Tuhia tētahi tohutoro mō tēnei wāhanga - I whai wāhi a James Conner ki te whakaekenga o Fort Sumter hei rangatira o te Montgomery Guards, he rōpū hōia o South Carolina. I te tīmatanga o te Pakanga ā-Iwi, ka whakakahoretia e ia he whakataunga hei kaitohutohu rohe mo te Confederacy. Engari, ka noho ia hei rangatira i te Hampton Legion ka whawhai ia i te Pakanga o te First Bull Run (First Manassas), i te wa poto i te rangatira o te ope i muri i te whara o Colonel Wade Hampton. I te Hōngongoi 21, 1861, i tohua a Conner hei rangatira mo te Hampton's Legion. I muri i te Pakanga o te Pini e Whitu
i te wā o te pakanga o te Peninsula, i riro i a ia te mana o te 22nd North Carolina Volunteer Infantry Regiment. I te Pakanga o nga Ra e whitu, i whati tona waewae na te pupuhi pupuhi i te Pakanga o Gaines Mill. Whai muri i te rua-marama te wa whakaora, ka hoki mai ia ki te arahi i tana rerenga i te Pakanga o Chancellorsville me te Pakanga o Gettysburg.