Alabama
For Confederate captain captured at Vicksburg
8 x 5 1/4, imprinted form, filled out in ink.
Headquarters District of the Gulf, Mobile, Febry. 3d, 1865
Special Orders No. 34
Capt. Jas. A. Wiggs, 1st Tenn. Arty. being exchanged will report to Brig. Gen. B.M. Thomas for assignment to duty.
By Command of Major General Dabney H. Maury D.W. Flowerree A.A. General
[to] Capt. J.A. Wiggs Meridian, Miss.
Light age toning and wear. Small hole at upper edge.
D.W. Flowerree, who signed this document, served on the staff of General Dabney H. Maury, 1862-65, with rank of captain and major respectively.
James A. Wiggs, the recipient of these orders, was born on May 17, 1837, in Holly Springs, Mississippi. Shortly after the Civil War broke out, he enlisted on May 15, 1861, as a private, and was mustered into the 4th Tennessee Infantry. Governor Isham G. Harris soon promoted him to the position of Assistant Quartermaster General of Tennessee, on June 21, 1861. Afterwards he served the Confederacy in various positions including, Chief of Ordnance, on the staff of General Stephen D. Lee; Chief of Artillery, on the staff of General Francis A Shoup; he surrendered with the garrison at Vicksburg, on July 4, 1863; was captain in the 1st Tennessee Artillery; Chief of Staff, of General Bryan M. Thomas; Chief of Artillery, on the staff of General Marcus J. Wright, in the District of North Mississippi and West Tennessee; and he surrendered with the forces of Lieutenant General Richard Taylor, to Union General E.R.S. Canby, and was paroled at Jackson, Miss., on May 12, 1865. He died at Starkville, Miss., on January 27, 1911, and was buried in Vicksburg. His obituary, and photo can be found in the Confederate Veteran issue of February 1913, where he was described as having a "brilliant record for service and bravery during the four year's struggle." |