William Addison Branch, student 1861-1863

Branch, son of long-time R-MC trustee Thomas Branch and brother of Thomas Plummer Branch and James Read Branch, enlisted as a private on September 1, 1863 in his brother James' company, the VA Branch Light Artillery, later to become Pegram's Co. VA Light Artillery. He was detailed as Acting Adjutant from Fall 1863 until Summer 1864, while his older brother James still commanded the company. He is listed on a roll of prisoners in Richmond, VA on April 17, 1865. Branch took the Oath of Allegiance in Richmond, VA on May 24, 1865.

Shortly after the war's end, he emigrated to California and became a rancher. Branch died November 16, 1880 in Modesto, CA and is buried in Blandford Cemetery in Petersburg, VA.