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For a short time he was detached at the cavalry school at Carlisle; then was on frontier duty in Minnesota; marched with Albert Sidney Johnston to Utah in 1857, and in that territory served as lieutenant-colonel of the volunteer battalion until the close of 1858. He was on duty at Fort Laramie, Dakota., when he resigned in March, 1861, to enter the Confederate service. First commissioned major of infantry, C. S. A., he was promoted to brigadier-general, provisional army, in June, and given command of the Third brigade of the army of the Shenandoah, under Brig.-Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, whose other brigade commanders were Colonels Jackson, Bartow and Elzey. Bee's command was composed of the Second and Eleventh Mississippi, Sixth North Carolina and Fourth Alabama regiments, and Imboden's battery. After participating in the maneuvers in the valley against Patterson, his brigade was the first to reinforce Beauregard at Manassas Junction, arriving there on July 20th. He selected the position for the artillery on the morning of the 21st near the Henry house, almost simultaneously with the placing of Rickett's battery on the opposite hill, and ordered the opening of the artillery fire which checked the Federal advance and made the subsequent victory possible. He was the ranking officer on this part of the field during the early hours of battle, and supported Evans with his own and Bartow's brigades, while Jackson followed and took position on the line he had selected. Forced back by Federal reinforcements, he rallied his troops, and during the confusion shouted the historic words: "Look at Jackson's brigade. It stands there like a stone wall.” His gallant men soon reformed and drove the Federals from the Henry house plateau which they had gained, and soon afterward were in turn driven back by the enemy. In the second charge of the Confederates which swept the Federals from the disputed position, captured the Rickett and Griffin batteries, and won the day, General Bee fell mortally wounded near the Henry house, close to the spot where he gave his first orders for battle. He died the following morning, July 22, 1861, in the little cabin on the field where he had made his headquarters. The death of General Bee, in this first great battle of the war, caused universal mourning in the South. He was an officer of tried courage and capacity, and had the promise of a glorious career in the great struggle into which he had entered with such generous enthusiasm.