Roswell S. Ripley (second view)

(March 14, 1823–March 26, 1887) When you can’t get along with Robert E. Lee, you’ve got problems. “For some unknown reason [Ripley] took a violent dislike to Lee,” writes Douglas Southall Freeman. “Ripley seldom got along with either his superiors or his subordinates,” adds Lawrence L. Hewitt. Even his recent biographer, Chet Bennett, acknowledges that Ripley had “problems with anger management.” Nevertheless, the contentious Ripley commanded the Department of South Carolina during August-November 1861, after his promotion to brigadier. He was in charge of a coastal district, December 1861-May 1862. After service with Lee’s army in Virginia, he returned to South Carolina in the fall of ’62, when he began serving in various district commands to the end of 1864. He surrendered with Joseph E. Johnston in North Carolina.

This is the caption as printed in 100 Significant Civil War Photographs: Charleston in the War. It has not yet been through this site’s research and fact-checking pass.