Portal:American Civil War/Selected biography/46
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Henry Alexander Wise (December 3, 1806 – September 12, 1876) was an American statesman from Virginia. He served in the United States Congress from 1833 to 1844, and elected to Congress in as a Jacksonian Democrat, but broke with the Jackson administration, and became a Whig. In 1855, he was elected governor of Virginia, and Wise County, Virginia was named after him. One of his last official acts as Governor was to sign the death warrant of John Brown.
After Virginia's secession, Wise served as a Brigadier General in the Confederate Army. He commanded the District of Roanoke Island during the Battle of Roanoke Island. He commanded a brigade in the Army of Northern Virginia during the siege of Petersburg, and was promoted to the rank of Major General after the Battle of Sailor's Creek. He was with Robert E. Lee at Appomattox Court House, where he fought bravely but urged Lee to surrender. He was the brother-in-law of Union General George G. Meade.
