Whakaotihia te rerenga e whai ake nei: I te tau tuarua o nga akoranga a Latimer, ka pakaru te Pakanga Tangata, a ka wehe atu a Latimer i te VMI ki te mahi ki te Southern Confederacy. I mahi tuatahi ia hei kaiako mo te Richmond Hampden Artillery i te puna me te raumati o te tau 1861. I te ngahuru, i whakawhiwhia ia hei rangatira tuatahi, a, i kite ia i te mahi me te wehenga a Maj. Gen. Richard S. Ewell i te pakanga o te raorao o Shenandoah o te tau 1862. I muri i tana whakatikatika i a ia anō ki ōna pū i ngā pakanga pēnei i
Ko Winchester tuatahi me Cedar Mountain, i whakatairangahia a Latimer ki te whakahau i te roopu i mua i a A. R. Courtney. I muri i tana whakahau i te ope i Fredericksburg i te marama o Tihema 1862, i whakatairangahia a Latimer ki te rangatira i te Maehe 1863. I kii a Ewell ki a ia ko te "Napoleon Rangatahi", engari ko ona hoa i kite i tona tamarikitanga me te iti, te ahua iti ma te karanga i a ia ko te "Boy Major". I noho ia hei rangatira i te Pirihimana o Major Richard Snowden Andrews o te Pirihimana a Major Gen. Edward "Allegheny" Johnson.