography 69 (April 1961): 149-180.
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