James ConnerBrigadier General, Provisional Army of the Confederate States
"...he had shown himself so capable an officer in the field, as well as in the bureau, that he was recommended for, and appointed to, a brigadier-generalcy, in the spring of this year. In General McGowan's absence, he was assigned to our brigade. He proved to be an excellent brigade commander. His discipline was thorough, his management of business good, and his conduct of troops in action remarkably fine."J.F.J. Caldwell, McGowan's Brigade
 (Confederate Veteran Magainze)
 (Compiled Service Record) |
Born: September 1st, 1829, at Charleston, Charleston District, South Carolina, the son of Henry Workman (1797-1861) and Juliana Margaret Courtney Conner (1804-1881)
Married: Sarah Lambert Enders (1845-1928), no date.
Pre-War: Attended the South Carolina College in Columbia, South Carolina, to 1849, when he graduated; studied law under Hon. James L. Petigru in Charleston, South Carolina, from 1850 to 1852; admitted to the South Carolina State Bar on January 22nd 1852; opened, and operated, a law practice in Charleston, South Carolina, from 1852 to 1860; appointed, and served, as the United States District Attorney for South Carolina from April 25th, 1857, to December 20th, 1860, during which time he prosecuted the case against Captain Corrie of the Slave Ship Wanderer and Judge T.J. Mackey for participating in General Walker's filibustering expedition to Cuba, when he resigned he wrote that "...For all that has been done I have neither apology to make nor explanation to offer. The record is clear and speaks for itself. What the future will bring forth none can tell. The reasons which have governed me in the present step are satisfactory to my own judgement. It is neither necessary nor appropriate further to allude to them within the walls of a court of justice." Served as a member of the Committee consisting of himself, Judge Magrath and W.F. Colcock which visited Columbia to call upon the Legislature to call for a secession convention in 1860. |
Service: Elected and served as the Captain of the "Montgomery Guards" of Charleston, which served with the 17th Regiment of Infantry, 4th Brigade, South Carolina State Militia, from 1860 to 1861; served in the operations around Charleston, South Carolina, from January to April 1861. Appointed as the Confederate States District Attorney for the State of South Carolina in 1861, however he declined the appointment. Enlisted on June 12th, 1861, at Charleston, South Carolina, for one years' service; mustered into service as Captain of Company A (Washington Light Infantry) of the Infantry Battalion, Hampton's Legion, South Carolina Volunteers, on June 13th, 1861; served in the Manassas Campaign from June to July 1861; promoted to Major with rank from July 21st, 1861, the appointment confirmed on August 15th, 1861, and accepted on September 1st, 1861; served in the Peninsula Campaign from April to May 1862; elected as Colonel of the 22nd North Carolina Volunteer Infantry Regiment on June 13th, 1862; served in the Seven Days Campaign in June 1862, being engaged, and severely wounded in action (left leg is broken by a rifle ball), on June 26th, 1862, at Mechanicsville, Virginia; absent due to his wounds from July 1862 to August 1863; sick at private quarters in Richmond, Virginia, from July to August 1863; he was examined on July 24th, 1863, before a Medical Examine Board in Richmond, Virginia, that recommended that he be retired for six months, he then applied to General Samuel Cooper on that same date to be retired without pay in accordance with the recommendations of the Medical Exanimation Board, the board stating that "...he is suffering a gunshot wound recd at Battle Mechanicsville, June 26th, 1861, whereby tiba of left leg has fractures resulting in inflammation of large portion of that bone & the process still in progress. And in consequence therefore he is...opinion unfit for service…to resume his duties in a less period than six months. The Board therefore recommends that he be retired without pay or allowance for that length of time." resigned his commission due to his wounds sustained at Mechanicsville, Virginia, and was honorably discharged from the service on August 13th, 1863. Appointed as a Colonel of Cavalry in the Provisional Army of the Confederate States, from the State of North Carolina, on October 26th, 1863, with rank from October 8th, 1863; appointment confirmed by the Confederate Congress on February 11th, 1864; accepted on December 24th, 1863; served as the Judge Advocate General of the 2nd Army Corps, and as the President of the Military Court of Ewell's Corps, Army of Northern Virginia, from October 1863 to June 1864; General Wade Hampton wrote to General Braxton Bragg on May 31st, 1864, "I beg to recommend Col. Jas. Conner of So. Ca. for promotion. He entered the service before the fall of Fort Sumter & served zealously until he was severely wounded in the battles around Richmond. As soon as he could discharge any duties he was appointed president of his Military Court, Ewells Corps in which position he now is. He served for a long time with me & I can recommend him as one of the most competent officers I have known. He is very desirous to enter the field again & the public service could be advanced by placing him therein." Appointed as a Brigadier General, special, in the Provisional Army of the Confederate States, from the State of North Carolina, on June 1st, 1864, with rank from that date, the appointment confirmed by the Confederate Congress on June 1st, 1864, and accepted the appointment on June 6th, 1864; served in the Siege of Richmond & Petersburg from June to August 1864, being engaged at Fussell's Mill on July 28th, 1864, commanding Lane's & McGowan's Brigades; commanding Kershaw's Brigade, Kershaw's Division, 1st Corps, Army of Northern Virginia, from August 29th to October 13th, 1864; served in the Valley Campaign from September to October 1864, being engaged, and wounded in action, on October 13th, 1864, at Cedar Creek, Virginia; a shell fragment struck his leg passing through the knee and shattering the bone; his leg was amputated close to the hip on October 14th, 1864; absent, at home recovering from his wounds, from November 1864 to April 1865.
