Rice E. Graves - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Early years

Graves was born in Rockbridge, Virginia

Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

but grew up near Yelvington, Daviess County ,Kentucky (12 miles east of Owensboro

Owensboro, Kentucky

Owensboro is the fourth largest city by population in the U.S. state of Kentucky. It is the county seat of Daviess County. It is located on U.S. Route 60 about southeast of Evansville, Indiana, and is the principal city of the Owensboro, Kentucky, Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city's...

, Kentucky) after a near tragedy in 1844 interrupted his family's planned move to St. Louis. His parents, Rice E. Graves, Sr. and Amelia Rucker Gregory Graves; the widowed daughter of American Revolutionary War

American Revolutionary War

The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...

Patriot CPT Jesee Richeson – (a wealthy and influential citizen of Amherst County

Amherst County, Virginia

As of the census of 2000, there were 31,894 people, 11,941 households, and 8,645 families residing in the county. The population density was 67 people per square mile . There were 12,958 housing units at an average density of 27 per square mile...

, Virginia), had booked passage on the riverboat "Star of the West" and with their young family and all their worldly possessions on board, they began the journey down the Ohio River

Ohio River

The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...

to Missouri

Missouri

Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...

and a new life. Just below Breckinridge County, KY. their boat collided with another vessel named the "Hark-Away" and was sunk. It was all the frantic parents could do to save themselves and their eight children one whom was a baby. All of their household goods sank into the Ohio River as the parents guided their family to shore in their night clothes. Missouri was forgotten. With a large family and no property, they decided to remain in Cloverport, where Graves Sr. rented a farm on which to raise his children. His example of hard work, honesty and devotion to duty over the next three years must have had a tremendous impact on his sons. Ambition, perseverance, and purity of character was passed to all of them, especially Rice Evan Graves, Jr..

When they felt themselves beginning to regain their financial standing, the Graves family moved to Daviess County

Daviess County

Daviess County is the name of several counties in the United States :* Daviess County, Indiana* Daviess County, Kentucky* Daviess County, Missouri...

where eventually they were able to purchase land of their own and gradually improved it until it became one of the finest estates in the area. (today the family grave yard remains on the property located on Graves Lane off KY 144 in eastern Daviess County). By that time, the number of children in the household had increased to eleven and with so large a family, education opportunities were limited. All of the children were expected to help out with the farm work, so their schooling was done locally. Rice E. Graves, Jr.,spent three semesters at the Owensboro(KY) Academy.

West Point Cadet

Rice E. Graves was a cadet

Cadet

A cadet is a trainee to become an officer in the military, often a person who is a junior trainee. The term comes from the term "cadet" for younger sons of a noble family.- Military context :...

at the United States Military Academy

United States Military Academy

The United States Military Academy at West Point is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located at West Point, New York. The academy sits on scenic high ground overlooking the Hudson River, north of New York City...

at West Point

West Point, New York

West Point is a federal military reservation established by President of the United States Thomas Jefferson in 1802. It is a census-designated place located in Town of Highlands in Orange County, New York, United States. The population was 7,138 at the 2000 census...

, New York through a scholarship presented by Congressman Samuel O. Peyton representing the second Congressional district of Kentucky

Kentucky

The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...

. Graves was in the fifth class at West Point, with 48 members in the class. The two years he spent in West Point set the standard for his later military career. He resigned his Presidential appointment after two years at the distinquished military academy to join the Confederate States of America

Confederate States of America

The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...

Army at Camp Boone

Camp Boone

Camp Boone, Tennessee was located on Guthrie Road/ U.S. Route 79 near the Kentucky - Tennessee border at Clarksville, Montgomery County, Tennessee .Camp Boone was laid out in early 1861 by three men who had been authorized to raise a Kentucky Regiment for...

, Tennessee

Tennessee

Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...

. Graves was appointed with the rank of captain upon enlistment at Camp Boone

Camp Boone

, (Saint Bethlehem

Saint Bethlehem, Tennessee

Saint Bethlehem or St. Bethlehem, also called "St. B" by locals, is a community in Montgomery County, Tennessee, located just northeast of downtown Clarksville. St. Bethlehem has been incorporated into Clarksville city limits and is no longer a separate community, although locals still refer to...

, Tennessee) Clarksville

Clarksville, Tennessee

Clarksville is a city in and the county seat of Montgomery County, Tennessee, United States, and the fifth largest city in the state. The population was 132,929 in 2010 United States Census...

, Tennessee.

