James A Tait

Home State: District Of Columbia
Command Billet: Commanding Regiment
Branch of Service: Infantry
Unit: 1st District of Columbia Infantry

Before the Antietam Campaign:
In 1852 he was Adjutant of a DC militia regiment. In 1853 he was listed as a Canal Commissioner and resident of the Capitol Hill area of Washiington DC.

He was in command of the 1st District of Columbia Infantry on the Valley Campaign of the Spring of 1862, and on the 2nd Manassas Campaign in July and August 1862.

In the Antietam Campaign:
General Greene, in his official report on the battle, noted that all of the 1st DC Infantry were absent - sick or deserters - except the adjutant and the Colonel.

The remainder of the War:
While serving as Provost Marshal General of Defenses South of the Potomac in February 1863 he was tried by Court Martial for allowing contraband to pass to the Confederacy. He was acquitted by the Court, but the verdict was disapproved by his Department Commander, MGen. Heintzleman, and forwarded to President Lincoln for action. At the President's direction, Tait was dismissed from the Service on 21 September 1863.

After the War:
He was commissioned a notary public in Washington DC in 1880. In 1907 his residence at 1709 P Street NW was damaged by a fire.

References, Sources, and other notes:
Source: The The Washington and Georgetown Directory, Compiled and Published by Alfred Hunter, 1853 - transcribed and posted online at RootsWeb by Kelly Mullins. Trial results in War Department General Order Number 327 of 28 September 1863.

Birth State: AL

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