{⋆★⋆} BG Chalmers, James R.

James Ronald Chalmers​

Born: January 11, 1831

Birthplace: Halifax County, Virginia

Father: Senator Joseph Williams Chalmers 1806 – 1853

(Buried: Hill Crest Cemetery, Holly Springs, Mississippi)​

Mother: Frances "Fanny" M. Henderson 1813 – 1845

(Buried: Hill Crest Cemetery, Holly Springs, Mississippi)​

Wife: Rebecca Arthur 1833 – 1899

(Buried: Elmwood Cemetery, Memphis, Tennessee)​

Children:

Susan Arthur Chalmers 1855 – 1856​

(Buried: Hill Crest Cemetery, Holly Springs, Mississippi)​

​

Kate Henderson Chalmers Rogers 1857 – 1944​

(Buried: Elmwood Cemetery, Memphis, Tennessee)

Education:

1851: Graduated from South Carolina College​

Occupation before War:

Attorney in Holly Springs, Mississippi​

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District Attorney in Holly Springs, Mississippi​

Civil War Career:

1861: Delegate to Mississippi State Secession Convention​

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1861 – 1862: Colonel of 9th​ Mississippi Infantry Regiment​

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1862 – 1865: Brigadier General of Confederate Army Cavalry

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1862: Brigade Commander during the Battle of Shiloh, Tennessee​

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1862: Brigade Commander during the Battle of Murfreesboro, Tennessee​

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1862: Wounded during the Battle of Murfreesboro, Tennessee​

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1863: Commander of Fifth Military District of the Dept. of Mississippi & East Tennessee​

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1863: Temporarily disabled during Battle of Collierville, Tennessee​

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1864: Participated in the Battle of Fort Pillow, Tennessee​

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1864: Participated in the campaigns in North Mississippi & Tennessee​

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1864: Participated in the Battle of Franklin, Tennessee

Occupation after War:

1876 – 1877: Mississippi State Senator​

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1877 – 1882: United States Representative from Mississippi​

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1884 – 1885: United States Representative from Mississippi​

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1885 – 1898: Attorney in Memphis, Tennessee​

Died: April 9, 1898

Place of Death: Memphis, Tennessee

Age at time of Death: 67 years old

Cause of Death: Malaria

Burial Place: Elmwood Cemetery, Memphis, Tennessee (April 10, 1898)

 

[Rtutor75]

Mississippi 7th Cavalry......Looking for information about this unit. I believe it was originally Faulkners brigade. My ggggreat grandfather was supposed to be in this unit.

 

[diane]

Mississippi 7th Cavalry......Looking for information about this unit. I believe it was originally Faulkners brigade. My ggggreat grandfather was supposed to be in this unit.

Yes, Falkner was one of the colonels. They were also known as the 1st Partisans. Think @Ole Miss , @7th Mississippi Infantry might be able to help! They were primarily in Mississippi, and notably at Collierville under Chalmers.

 

[Pollaco]

The first half of the war he commanded infantry then in 1863 then went on to command a Cavalry unit. Then again in 1864 he became one of Forrest's Calvary Commanders.

 

[7th Mississippi Infantry]

Yes, Falkner was one of the colonels. They were also known as the 1st Partisans. Think @Ole Miss , @7th Mississippi Infantry might be able to help! They were primarily in Mississippi, and notably at Collierville under Chalmers.

Yeah, he is indeed an interesting character.
More about him here:

MWP: William Clark Falkner (1826-1889)

Information about writer William Clark Falkner, including a biographical and critical article, a list of published works, and other information resources.

mwp.olemiss.edu

It's an outdated site with many broken links, but still is a reliable source with basic information.

 

[7th Mississippi Infantry]

He does have an impressive grave:

William Clark Falkner, Ripley, Mississippi

Statue on the grave of the "Old Colonel," William Clark Falkner, in Ripley, Mississippi. Falkner was the great-grandfather of Nobel Prize-winning novelist William Faulkner. He was himself a best-selling novelist, of The White Rose of Memphis; as a boy, his more famous great-grandson reportedly...

www.flickr.com

 

[DixieRifles]

Thistledome was the home of General James R. Chalmers. His father, Joseph W. Chalmers, moved to Marshall County, MS, in 1839 and this home was built in 1840. General James Chalmers lived in this house during the Civil War. It is located in Byhalia on Hiway 309, just South of the RailRoad and Church Street.

