{⋆★⋆} BG Deshler, James

James Deshler

Born: February 18, 1833

Birthplace: Tuscumbia, Alabama
Brig. General James Deshler.jpg


Father: Major David Deshler 1798 – 1871
(Buried: Oakwood Cemetery, Tuscumbia, Alabama)​

Mother: Eleanor Taylor 1808 – 1854
(Buried: Oakwood Cemetery, Tuscumbia, Alabama)​

Wife: None

Education:

1854: Graduated from West Point Military Academy – (7th in class)​

Occupation before War:

1854 – 1855: 2nd Lt. 3rd United States Army Artillery​
1854: Frontier Duty at Benicia, California​
1855 – 1858: 2nd Lt. 10th United States Army Infantry​
1854 – 1855: Frontier Duty at Nome Lakeee Reserve, California​
1855: Garrison Duty at Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania​
1855: Served in the Sioux Expedition​
1855 – 1856: Frontier Duty at Fort Larramie, Dakota Territory​
1856: Frontier Duty at Platte Bridge, Nebraska​
1856 – 1857: Frontier Duty at Fort Snelling, Minnesota​
1857 – 1860: Served in the Utah Expedition​
1858 – 1861: 1st Lt. 10th United States Army Infantry​
1860: Frontier Duty at Fort Garland, Colorado​
1860 – 1861: Served on Detached Service from Army​
1861: Frontier Duty at Fort Wise, Colorado Territory​
1861: Dropped from the U.S. Army on July 15, 1861​

Civil War Career:

1861: Enlisted as Captain in the Confederate Army Artillery​
1861: Assistant to Brig. General Henry R. Jackson at Cheat Mountain​
1861: Wounded in thighs during the Battle of Allegheny Mountain​
1862 – 1863: Colonel and Staff officer to General Theophilus Holmes​
1863: Captured during the Battle of Fort Hindman​
1863: Brigadier General of Confederate Army Infantry​
1863: Killed during the Battle of Chickamuga​

Died: September 20, 1863

Place of Death: Chickamuga, Georgia

Cause of Death: Killed instantly due a shell thru his chest

Age at time of Death: 30 years old

Burial Place: Oakwood Cemetery, Tuscumbia, Alabama
 
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Bumping for Chickamauga.
We have an account of Deshler's death from Lt. Robert L. Collins, serving as a runner for Colonel Roger Q. Mills to report to Deshler about some tactical issue. Collins describes seeing Deshler, "On his hands and knees, as if trying to peer under the smoke". As Collins approached the general, Deshler was struck in the chest with a shell, killed instantly. Allegedly, the blast tore his heart from his chest. Deshler was buried on the battlefield, before his father disinterred his body and reinterned it in his hometown of Tuscumbia. Tuscumbia's only high school is named in the Brigadier's honor.
 
Bumping for Chickamauga.
We have an account of Deshler's death from Lt. Robert L. Collins, serving as a runner for Colonel Roger Q. Mills to report to Deshler about some tactical issue. Collins describes seeing Deshler, "On his hands and knees, as if trying to peer under the smoke". As Collins approached the general, Deshler was struck in the chest with a shell, killed instantly. Allegedly, the blast tore his heart from his chest. Deshler was buried on the battlefield, before his father disinterred his body and reinterned it in his hometown of Tuscumbia. Tuscumbia's only high school is named in the Brigadier's honor.
My grandmother, b. 1915, attended that high school, and was surprised in the mid-1980s when I mentioned off the cuff about Chickamauga that General Deshler was among the slain...
 
The Colonel who succeeded to command on Deshler's death was Col. Roger Q. Mills. Mills was later a U S Senator from Texas who filled the vacant seat of John H. Reagan in 1892. Reagan resigned his seat after being appointed as chairman of the Texas Railroad Commission.
 
Cleburne highly regarded his Brigade commander, Deshler.

After Deshler fell at Chickamauga, Cleburne wrote glowingly about Deshler in his Official Report later. Cleburne described Deshler as follows:

…"It was the first battle this gentleman (Deshler) had the honor of commanding as a general officer. He was a brave and efficient one. He brought always to the discharge of his duty a warm zeal and a high conscientiousness. The army and the country will long remember him."…
(OR: Vol. XXX, Part II, at page 156)

Get the impression that Deshler was the kind of Brigade leader, that most Division commanders would want in their organization.
 
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Cleburne highly regarded his Brigade commander, Deshler.

After Deshler fell at Chickamauga, Cleburne wrote glowingly about Deshler in his Official Report later. Cleburne described Deshler as follows:

…"It was the first battle this gentleman (Deshler) had the honor of commanding as a general officer. He was a brave and efficient one. He brought always to the discharge of his duty a warm zeal and a high conscientiousness. The army and the country will long remember him."…
(OR: Vol. XXX, Part II, at page 156)

Get the impression that Deshler was the kind of Brigade leader, that most Division commanders would want in their organization.
Deshler seemed to have been a generally well liked commander among the Texans.
 
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