Rubuta ci gaba ga wannan sakin layi - A cikin Janairu 1861, ya yi murabus a matsayin kyaftin din a cikin Rundunar Sojojin Amurka ta 10 don karɓar Lieutenant Colonel na Augusta Volunteer Battalion. Ba da daɗewa ba ya yi murabus daga wannan matsayi don zama babban jami'in Georgia na farko. A watan Yuni, shi ne Lieutenant Colonel na 10th Georgia Infantry Regiment da kuma watanni hudu bayan haka ya zama colonel, ya yi nasara da Lafayette McLaws. Ya yi aiki tare da bambanci a lokacin Kamfen na Peninsula na 1862, ciki har da Battle of Yorktown, Battle of Savage's Station
, da kuma yakin Malvern Hill, inda ya ji rauni. Ayyukansa ya ba shi umurni na wucin gadi na brigade na Alabama kafin yakin Maryland saboda rashin lafiyar Brigadier Janar Cadmus M. Wilcox.