James Y. McDuffie

He was a member of the Georgia General Assembly from Irwin County in 1839-40. In March 1859, then living in California and a United States Marshal, he was appointed by President Buchanan as Superintendent of Indian Affairs for California with headquarters at San Francisco. He served as such to July 1860, when the Superintendency was divided into Northern and Southern Districts; McDuffie assigned to the Southern one. He was no longer in that office by the Spring of 1861.

He enrolled in Irwin County, GA on 27 August 1861 and was commissioned Captain of Company A, 7th Georgia Battalion Infantry. He was in command (detached/detailed?) of the "Jekyl Battery" of 32-pounders in the defenses of Brunswick, GA in November 1861, but afterward back with the Battalion.

The Battalion was expanded to become the 61st Georgia Infantry in May 1862 and he was appointed Lieutenant Colonel on 31 May.

He was wounded in action at Sharpsburg on 17 September 1862.

He was certified as disabled for field service due to severe asthma attacks and resigned his commission on 25 October 1862. He died the following year, cause not known.

His service from the Roster 1 and his Compiled Service Records,2 via fold3. His prewar occupations from Georgia's Official Register (1925), the Report of the Secretary of the Interior and other items in the Documents of the US Senate (1860, 1862), and a mention in the Sacramento Daily Union of 3 December 1863 [online], with details from Albin W. Hoopes' Indian Affairs and Their Administration (1932). Personal details from family genealogists, at least one of whom has his birth as early as 1802.

See a historical marker noting the location of the 1862 Confederate artillery battery on Jekyll Island, GA.

c. 1820; Wilcox County, GA

1863; Irwin County, GA