James Patrick Major

United states army officer
The basics

Quick Facts

IntroUnited states army officer
PlacesUnited States of America
wasOfficer
Work fieldMilitary
Gender
Male
Birth14 May 1836, Fayette, Howard County, Missouri, U.S.A.
Death8 May 1877Austin, Travis County, Texas, U.S.A. (aged 41 years)
Star signTaurus
The details

Biography

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.

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.

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, Louisiana.

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