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(1843 - 1871)
Home State: Mississippi
Education: Royal College of Surgeons (Dublin)
Branch of Service: Infantry
Before Sharpsburg
In 1860 he was a 17 year old living with his parents and siblings on their successful farm at Natchez, MS. He mustered as a Private in Company G, 12th Mississippi Infantry on 5 May 1861 in Corinth, MS.
On the Campaign
He was captured in action at Sharpsburg on 17 September 1862.
The rest of the War
He was a prisoner at Fort Delaware to 2 October then sent to Aiken's Landing, VA for exchange. He was declared exchanged to return to duty on 10 November 1862. He was appointed 4th Sergeant on 1 July 1863 and was captured again, on the Davis Farm/Weldon Railroad near Petersburg, VA on 21 August 1864 (along with his brother Cyrus). He was held at Point Lookout, MD until sent to Aiken's Landing on 17 March 1865 for exchange. There is no later military record.
After the War
He went to Ireland and was a student at the Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin. After graduation he returned to Mississippi, and by 1869 practiced medicine in Natchez. He was "murdered" on 13 October 1871 by neighbor Frank Dunn who "kept a negro mistress." Marsh had apparently confronted Dunn and the woman in their home demanding apologies for "insults" to Dr. Marsh's wife. When no apology came, March "finding no other redress proceeded to cowhide [beat/whip] the woman," and Dunn killed him with a shotgun.
References & notes
His service from his Compiled Military Service Records,1 online from fold3, as James J. Marsh. He was listed as missing at Sharpsburg on a casualty list in the New Orleans Times-Picayune of 29 October 1862. Personal details from family genealogists, the US Census of 1860, and pieces in the Natchez Democrat of 19 and 28 October 1871, quoted above. His gravesite is on Findagrave.
He married Mary Jane Pickett (1841-1935) in December 1870 and they had a son James, Jr. (1871-1935).
His brother Campbell Marsh (1832-1870) was a Lieutenant and brother Cyrus Marsh, Jr (1839-1869) was a Private, both also in Company G. Both Campbell and Cyrus also died young; Campbell, at least, also by violence.
Birth
05/18/1843; Natchez, MS
Death
10/13/1871; Tallula, MS; burial in Natchez City Cemetery, Natchez, MS
1 US War Department, Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers, Record Group No. 109 (War Department Collection of Confederate Records), Washington DC: US National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), 1903-1927 [AotW citation 29768]