James Marion Russell was born
in 1835 and died 3 October 1863, at the age of 27. His wife also died in
1863 leaving their children as orphans. The orphaned children were farmed
out to various relatives and grew up as “poor relation”. None
of the children amounted to much as adults. They really did not have a
chance.
James Marion Russell was
drafted into the Confederate Army—14th Regiment, Arkansas
Infantry---much against his wishes. He did not want to leave his wife and
children to shift for themselves while he went to fight a war he did not
believe in. Family history, as it has been handed down from generation to
generation, tells the story of how the officials came to James’s home, drafted
James Marion and forced him to come with them. James was told to shut up
and “don’t look back” at what he was leaving behind.
Thusly did James Marion became a soldier in the Confederate Army.
Shortly before James Marion
was drafted, he had “proved up” on his 160 acres of homesteaded
land. His land patent was signed by President James Buchanan on February
1, 1860. Three years, seven months, and two days later James lay dead on
a battlefield in Corinth Mississippi. The whereabouts of his grave is
unknown. An estimated 7,197 American soldiers were left dead when the
Battle or Corinth was finally over. It is most likely that James
Marion’s final resting place was in a huge mass grave along with hundreds
of his fellow soldiers.
James Marion actually fought
in only one battle before he died. On September 19, 1862, he survived the
Civil War battle at Iuka, Mississippi. James contracted yellow fever at
some point between September 19, 1862 and October 3, 1862, and died of yellow
fever complications while the Battle of Corinth Mississippi raged around
him. James Marion Russell held the rank of corporal at the time of his
death.
Bless you and may you rest in
peace, Great-Great Grandpa James Marion Russell.
