Archer, Fletcher Harris

Soldier and lawyer of Petersburg, Va.

Petersburg, Va., lawyer. Archer was a student at the University of Virginia and served as a captain during the Mexican War and a colonel in the Confederate Army.

Fletcher Harris Archer was born 6 February 1817 in Petersburg, Virginia, to Allen Archer and Prudence Whitworth Archer. He attended schools in Petersburg, then the University of Virginia, from where he graduated in 1841. Archer returned to Petersburg and began his law career. Captain of the 7th Company, 39th Virginia Militia, he raised a company for service during the Mexican war. His company went to Mexico in 1847 and served under General Zachary Taylor (1784-1850) until the end of the war. When Virginia seceded in 1861, Archer raised a company named "Archer Rifles," part of the 12th Virginia Infantry. Archer was promoted to lieutenant colonel in the army before retiring in May 1862. In 1864, Archer became a major in the Virginia Reserves during the Petersburg campaign. His reserve battalion was responsible for helping prevent the Union's capture of Petersburg in June 1864. Archer remained with the Confederate army until its surrender in 1865, and he returned to Petersburg to resume his law career. Archer served as mayor of Petersburg from 1882 to 1883. He married first Eliza Ann Eppes Allen (d. 1851) and they had 1 daughter. He married Martha Georgianna Morton Barksdale 31 March 1863, and they had no children. Archer died 21 August 1902 in Petersburg, and was buried in Blandford Cemetery.