The Men of Randolph-Macon College and the Civil War

In 1861, talk of secession transformed into armed conflict. Many of the men educated at Randolph-Macon College in the preceding 29 years immediately responded to the calls of their state militias to serve, while others later enlisted or were conscripted into the Confederate or Union armies. Others served in public office, or were ultimately drawn into the conflict in the last days in reserve units in local defense. These are their stories.

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Brigadier General Nathan George “Shanks” Evans, student, dates unknown

Born on February 6, 1824 in Marion County, South Carolina, Nathan George Evans attended Randolph-Macon College before he was eighteen. He graduated from West Point in 1848 with a lieutenancy in the U. S. 2nd Cavalry. Evans saw duty in the 1850s and earned notoriety as an Indian fighter. In 1860 Evans resigned his cavalry commission to enter Confederate service as a colonel. He is best known for the role he played at the Battle of Ball’s Bluff, but also saw action from Second Manassas to Petersburg. After the War, Evans became a high school teacher and died in 1868.