Birkett D. Fry

Birkett Davenport Fry (June 24, 1822 – January 21, 1891) was an adventurer, soldier, lawyer, cotton manufacturer, and a Confederate general in the American Civil War. A survivor of four battle wounds, he commanded one of the lead brigades during Pickett's Charge at the Battle of Gettysburg.

Early life

Fry was born in Kanawha County, Virginia (now West Virginia). He received his education at Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, and attended the United States Military Academy, but did not graduate with the Class of 1846, having failed mathematics and being subsequently dismissed. He then returned to his native Virginia to study law. He resumed his interest in the military with the outbreak of the Mexican-American War, serving as a first lieutenant of voltigeurs (skirmishers).

Following the war, as with so many other adventurers, Fry moved to California as a "Forty-Niner." Fry hung out his shingle as a practicing lawyer in Sacramento City and was elected Justice of the Peace, Fourth Ward in 1852. In October 1856, he accompanied the filibusterer, William Walker, during his expedition to Nicaragua as a colonel (and later general) in Walker's mercenary army. Fry returned to California, living there until 1859 when he moved to Alabama and engaged in cotton manufacturing. Fry had married Martha MiCou, whose family were among the owners of the cotton mills in Tallassee, Alabama.