The house was owned by several families and was left "abandoned" for 30 years. Restoration began in the 1990's or so. One story is that one of the owners in 1904 period decided they didn't like the house facing North towards a garbage dump so they rotated the house to face East. {Edited to add} A cistern is located under the floor in the center of the house. They rotated the house around this cistern.

There are some changes from the original. The large single columns on each side of the entrance was originally 2 columns on each side. Much of it has been restored. The Federal Doors are original with the original arched glass with 66 panes---one for each book of the Bible.
{Edited to add}
While restoring it they found graves of 3 infants buried under the house. As you enter the front door, you are in what I call a foyer with rooms to each side. Proceed into next room that has the stair case, you immediately stand on a section of the floor that has been cut out. This is where they found the headstones of three of the Chalmers' children who died of yellow fever during the winter. They still have one of the small headstones on display.

There have been some research and digs in the area and some of the items are on display. This display shows a photo of the older James Chalmers along with a bugle(right) and artillery shot and a powder can dated ~1853. On the far left is part of a flour shifter.

Most people are familiar with the photo of the General Chalmers(off to the left edge of the above photo). It is seen on the wikipedia article. The owner has another photo of General Chalmers which was said to have been taken 2 years earlier in 1861. This doesn't even look like the same man.

The new owner began using it for special events. I was surprised to discover that now he has it open for breakfast and dinner for the public with limited menu items. He runs a coffee shop, also.

So drop by Byhalia and grab a cup of coffee and a cinnamon roll.
By-L-Yeah!!!

 

[7th Mississippi Infantry]

So drop by Byhalia and grab a cup of coffee and a cinnamon roll.
By-L-Yeah!!!

That sounds like a plan !

I know a little about General James R. Chalmers as he was the brigade commander of my Uncles in the 7th Mississippi
( Army of Tennessee).

For years I thought his Father established the Chalmer's Institute in Holly Springs, Mississippi.
( Actually a small college up there) :

" it became the University of Holly Springs—the first university in Mississippi. The university only operated until 1839, however. The Methodist Church bought it and opened a law and medical school, which operated until 1843. The building remained vacant until a Presbyterian minister named Rev. Sam McKinney, who was born in Ireland, established the Chalmers Institute. It was named after a Scottish Presbyterian minister named Thomas Chalmers."

Chalmers Institute - Clio

The Chalmers Institute building has significant historical connections to the city. It was once the home of four schools in Holly Springs: Holly Springs Literary Institute (a boy's school), the University of Holly Springs, a Methodist law and medical school, and another boy's school called the...

theclio.com

I was wrong.

But there must be a connection between this Scottish minister and the established Chalmer's family.
Holly Springs during the 1830's & early 1840's was still basically wilderness.

 

[DixieRifles]

For years I thought his Father established the Chalmer's Institute in Holly Springs, Mississippi.

You or someone posted about that. Maybe I saw it on FB. I want to go check it out.

 

[Pollaco]

Chalmers was reelected in 1880 but the election was contested by his opponent, John R. Lynch. The seat was awarded to Lynch mainly due to Election fraud.Lynch had been the first Black Speaker of the House in the Mississippi House of Representatives, Plus the first Black speaker in any House.

 

[7th Mississippi Infantry]

John R. Lynch was a very interesting man.

He's worthy of his own thread.

 

[DixieRifles]

Yes, Falkner was one of the colonels. They were also known as the 1st Partisans. . . . . They were primarily in Mississippi, and notably at Collierville under Chalmers.

Falkner and his regiment did not serve in General Chalmers' cavalry Division in late 1863. There is a 7th Mississippi Cavalry lead by Major James Park listed in one org table but not later. I will have to check if they were renamed.

 

[gentlemanrob]

Happy Birthday Brig. General James R. Chalmers! Salutes remembering General Chalmers on his birthday.

 

[danny]

8/1/62 Falkner's Regt was mustered into CS service as the 1st Ms Partisan Rangers on Aug 1. A majority of the officers & men were residents of Tippah, though there can be little doubt that some of the men had come into the county to escape the Conscription Law or for other purposes. In Co K, however, all of the officers & about half the men were from Kossuth, Tishomingo County.