Confederate States of America Army Officer

Graves was known for his excellent skills as an artillery

Artillery

Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...

leader and commanded an artillery battery known as "Graves' Battery

Graves' Battery

The Graves Battery, which had 73 troops and was led by Major Rice E. Graves Jr., was a part of the First Kentucky C Company, led by General John C. Breckinridge...

" He was promoted to the rank of Major

Major

Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...

under the command of General

General

A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....

John C. Breckinridge

John Cabell Breckinridge was an American lawyer and politician. He served as a U.S. Representative and U.S. Senator from Kentucky and was the 14th Vice President of the United States , to date the youngest vice president in U.S...

and served as Breckinridge's Chief of Artillery.

Military Campaigns and Battles

Graves served in many civil war battles and campaigns to include the battle at Fort Donelson

Fort Donelson

Fort Donelson was a fortress built by the Confederacy during the American Civil War to control the Cumberland River leading to the heart of Tennessee, and the heart of the Confederacy.-History:...

, TN, Battle of Shiloh

Battle of Shiloh

The Battle of Shiloh, also known as the Battle of Pittsburg Landing, was a major battle in the Western Theater of the American Civil War, fought April 6–7, 1862, in southwestern Tennessee. A Union army under Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant had moved via the Tennessee River deep into Tennessee and...

; Siege of Vicksburg; Battle of Stones River

Battle of Stones River

The Battle of Stones River or Second Battle of Murfreesboro , was fought from December 31, 1862, to January 2, 1863, in Middle Tennessee, as the culmination of the Stones River Campaign in the Western Theater of the American Civil War...

at Murfreesboro, TN where he was twice wounded in battle ; Atlanta Campaign

Atlanta Campaign

The Atlanta Campaign was a series of battles fought in the Western Theater of the American Civil War throughout northwest Georgia and the area around Atlanta during the summer of 1864. Union Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman invaded Georgia from the vicinity of Chattanooga, Tennessee, beginning in May...

; Battle of Jackson, MS; and was killed in action at the Battle of Chickamauga

Battle of Chickamauga

The Battle of Chickamauga, fought September 19–20, 1863, marked the end of a Union offensive in southeastern Tennessee and northwestern Georgia called the Chickamauga Campaign...

in Georgia

Georgia (U.S. state)

Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...

.

General John C. Breckinridge

John C. Breckinridge

wrote of Major Graves in his official report of the Battle of Chickamauga

Battle of Chickamauga

The Battle of Chickamauga, fought September 19–20, 1863, marked the end of a Union offensive in southeastern Tennessee and northwestern Georgia called the Chickamauga Campaign...

: "One member of my staff I cannot thank; Major Rice Graves received a mortal wound on the (Sunday morning)(September) 20th (1863). Although a very young man he gave promise of the highest distinction. A truer friend, a purer patriot, a better soldier, never lived".

Death

A military grave marker for Major Rice E. Graves, Jr., erected on the anniversary of his death in 1996 by members of the General Ben Hardin Helm Sons of Confederate Veterans

Sons of Confederate Veterans

Sons of Confederate Veterans is an American national heritage organization with members in all fifty states and in almost a dozen countries in Europe, Australia and South America...

Camp in the center of the Ringgold cemetery. Little was recorded of Maj. Graves after the first night at the field hospital, but it is thought that he lived longer than hours after his wounding. Apparently he was still alive when Breckinridge's troops left the area or else his body would have been transported along with Gen. Helm to Atlanta for burial. There were several hospitals set up in the nearby town, Ringgold, and he most likely perished in one of them a day or two later. He was buried in the Citizen's Cemetery in Ringgold. Sadly, the exact burial location of Maj. Graves was lost through the years.

Tribute

On September 21, 1900, the Breckinridge Chapter of the Owensboro, KY UDC unveiled the first Confederate

Confederate States of America

The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...

monument by the organization in Kentucky

Kentucky

. The dedication date chosen was in honor of Daviess County

Daviess County, Kentucky

As of the census of 2000, there were 91,545 people, 36,033 households, and 24,826 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 38,432 housing units at an average density of...

, Kentucky hero Maj. Rice E. Graves, whose memory highlighted the ceremonies. C.H. Todd, Commander of the Rice E. Graves United Confederate Veterans

United Confederate Veterans

The United Confederate Veterans, also known as the UCV, was a veteran's organization for former Confederate soldiers of the American Civil War, and was equivalent to the Grand Army of the Republic which was the organization for Union veterans....