Junius Daniel served as colonel of the Fourteenth Regiment North Carolina Troops (Fourth Regiment North Carolina Volunteers). Promoted to brigadier general in September 1862, Daniel fought with distinction at Gettysburg in 1863 and at the Wilderness in early May 1864. He used this watch, a gift from his wife Ellen, to count the number of Union artillery shells per minute fired on his position at Spotsylvania Courthouse. He was mortally wounded at Spotsylvania Courthouse on the morning of May 12, 1864, and died the following day.