Brig-General Ripley did just about anything a man of his time could do. He was a General in the southern CSA army, but that is just a piece. I have seen his grave site numerous times but never really researched him.

So…

• Born in Worthington, Ohio, moved to New York when young
• Attended West Point with  Ulysses S. Grant, William B. Franklin, Samuel G. French and Franklin Gardner.  Two served as prominent Generals in the Union Army, the other two Generals in the CSA.
• Served in the Mexican American War in most every important battle. He later wrote 2 volumes of well known history of the war.
• He was engaged in the Second Seminole War in Florida in 1849, where again he saw combat.
• Served the US Army in Charleston SC, marrying into the families of Charleston, and the USA, founders.
• From 1853–1854 he was the publisher of the Baltimore Daily American Times.
• He directed the bombardment of Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor on April 13, 1861 starting the US Civil War.
• After the war, Ripley went abroad and resided in England for over twenty years.
• In the late 1880’s he moved back to NYC where he died.
• In 1887 he was buried in the (old) Magnolia Cemetery in Charleston, South Carolina.

These are just the highlights of his life.

He lived, worked, and fought wars all around the world… in the 1800’s.

Magnolia Cemetery, Charleston, South Carolina.