Robert E. Withers

Robert Enoch Withers (September 18, 1821 – September 21, 1907) was an American physician, military officer, newspaperman, politician diplomat, and Freemason. He fought against the United States in the American Civil War. He served as Lieutenant Governor of Virginia and represented Virginia in the United States Senate and served as U.S. Consul in Hong Kong.

Biography
Withers was born near Lynchburg, Virginia. He attended private schools and then graduated from the medical department of the University of Virginia in 1841. He commenced practice in Campbell County. In 1858, Withers moved to Danville, Virginia. While studying at university, Withers was inducted into the Freemasons, an organization he would remain with for life, specifically as a leader in the Knights Templar.

During the American Civil War, he entered the Confederate States Army in early 1861 as the major of the 18th Virginia Infantry Regiment. He was subsequently promoted to colonel of the regiment, which he commanded until he retired because of numerous disabling wounds. Withers then oversaw the Confederate military post at Danville, an administrative position he held until the Confederacy surrendered.

Following the war, Withers moved back to Lynchburg in 1866 and established the Lynchburg News, a daily paper devoted to the interests of the Conservative Party. He was nominated for Governor of Virginia by that party but withdrew from the race. He was a presidential elector on the Democratic ticket in 1872. He was elected the 11th Lieutenant Governor of Virginia in 1873. He was elected as a Democrat to the United States Senate and served from March 4, 1875, to March 4, 1881. He chaired the Committee on Pensions in the 46th Congress. Withers lost reelection in 1881 to William Mahone of the Readjuster Party.

President Grover Cleveland appointed Withers as the United States consul to British Hong Kong, from 1885–89, when he resigned. He returned to the United States and retired to Wytheville, Virginia. He wrote his autobiography, Memoirs of an Octogenarian during his retirement. He was a distant relative of figures such as George Washington and Robert E. Lee, as well as a direct descendant of Nicolas Martiau, founder of Yorktown, Virginia.

Withers was a slave owner.

Withers died at the "Ingleside" plantation in Wytheville on September 21, 1907. He was buried in the East End Cemetery.