Col. William Elisha Peters

Col. William Elisha Peters, 21st Virginia Cavalry, C.S.A., is buried in the cemetery to your left. He was born on August 28, 1829, in Bedford County, Virginia, attending New London Academy there, then entered Emory and Henry College in 1846, graduating in 1848. He taught at a private school in Lynchburg, Virginia, at the University of Virginia, and at Emory and Henry College. From 1856 to 1858, he studied ancient and modern languages in Berlin, Prussia, then returned to the college., On April 17, 1861, he enlisted as a private in the Smyth Dragoons (Co. A, 8th Virginia Cavalry) and was immediately elected lieutenant. He and his regiment joined Gen. John B. Floyd's brigade. He later became an infantry captain, was promoted to lieutenant colonel of the 45th Virginia Infantry, then became colonel of the 21st Virginia Cavalry. He fought in southwest Virginia, Georgia, and finally with the Army of Northern Virginia in its campaigns. During Gen. Jubal A. Early's raid into Maryland and Pennsylvania in the summer of 1864, his regiment was ordered to burn Chambersburg after the citizens failed to pay a ransom levied in retaliation for the burning of three Virginia houses by Federal troops. Peters refused to carry out his orders, however, because the town was filled with noncombatants. He was arrested but soon released., During the war, he was wounded three times. While convalescing at home in 1863, he was elected to the Senate of Virginia but soon resigned to return to the army. He surrendered with his command at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865. After the war, he taught Latin at the University of Virginia until 1900. He died on March 22, 1906. A new dormitory at the university, completed and occupied in 1929, was named for him.