Kirkpatrick, James J., 1839-1924

Born in Pennsylvania, James J. Kirkpatrick (1839-1924) graduated from Washington and Lee College in 1859 before moving to Missouri to study law. The next year he moved to Mississippi, where he taught school until joining the 16th Mississippi Infantry Regiment at the outbreak of the Civil War. He fought in numerous important battles, such as the Second Battle of Bull Run, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, and the Wilderness. During the Siege of Petersburg, Kirkpatrick was in the vicinity of the mine blown by Union forces and was subsequently captured. After the war he returned to Mississippi and became a successful cotton planter until returning to Missouri to farm.

From the guide to the Kirkpatrick, James J. Diary, 1861-1864, (Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin)

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