Rudolphus Cecil was a Richmond-born Virginian who was prepared at the Dickinson Grammar School for the year 1853-1854 and entered the College proper the following year with the class of 1858.  Cecil joined the Belles Lettres Society, but eventually withdrew from the College. He moved to Anne Arundel County, Maryland and became a farmer in Millersville. 

Cecil enlisted in the Maryland unit that eventually became Company K, First Virginia Cavalry of the Confederate States Army at Romney as a private on July 10, 1861.  A promotion to 3rd lieutenant came less than a year later on April 23, 1862.  Cecil was wounded in the left foot at Kennon’s Landing on May 24, 1864; the foot had to be amputated at a Richmond hospital, but Cecil nevertheless died of his wounds on June 22.  He was buried in the Hollywood Cemetery.

Cecil is believed to have been a favorite of General Fitzhugh Lee, as Lee often made special mention of Cecil's bravery in his official reports, remarking on his death that he was "an officer possessing a daring bravery I have rarely seen equaled."