John D. Imboden

From Dixiepedia: The PC-Free Encyclopedia

John Daniel Imboden, 1823-1895. Graduated from Washington College, helped form the Staunton Artillery. In command of this unitm, he was en route to Harper's Ferry seemingly under orders from former Governor Henry Wise on April 17th, 1861, when the Virginia Convention voted to secede. Harper's Ferry was occupied the next day. Imboden commanded the battery at 1st Manassas. In 1862, he was named colonel of Partisan Rangers, fighting at Cross Keys and Port Republic. He served in western Virginia as a brigade commander. During the Gettysburg Campaign, Imboden operated with the the Army of Northern Virginia (one of six cavalry brigades under Lee's orders during that campaign). During the retreat from Gettysburg, Imboden was assigned to accompany the long wagon train. Imboden continued to serve in the Valley in 1864. Imboden's brigade saw action at New Market (May 15th), where Imboden received some criticism for failing to take the Meem's Bottom Bridge and trap the defeated Yankee army. He also saw action at Piedmont (June 5th), where Brigadier General "Grumble" Jones did not heed Imboden's advice on local geography and was defeated. Stricken with typhoid, he requested to be relieved of field command, and was assigned to prison duty. Seeing conditions at Andersonville, he marched Union prisoners to Jacksonville, Fla., but the Union commander refused to take the prisoners off Confederate hands. After the war, he was a land developer and wrote five articles published in Battles and Leaders. Two decent biographies of Imboden have been written in recent years: Defender of the Valley by Harold Woodward and Brigadier General John D. Imboden, Confederate Commander in the Shenandoah by Spencer Tucker.