BORN: 1802 in Culpepper County, VA.
DIED: 1888 in Baltimore, MD.
CAMPAIGNS: Shenandoah Valley (1862), Seven Days, Cedar Mountain,
Second Bull Run, Gettysburg, and Pickett's Charge.
HIGHEST RANK ACHIEVED: Major General
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Isaac Ridgeway Trimble was born in Culpeper , Virginia, on May 15, 1802. Graduating from West Point in 1822, he served in ordnance and topographical duties until 1832, when he resigned. Trimble spent the next 29 years as chief engineer and superintendent for several railroads in the East and South. He adopted Maryland as his home state and the Confederacy as his cause. When the Civil War began, he burned bridges north of Baltimore to impede the progress of Union troops. Commissioned Confederate colonel of engineers in Virginia's forces in May of 1861, he helped build the defenses at Norfolk, Virginia. On August 9, 1861, he was appointed brigadier general; and was given command of a brigade in Maj. Gen. Richards S. Ewell's division. Trimble fought well in the 1862 Shenandoah Valley Campaign, in the Seven Days' campaign and at Cedar Mountain. He was so severely wounded at the Second Battle of Bull Run that he had to stay out of the war for almost a year. He served as a volunteer aide to Ewell at Gettysburg, and then led a division later in the battle and commanded troops in Pickett's Charge. Wounded and captured in the battle, his leg had to be amputated. He was not exchanged until February 1865, after which he did not rejoin the army, although he was promoted to major general to rank from January 17, 1863. After the Civil War ended, Trimble moved to Baltimore, Maryland and worked as a consulting engineer. Trimble died in Baltimore on January 2, 1888.
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