garrison at Plymouth, and continued to be successful until the forces were recalled from New Bern, where they had gained possession of the outer works, to reinforce the army in Virginia. Subsequently he served at Weldon and Hick's Ford, in defense of the Weldon railroad, until after the evacuation of Richmond, when his command fell back to Warrenton. In the latter part of April he came to Petersburg and was paroled. He then embarked in business, in which he has subsequently continued, meeting with much success as the result of his commendable energy. In 1873. Mr. Kail was married to Miss Alice O. Mingee, of Petersburg, and they have five children: Katie Eva, Herbert Stanley, Lulu Cora, Willie C. and Frank L.
Colonel Robert G. H. Kean, of Lynchburg, Va., chief of the bureau of war of the Confederate States during a large part of the existence of that government, was born in Caroline county, Va., October 7, 1828. His grandfather, Andrew Kean, was a distinguished physician in his day and was offered by Mr. Jefferson the first chair in the medical department of the university of Virginia. The subject of this sketch was prepared for college at the Episcopal high school, under the charge of Rev. (afterward General) William N. Pendleton, and at the famous Concord academy, under the charge of Frederick Coleman. His reputation as a scholar dates from his early boyhood. In 1848 he entered the university of Virginia and there took successively the degrees of bachelor of arts, master of arts and bachelor of law. No student ever left the university more distinguished for scholarship than he. In the autumn of 1853 he settled at Lynchburg and began the practice of law, which he pursued with a success commensurate with his abilities and attainments until 1861, when he enlisted, in the Confederate army as a private in the Lynchburg company, Eleventh Virginia infantry. General Ewell thrice offered him a staff appointment, but Mr. Kean refused, saying: "If some men of our position do not remain in the ranks, how can we expect men who have less at stake to stand by us." It was while thus serving in the ranks that he was sent for by General Beauregard on the night preceding the day of the battle of Manassas, to take part in a council of war. Finally, in 1862, at the urgent insistence of his friend and connection. Gen. George W. Randolph, he accepted a position on his staff with the rank of captain, and on General Randolph's appointment as secretary of war, he was commissioned by President Davis, "Chief of the Bureau of War." This position he held until the close of the war. Upon the fall of the Confederacy he left Richmond with President Davis and his cabinet, and, stopping at Danville, opened the war office there for a few days, proceeding thence to Greensboro and Charlotte, N. C., where he, with other officials, was discharged from further duty. It is important to note here that the heads of the different departments were preparing to destroy their official records when Mr. Kean protested vigorously against it, taking the ground that they contained matter of history which would be invaluable in vindicating the South against any malignant or untruthful charge which might be made against her. His earnest protest prevailed, and thus, through his instrumentality, the truth of the history of the great struggle of the Confederacy is preserved in the "War
