James William Wilson

In 1860 he was a prosperous 26 year old farmer living with his wife, small son, and widowed mother Agnes at Waterloo, Lauderdale County, AL. He enlisted there on 27 May 1861 as a Private in Captain I.B. Houston's Company - the Lauderdale Rifles - later Company D of the 9th Alabama Infantry. He was elected 3rd Lieutenant on 11 September and promoted to 2nd Lieutenant 27 March 1862. He was in action at Yorktown in April, Williamsburg in May, and was slightly wounded at Gaines Mill on 27 June, afterward on furlough to recover. He returned to the regiment in time to be present at the 2nd Battle of Manassas on 30 August.

He was mortally wounded in action while serving as Adjutant of his regiment at Sharpsburg on 17 September 1862, and probably captured there.

He died on 22 September 1862, probably at a field hospital on or near the battlefield. His widow Sarah Ann filed a claim for his final pay on 29 May 1863.

His service from the Alabama Archives,1 which says he was a merchant at the time of his enlistment, and his Compiled Service Records,2 online from fold3. Personal details from family genealogists and the US Census of 1860. His memorial is on Findagrave; he may be buried in Washington Confederate Cemetery, Hagerstown, MD, but he's not listed there by name. Thanks to descendant Dana Wilson Gibbs for the nudge to look further into Lieutenant Wilson.

He married Sarah Ann Wright (later Houston, 1839-1897) in December 1855 and they had a son Thomas Jefferson Wilson (1857-1942).

06/05/1832 in AL

09/22/1862; Sharpsburg, MD