Charles Marshall was born on October 3, 1830, in Warrenton, Virginia, to Alexander John Marshall and Maria Rose Taylor. His father was a lawyer and businessman who helped arrange construction of the Rappahannock Canal. He grew up and attended school in Fauquier County, Virginia, before enrolling at the University of Virginia in 1844. He studied mathematics, chemistry, and natural philosophy. He graduated in 1848.

 

He worked as a professor of mathematics at Indiana University from 1850 until 1852. He settled in Baltimore, Maryland, around 1853 and established a legal practice. He married Emily Andrews in December 1856, and their daughter Emily was born around 1858. His wife died around 1858. Marshall worked as a lawyer in Baltimore, Maryland, and by 1860, he owned $5,000 of real estate and $7,000 of personal property.

 

Marshall sided with the Confederacy during the Civil War, and in March 1862, he became an aide-de-camp to General Robert E. Lee at the rank of captain. He remained with Lee for the rest of the war, and he earned promotions to major, lieutenant colonel, and colonel. He helped draft Lee’s dispatches and reports, and he was present when Lee surrendered at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865.

 

Marshall returned to Baltimore after the war and resumed his legal practice. He married Sarah Rebecca Snowden in December 1866, and they had at least six children: Hudson, born around 1870; James, born around 1871; Robert E. Lee, born around 1873; Harry, born around 1875; Katherine, born around 1879; and Charles, born around 1883. He took part in the dedication ceremonies for monuments to Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant. His health deteriorated in the early 1900s, and he died of a stroke in Baltimore on April 19, 1902.

 

Image: Charles Marshall (courtesy Wikicommons)

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