Archibald C. Godwin

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Archibald Campbell Godwin (1831-1864) was an brigadier general in the Confederate States Army who was killed at the Third Battle of Winchester during the American Civil War.

[edit] Biography

Archibald C. Godwin was born in Virginia in 1831. Before the war he made a living as a rancher and miner in California. He returned to his native state when the American Civil War broke out in 1861. He initially served as a captain and then major in the provost and became the provost marshal of Richmond. He was transferred to the front taking the colonelcy of the 57th North Carolina Infantry on July 17, 1862.

Godwin's first action came at the Battle of Fredericksburg on December 13, 1862. He also served as a member of Robert F. Hoke's Brigade during the Fredericksburg phase of the Chancellorsville Campaign. Hoke had been wounded and was replaced by Colonel Isaac E. Avery. Godwin marched under the command of Avery to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania in the summer of 1863 participating in the attack on Cemetery Hill on July 2 at the Battle of Gettysburg. With the mortal wounding of Colonel Avery, Godwin temporarily assumed command of the brigade and led it back into Virginia and until November 7, 1863 when he was captured at Rappahannock Bridge.

He was exchanged in 1864, and promoted to brigadier general commanding what had formerly been Hoke's Brigade on August 5. On September 19 he was killed at the Third Battle of Winchester. He had acquired a reputation for being quite cruel to Union captives. There had been some discussion after the war of trying Godwin for war crimes until it was discovered that he was already dead.^[1]

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