J.W. Britt

Federal (USV)

Captain

James Wallace Britt

(1838 - 1897)

Home State: New York

Branch of Service: Infantry

Unit: 57th New York Infantry

Before Antietam

He was 23 years old when he mustered as Captain, Company D, 57th New York Infantry on 12 November 1861.

On the Campaign

He was wounded in action on 17 September 1862, suffering a contusion of the skull, but did not leave his Company for treatment until after the battle. He was mentioned for his performance by Major Chapman in his after-action Report.

The rest of the War

Wounded on 13 December 1862 at Fredericksburg, VA. Wounded again 2 May 1863 at Chancellorsville, VA. Promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel on 6 May 1864, and Colonel 27 July 1864, but not mustered at that rank. He mustered out 5 January 1865. He was honored by brevet to Brigadier General, US Volunteers on 13 March 1865.

After the War

He was was living in Newark, NJ at the 1890 Veterans Census.

References & notes

Basic information from State of New York1. Thanks to Devan Sommerville for scrubbing through the Report and extracting and transcribing the roster data for AotW. Casualty detail from Nelson.2 The photograph here from a CDV posted by Sue Greenhagen on her New York State and the Civil War.

Birth

05/24/1838; Montreal, CANADA

Death

05/08/1897; New York, NY; burial in Notre-Dame-des-Neiges Cemetery Montreal, Quebec, CANADA

Notes

1 State of New York, Adjutant-General, Annual Report of the Adjutant General of the State of New York [year]: Registers of the [units], 43 Volumes, Albany: James B. Lyon, State Printer, 1893-1905, Issue 26 (for 1900) [AotW citation 7765]

2 Nelson, John H., As Grain Falls Before the Reaper: The Federal Hospital Sites and Identified Federal Casualties at Antietam, Hagerstown: John H. Nelson, 2004, pg. 142 [AotW citation 16601]

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