James Erwin Lee

In 1860 he was a 28 year old mechanic in Dawson, Terrell County, GA. He enlisted as 3rd Sergeant of Company H, 13th Georgia Infantry on 12 August 1861 in Richmond, VA and was First Sergeant when he was elected Junior 2nd Lieutenant on 4 September (or 31 December) 1861.

He was elected (Senior) 2nd Lieutenant on 17 September 1862 but was wounded in action at Sharpsburg that date.

He was back on duty by December 1862 and was promoted to First Lieutenant on 14 March 1864. He was wounded again, on 12 May 1864 by a gunshot that broke his lower jaw, probably at Spotsylvania Court House, VA. He was afterward in hospitals in Charlottesville and Richmond, VA and in Macon, GA, and on furlough home to Dawson. He was retired to the Invalid Corps on 28 March 1865 and assigned to General Josiah Gorgas, CSA Chief of Ordnance in Richmond, VA.

In 1870 he was a planer in a (train) car shop in Dawson, GA and was "attending a mill" there in 1880. By 1900 he was County Messenger in Pasco County, FL, and in 1901 he had retired and was living with his youngest daughter Annie and her family in Dade, FL. He died in her home in 1917, age 85.

His service from Henderson,1 as James Erving Lee, and his Compiled Service Records,2 online from fold3, also as John Lee. Personal details from family genealogists, the US Census of 1860-1910, and his obituary in the Dade City Banner of 17 August 1917, [page 14] which also has him as James Ervin Lee. His gravesite is on Findagrave.

He married Sarah Cynthia Parker (1836-1897) in 1856 and they had 6 children. See a fine post-war photograph of James and Sarah over on the blog, thanks to Jessica Reedstrom.

04/04/1832; Covington, GA

08/13/1917; Dade City, FL; burial in Dade City Cemetery, Dade City, FL