Armistead, known to friends as "Lo" (for
Lothario), was born in the home of his great-grandfather, John Wright Stanly, in
New Bern, North Carolina, to
Walker Keith Armistead and Elizabeth Stanly. He came from an esteemed military family. Armistead was of entirely English descent, and all of his ancestry had been in Virginia since the early 1600s. The first of his ancestors to emigrate to North America was William Armistead from
Yorkshire, England. Armistead's father was one of five brothers who fought in the
War of 1812; another was Major
George Armistead, the commander of
Fort McHenry during the
battle that inspired
Francis Scott Key to write "
The Star-Spangled Banner", which would later become the national anthem of the United States. On his mother's side, his grandfather
John Stanly was a
U.S. Congressman, and his uncle
Edward Stanly served as military governor of eastern North Carolina during the Civil War. Armistead attended the
United States Military Academy, joining in 1833 but resigning the same year. He rejoined in 1834 but was found deficient and had to repeat his class once more. In 1836 he resigned again following an incident in which he broke a plate over the head of fellow cadet (and future Confederate general)
Jubal Early. He was also having academic difficulties, however, particularly in French (a subject of difficulty for many West Point cadets of that era), and some historians cite academic failure as his true reason for leaving the academy. His influential father managed to obtain for his son a
second lieutenant's commission in the 6th U.S. Infantry on July 10, 1839, at roughly the time his classmates graduated. He was promoted to first lieutenant on March 30, 1844. Armistead's first marriage was to Cecelia Lee Love, a distant cousin of
Robert E. Lee, in 1844. They had two children: Walker Keith Armistead and Flora Lee Armistead. Armistead then served in
Fort Towson, Oklahoma and
Fort Washita near the Oklahoma border. Serving in the
Mexican War, he was appointed
brevet captain for
Contreras and
Churubusco, wounded at
Chapultepec, and was appointed a brevet
major for
Molino del Rey and Chapultepec. His second wife, Cornelia Taliaferro Jamison, died on August 3, 1855, at
Fort Riley, Kansas, during a
cholera epidemic. Between 1855 and 1858 Armistead served at posts on the
Smoky Hill River in
Kansas Territory,
Bent's Fort,
Pole Creek,
Laramie River, and
Republican Fork of the Kansas River in
Nebraska Territory. In 1858, his
6th Infantry Regiment was sent as part of the reinforcements sent to
Utah in the aftermath of the
Utah War. Not being required there, they were sent to California with the intention of sending them on to
Washington Territory. However, a
Mohave attack on civilians on the
Beale Wagon Road diverted his regiment to the southern deserts along the
Colorado River to participate in the
Mojave Expedition of 1858–59. Lt. Col.
William Hoffman, at the head of a column of six companies of infantry, two of dragoons, and some artillery, struggled up the Colorado River from Fort Yuma. On April 23, 1859, Colonel Hoffman dictated a peace to the overawed Mohave chiefs, threatening annihilation to the tribe if they did not cease hostilities, make no opposition to the establishment of posts and roads through their country, and allow travel free from their harassment. Hoffman also took some of their leading men or family members hostage. Afterward he left for
San Bernardino, taking most of his force with him; others went down river by steamboat or overland to Fort Tejon. Captain Armistead was left with two infantry companies and the column's artillery to garrison Hoffman's encampment at Beale's Crossing on the east bank of the Colorado River, Camp Colorado. Armistead renamed the post
Fort Mojave. In late June 1859 the Mohave hostages escaped from Fort Yuma. Trouble broke out with the Mohave a few weeks later when they stole stock from a mail station that had been established two miles south of Fort Mojave, and attacked it. Mohaves tore up melons planted by the soldiers near the fort, and the soldiers shot a Mohave who was working in a garden. Eventually after a few weeks of aggressive patrolling and skirmishes, Armistead attacked the Mohave who returned fire in a battle between about 50 soldiers and 200 Mohave, resulting in three soldiers wounded. Twenty-three Mohave bodies were found but more were killed and wounded and removed by the Mohave. Following this defeat, the Mohave made a peace, which they kept from then on. ==Civil War==