On July 12, 1861, Coleman enlisted as a private in Co. G of the 3rd VA Cavalry.He was captured on May 9, 1864 during the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House. He was sent to Bermuda Hundred, VA and transferred to Fort Monroe, VA on May 15, 1864, and then sent to the prison camp at Point Lookout, MD on May 16. On August 15, 1864, he was moved to the prison camp at Elmira, NY, where he remained until he was paroled on March 2, 1865 and sent to the James River for exchange. He was admitted to Jackson Hospital in Richmond, VA on March 6, 1865 for "debilitas" and furloughed two days later.
After the war, he taught school in Prince Edward County and read law. He returned home to Cumberland County, VA where he was practicing law in 1870, serving as the county's Commonwealth's Attorney, an office he held from 1870-1883 and in 1891 until he was appointed judge of the 3rd Circuit Court that same year. He served in Virginia's General Assembly from 1889-1890 and again from 1891-1892. Coleman died on May 1, 1898. His memorial by the Virginia State Bar Association states that "the dread disease contracted as a prisoner of war at Point Lookout finally overcame him." The nature of the illness is not stated.
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