| Post War: Resumed the practice of law in partnership with W.D. Porter in Charleston, South Carolina, from 1865 to 1874, being the counsel for the defense of the News & Courier for libel brought by Sheriff C.C. Bowen of Charleston; appointed as the Chairman of the Board of Visitors of the South Carolina Military Academy at Charleston, South Carolina, from December 1865, but never functioned in the position as the board never meet; supported the Union ticket, which recommended Matthew C. Butler as Lieutenant Governor in 1870; supported the Straight-out ticket, opposing the nomination of Wade Hampton for Governor, in 1876; served as a delegate to the South Carolina State Convention in May 1876; served as the Chairman of the South Carolina Democratic Executive Committee from May 1876; nominated, elected, and served, as the Attorney General of the State of South Carolina from November 1876 to December 1877, when he resigned, stating that: "I have given the duties of the officer my undivided attention and anxious solicitude for the past year, to the serious neglect of my private affairs and the injury of my health. I cannot continue to do so without injustice to others and to myself, and as I am not willing to retain the office without making its duties paramount to all others, it is proper that I should resign. My earnest desire to serve the State to the best of my powers; reluctance to close my official relations as the legal adviser of the State |
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Government; regret as the thought of breaking off my daily intercourse with yourself, and of severing ties with the officers of the executive department, which were formed in the darkest hours of the State's struggle for her freedom and her purity, and have been cemented by the trying as well as the gratifying experiences of 1876 and 1877, are feelings which have so arrayed themselves in conflict with a sense of private duty that I reluctantly adhere to my conviction of the necessity of resigning." Of his service as Attorney General, Governor Wade Hampton III wrote in 1877 that "The arduous duties of this office have been discharged with a zeal, energy and patriotism which could not have been surpassed, while his counsel has been of incalculable assistance to me during the past year. He has won the respect, esteem and affection of our people, and he will carry to his retirement the confidence of all with whom he has been associated, as well as the consciousness of having done his whole duty." Served as an Assistant Counsel, and later Solicitor, for the South Carolina Railroad to 1878; recommended in 1878 for the nomination to the United States Senate from South Carolina, however he declines recommending that Governor Wade Hampton III is best for that job; served as the Receiver of the Greenville & Columbia Railroad from November 23rd, 1878, to 1880; as a delegate to the State Democratic Convention held in Columbia, South Carolina, in 1880; as a Director, and General Counsel, of the Columbia & Greenville Railroad Company from 1880 to 1883. During his life he was a member, and commander, of the Charleston Rifle Clubs, of the Landmark Lodge No. 76 (Charleston), Grand Lodge of South Carolina, Ancient of Free Masons, serving as the Grand Master of the Grand Lodge from 1868 to 1870, of the Survivors Association of Charleston from 1866, being elected as Second Vice President in 1866, of the Survivors Association of the State of South Carolina from 1869, serving on the Executive Board in 1870, of the Democratic Central Club of Charleston, and served as President of the Club in 1898, of the Hampton Legion Survivors Association and the Washington Light Infantry Charitable Association.
Died: June 26th, 1883, at his father-in-law's home in Richmond, Henrico County, Virginia
Buried: Magnolia Cemetery in Charleston, Charleston County, South Carolina
Resources
Pages 386 to 387, Volume V (South Carolina), "Confederate Military History." Ellison Capers; Confederate Publishing Company, Atlanta, Georgia; 1899.
Pages 59 & 60, "Generals in Gray. Lives of the Confederate Commanders." Ezra J. Warner, Louisiana State University Press, Baton Rouge, Louisiana; 1997.
Page 138, "General Officers of the Confederate Army." Marcus J. Wright, The Neale Publishing Company, New York, New York, 1911.
Page 159, "History of A Brigade of South Carolinians, known first as Gregg's and subsequently as McGowan's Brigade." J.F.J. Caldwell, King & Baird Printers; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; 1866.
"The History of the South Carolina Military Academy, with Appendixes." John P. Thomas; Walker, Evans, & Cogswell Company, Publishers; Charleston, South Carolina; 1893.
"James Conner...In Memoriam." Walker, Evans & Cogswell Printers, Columbia, South Carolina; 1883.
"Letters of General James Conner, C.S.A." James Conner; R.L. Bryan Company, Columbia, South Carolina; 1950.
Page 46, "Medical Histories of Confederate Generals.." Jack D. Welsh, The Kent State University Press, Kent, Ohio; 1995.
Pages 265 to 276, "Year Book - 1883. City of Charleston, So. Ca.." The News and Courier Book Presses, Charleston, South Carolina; 1884.
Blanket, Frock Coat & Sword of James Conner. Collection of the Museum of the Confederacy, Richmond, Virginia.
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