James Patrick Major

James Patrick Major (May 14, 1836 – May 8, 1877) was a career U.S. Army officer and a Confederate brigadier general during the American Civil War.[1]

James Patrick Major
James Patrick Major
Born(1836-05-14)May 14, 1836
Fayette, Missouri
DiedMay 8, 1877(1877-05-08) (aged 40)
Austin, Texas
Place of burial
Donaldsonville, Louisiana
Allegiance United States of America
Confederate States of America
Service/branch United States Army
 Confederate States Army
Years of service1856 - 1861 (USA)
1861 - 1865 (CSA)
Rank Second Lieutenant (USA)
Brigadier General (CSA)
Battles/warsAmerican Civil War
*Battle of Wilson's Creek
*Vicksburg Campaign
*Red River Campaign
RelationsGovernor of Louisiana Paul Octave Hébert (brother-in-law)

US Cavalry service

Major graduated 23rd in his class at the United States Military Academy and became a second lieutenant in the United States Cavalry in July 1856. He served on the Texas frontier and participated in the Battle of Wichita Village against the Comanche in 1858.

Confederate States Army

Major resigned from the U. S. Army on March 21, 1861, and joined the Missouri State Guard as a lieutenant colonel. He fought in the Battle of Wilson's Creek on August 10, 1861. He was an acting commander in Earl Van Dorn's artillery during the Siege of Vicksburg. He was transferred to the trans-Mississippi theater and promoted to brigadier general in July 1863 and commanded a cavalry division in the Red River Campaign.

In 1864, he fought at both Mansfield and Pleasant Hill in De Soto Parish and with General Hamilton P. Bee at Monett's Ferry in Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana.[2]

Post war

After the war, Major went to France and then returned to Louisiana and later to Texas where he died on May 8, 1877. He is buried in Donaldsonville, Ascension Parish, Louisiana in an ornate tomb in the Ascension of our Lord Catholic Church Cemetery.

See also

Notes
  1. "MAJOR, JAMES PATRICK (1836-1877)". The Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved 2008-12-12.
  2. John D. Winters, The Civil War in Louisiana, Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1963, ISBN 0-8071-0834-0, pp. 340-347; 349-355, 362-363

References
  • Eicher, John H., and David J. Eicher, Civil War High Commands. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2001. ISBN 978-0-8047-3641-1.
  • Sifakis, Stewart. Who Was Who in the Civil War. New York: Facts On File, 1988. ISBN 978-0-8160-1055-4.
  • Warner, Ezra J. Generals in Gray: Lives of the Confederate Commanders. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1959. ISBN 978-0-8071-0823-9.
  • Winters, John D. The Civil War in Louisiana. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1963. ISBN 978-0-8071-0834-5.
  • "MAJOR, JAMES PATRICK (1836-1877)". The Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved 2008-12-12.
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