Whakaotihia te rerenga e whai ake nei: I uru a Branch ki te ope taua, i te marama o Mei 1861, hei tangata takitahi i roto i nga Raleigh Rifles. I muri mai i taua marama i whakaae ia ki te tari o te kawanatanga o te kawanatanga, engari i whakarerea e ia mo te mahi i te mara. I te marama o Hepetema i pootihia ia hei koroneela o te 33 o North Carolina. I tohua ia hei rangatira rangatira i te marama o Hanuere 1862. Whai muri i te Pakanga o New Bern, i whakauruhia tana parirau ki te wehenga a A.P. Hill o Stonewall Jackson's Corps. Ko ia te hōia o te pirihimana i te wehenga a Hill. I whawhai a Branch i te Pakanga o Hanover Courthouse, i nga Pakanga o nga Ra e whitu, i Cedar Mountain, i Manassas Tuarua,
Ko Chantilly, ko Harper's Ferry