Cary Breckinridge was a Confederate cavalry officer during the American Civil War (1861–1865), who suffered five wounds, including at the Second Battle of Manassas (1862), reportedly had five horses shot from under him, and was captured and briefly imprisoned in the Old Capitol Prison in Washington, D.C. Following the war, Breckinridge farmed, possibly worked in banking, and served in the House of Delegates (1869–1871). Physically imposing and from a prominent family, Breckinridge remained active in Conservative Party and Democratic Party politics and served as the superintendent of public schools for Botetourt County from 1886 until 1917. He died in 1918 at his home in Fincastle.
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