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Brigadier General Montgomery D. Corse, CSA (Historical Marker)

GPS Coordinates: 38.803618, -77.045332

Brigadier General Montgomery D. Corse, CSA (Historical Marker)

Here follows the inscription written on this roadside historical marker:

Brigadier General
Montgomery D. Corse, CSA
Born here in 1816,
died Alexandria 1895.
Volunteer, Mexican War 1846-1848.
Prospector in California,
Commander, 17th Virginia
Infantry Regiment, CSA.
Post-war civic leader and banker.
Buried nearby in
St. Paul's Cemetery. Erected by Samuel Cooper Chapter,
Military Order of the Stars and Bars.
June 1999

More about this marker. In 1889, General Corse was a guest at the dedication of the Confederate monument at the intersection of Prince and S. Washington Streets, not far from where he was born.


Birth
03/14/1816; Alexandria, VA

Death
02/11/1895; Alexandria, VA; burial in Saint Paul's Cemetery, Alexandria, VA

Before Sharpsburg
In 1846, he mustered a company of volunteers for service in Mexico, serving as their captain. He sailed for California in 1849 and participated in the Gold Rush and returned permanently to Alexandria in 1856. He served as First Lieutenant of the Alexandria Home Guard in 1859 and was elected Captain of the Old Dominion Rifles on 7 January 1861

At the outbreak of the Civil War, he was commissioned Colonel of the 17th Virginia Infantry, and took part in the major battles of the Army of Northern Virginia. He was wounded at Second Manassas.

On the Campaign
He commanded the regiment in Maryland until he as wounded in action at Sharpsburg on 17 September 1862 and succeeded in command by Major Herbert.

The rest of the War
He was promoted to Brigadier General after Sharpsburg, and he and his brigade were on detached service in the Blackwater River area southeast of Petersburg. After attempting to retake New Bern, NC, the brigade returned to Howlett's Line, between Petersburg and Richmond, where he was wounded for the third time. At the battle of Saylor's Creek, Corse was captured and held prisoner-of-war at Fort Warren, Boston, Massachusetts until 24 July 1865.

After the War
After returning to Alexandria, he went into a trading business with his brother and was a charter member of the R.E. Lee Camp, United Confederate Veterans. He donated his $8.00 monthly pension from the Mexican War to the cost of the Confederate Monument and thereby claimed that the Yankee government had a hand in paying for the memorial to Alexandria's fallen Confederates. Corse was honored at the dedication of the Monument at South Washington and Prince Streets in 1889.

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