Captain Branson Elliot Coltrane

B.E .Coltrane was born February 18, 1834 in Grayson County, Virginia. He attended Hillsville Academy and graduated from V.M.I. in 1861. Coltrane was appointed 2nd Lieutenant in Company E of the 1st Virginia Battalion in May, 1861. He was promoted to 1st Lieutenant on October 11, 1862. In early 1863 Coltrane was Court Marshalled for allowing a prisoner to escape, but returned to command of his company in July, 1863. He was elected Captain of Company C of the 24th Virginai Infantry on December 16, 1864. Coltrane was captured at the Battle of Saylor's Creek in April, 1865 and sent to prison on Johnson's Island, Ohio. He was released on June 5. 1865 and returned to his home in Hillsville. After the war Coltrane was a farmer and manufacturer, living for a short time in Missouri before returning to Carroll County, Virginia. Coltrane died on August 20, 1883.

Photo: VMI Archive ca. 1861