8/19/62 Wm Falkner to Davis requests Col's commission to organize as a Regt the 8 Co's of P Rgrs he has raised, mounted, armed & disciplined at Ripley.
Davis endorses to Sec of War he was left out at reorganization & served at Manassas. Reply as may be consistent


8/22/62 Guntown, Armstrong Cav Bgde to Snead-I have started with about 1,600 men of my Bgde, & encamp tonight 3 miles south of Birmingham. I will move tomorrow in the direction of Holly Springs. After reaching that vicinity I shall push rapidly forward toward Grand Junction & northward. I shall move rapidly through that country & strike at any point that may be assailable. I send a strong scout north from Ellistown toward Ripley, thence in toward Booneville & back to Guntown, where they will report to Lt-Col Lewis, whom I have left in command of about 1,200 eff men, with instructions to keep the pickets on the same line from Ellistown to Bay Springs. Capt's Sanders & Mann are at the latter place. Lt-Col Lewis, cdg Cav at Guntown, has been ordered to report until my return to Gen Little. My QM & commissary of subsistence remain at Guntown.
I wrote to Col Falkner to push in toward Chewalla. He will have about 400 men. An express can reach me via Holly Springs.


8/30/62 Tupelo, Snead to Armstrong Cdg Cav Bgde: Your dispatches from Holly Springs by Dr. Webb & from La Grange by telegraph have been received, & the Gen cdg instructs me to say that measures will be promptly taken to give an efficient support to the movement suggested in his dispatch of the 27th to you, & adopted in yours of the 28th. He is confirmed in the opinion that is the proper movement, but he does not make his instructions imperative. He expects you, however, to keep him fully advised of your whereabouts. Col Falkner reports that he inflicted a severe loss upon the enemy in his late operations, with the loss of only one man captured

8/30/62 Tupelo, Snead to Little-I am directed by Gen Price to instruct you to assume command in the absence of Gen Armstrong, or until further orders, of all the Cav of this army, including Partisan Rangers. Col Falkner, cdg a Bn of them at Orizaba, has been ordered to report to you. You will take care that Gen Armstrong's instructions to him be not so modified as to endanger the success of the Cav expedition.
Gen Armstrong was at La Grange on the 28th. He expected to go there & as far north as Jackson, & then to return by way of the roads which run to the east of Corinth. You will, in order to support him, move one of your Bgdes to Baldwyn, & push the Cav to, or as near as practicable to, Booneville, making such disposition of your other Bgdes as May in your opinion be proper. You are expected to keep a vigilant watch for Gen Armstrong & to render him prompt & efficient support whenever & wherever it may be required.

9/19/62 Iuka Battle
ARMY OF THE WEST-Gen Sterling Price
CAV Gen Armstrong
Ms Regt Col Adams
2nd Ark Cav-- Col Slemons
2nd Mo Cav -- Col McCulloch
1st Ms Partisan Rgrs -- Col Falkner
4th​ Ms Cav

10/1/62 Price & Van Dorn dined with Col Falkner at Ripley on the Sabbath. They marched from Ripley on Mon on the Pocahontas road with Price in the rear. Armstrong's Bgde was at Kossuth Agnew diary

11/3/62 Falkner's partisans are disbanded & all partisans by 10/20 order of Sec of War
Agnew diary


Alexis J. Tardy, 4th Corporal, (2nd) Company I, 1st Regiment Mississippi Partisan Rangers, * enlisted February 16,1863 at Pontotoc, Miss. by W. C. Falkner, for 3 years, appointed 4th Sergeant, nd, last recorded present on the July 1 to Oct. 31, 1864 muster roll, note this is the last muster roll on record
* This company subsequently became Company I, 7th Regiment Mississippi Cavalry.
The 7th Regiment Mississippi Cavalry was organized August 1, 1862, as the 1st Regiment Mississippi Partisan Rangers, was temporarily disbanded November 15, 1862, and re-organized March 1, 1863. The designation was changed Aug 1, 1864, to the 7th Regiment Mississippi Cavalry by S. O. No. 169, A. & I. G. O., dated July 19, 1864.