| John Echols was born in Lynchburg, Virginia,
on March 20, 1823. After graduating from Washington College in Virginia, he
studied law at Harvard, and was admitted to the bar. He served as
commonwealth attorney, and as a Virginia state legislator.
Echols was a physically imposing man, at 6 feet, 4 inches
tall and 260 pounds. When Virginia seceded from the Union, Echols worked to
recruit volunteers in western Virginia. Appointed lieutenant colonel of the
27th Virginia, he led his regiment in the First Battle of Bull Run, joining
four other Virginia regiments in winning fame as the "Stonewall Brigade."
Echols took part in the Shenandoah Valley Campaign, and
was seriously wounded at Kernstown in March of 1862. On April 16, while
recuperating, he was commissioned a brigadier general. He took over a
brigade in the Army of Western Virginia, then became commander of the Army
of Southwest Virginia.
In the summer of 1863, he served on the court of inquiry
to examine the July surrender of Vicksburg, Mississippi. His troops were
defeated at Droop Mountain in November of 1863. After serving under Maj.
Gen. John C. Breckinridge at the Battle of Newmarket, he and his brigade
went east and fought at Cold Harbor.
He took command of the District of Southwest Virginia,
then took over Lt. Gen. Jubal A. Early's position as commander of the
Department of Western Virginia. On his way to east to join with Gen. Robert
E. Lee's army, he found out about the surrender at Appomattox. Marching to
North Carolina, he joined Gen. Joseph E. Johnston's army, then surrendered
in Augusta, Georgia.
After the Civil War, Echols went back to his legal
practice. He became a wealthy lawyer and businessman, involved in banking
and railroads. Echols died on May 24, 1896, in Staunton, Virginia.
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Echols was born in Lynchburg, Virginia,
and was educated at the Virginia Military Institute, Washington College and
Harvard College. Entering upon the practice of law at Staunton, he soon attained
distinction. A tall imposing man, standing 6 feet 4 inches tall, Echols quickly
became a leader among his peers. He played a prominent part in the Virginia
Secession Convention of 1861, and then offered his service to the state's army.
Commissioned as a lieutenant colonel, he was ordered by General Robert E. Lee to
call out and muster in the volunteer forces in the vicinity of Staunton for
Joseph E. Johnston's fledgling army.
Echols was then assigned command of the 27th Virginia
Infantry, leading the regiment in the fighting at the First Battle of
Manassas under Stonewall Jackson. He was soon promoted to colonel, serving
in the Valley Campaign. He was severely wounded on March 23, disabling him
for several weeks. Echols was promoted to brigadier general on April 16,
1862
during his convalescence. Later in the year, he was assigned to command a
brigade of the army of Western Virginia. He participated as a brigade commander
in William W. Loring's occupation of the Kanawha Valley in September. After
Loring withdrew to the mountains, Echols replaced him in command of the
Department of Western Virginia. He promptly reoccupied Charleston, but was
forced to retreat by a superior enemy force.
He resigned his departmental command in the spring
of 1863, and, during the following summer, served upon the three-man court of
inquiry held in Richmond to investigate the cause of the fall of Vicksburg.
Later in the year, he commanded the Confederate forces in the Battle of Droop
Mountain, stubbornly resisting a series of Federal attacks. In May 1864, he
commanded John C. Breckinridge's right wing at the Battle of New Market in the
Shenandoah Valley.
Echols' Brigade was recalled by Robert E.
Lee to rejoin the Army of Northern Virginia near Cold Harbor during the Siege of
Petersburg. On August 22, 1864, he was given charge of the District of
Southwestern Virginia, and on March 29, 1865, Echols was assigned command of the
western department of Virginia, relieving General Breckinridge, who had joined
the staff of President Jefferson Davis. On April 2, Echols, with nearly 7,000
men, began a hasty march to unite with Lee. He reached Christiansburg, Virginia,
on April 10, where he received a telegram announcing Lee's surrender at
Appomattox Courthouse. At a solemn council of war, Echols decided to march to
unite with Johnston's army, and Echols led two brigades southward towards North
Carolina. Subsequently, he accompanied President Davis to Augusta, Georgia.
After the war, Echols resumed his
Staunton law practice and was a member of the Virginia General Assembly. He
helped select the members of the Committee of Nine, a group of state leaders who
worked to ensure that the state be readmitted into the Union. He became
President of the Staunton National Valley Bank, and Receiver and General Manager
of the Chesapeake, Ohio & Southwestern Railroad, living in Kentucky the last ten
years of his life as he managed the railroad's affairs.
Echols was twice married, first to a
sister of Senator Allen T. Caperton of West Virginia, and, after her death, to
Mrs. Mary Cochrane Reid of New York. He died at the residence of his son, Edward
Echols (later lieutenant governor of Virginia), at Staunton, where he is buried
in Thornrose Cemetery.
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