Joseph Brevard Kershaw (January 5, 1822 – April 13, 1894) was a lawyer, judge, and a Confederate general in the Civil War who commanded the 2nd South Carolina Infantry regiment at the beginning of the war, taking part in the First Battle of Bull Run. From there, Kershaw began to rise in command, eventually being commissioned a brigadier general on February 13, 1862 and commanding a brigade in Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia during the Peninsula Campaign. Kershaw continued to command a brigade at Fredericksburg and Gettysburg before going with the rest of General James Longstreet’s corps out west, fighting at Chickamauga and Knoxville.
Kershaw eventually commanded a division at the battles of the Wilderness, Spotsylvania Court House, and Cold Harbor, and was engaged in the Shenandoah campaign of 1864 against Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan. After the evacuation of Richmond, his troops formed part of Lt. Gen. Richard S. Ewell's corps, which was captured at the Battle of Sayler's Creek, April 6, 1865.
After the war, Kershaw wrote an account of his brigade’s role during the Gettysburg Campaign, most notably on Day 2 of the battle. Kershaw’s account became part of the well known Battles & Leaders of the Civil War series. This edition of Kershaw’s Brigade at Gettysburg is specially formatted with images of Kershaw, maps of the campaign, and pictures of other important commanders.
