He was the son of John S. Barbour, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia's 15th congressional district, and his wife Ella A. Byrne, and had several siblings.

[6] Recent research questions whether Brown really attempted to steal the weapons to support a slave rebellion, considering that explanation Virginia slaveholder propaganda.

"[8] Despite the fiasco, voters from Jefferson County elected Barbour and fellow former delegate Logan Osburn to represent them in the Virginia Secession Convention of 1861.

[9] During the American Civil War, Barbour served in the Confederate States Army as a quartermaster, on the staff of Joseph E. Johnston as well as Leonidas Polk.

By December 1861, he had been promoted to quartermaster of all the Confederate armies, but complaints soon arose that he failed to settle accounts, gambled extensively and managed loosely.

[10] Major Barbour served in Meridian, Mississippi and by 1864 was demoted to assistant quartermaster in Montgomery, Alabama, where he remained after the war ended, although paroled in Greensboro.