COL. JAMES M. REID

REID, FLYNT, LINCOLN, SHERMAN, MCPHERSON

Posted By: County Coordinator
Date: 4/4/2020 at 19:50:10

COL. JAMES M. REID - Col. James M. Reid landed first at Keokuk on St. Patrick’s day, in the morning of the 17th of March, 1815, since which time he has been a resident of this county. In 1845-6, he worked on the farm of his father, near West Point, and in 1847, went to study law in the office of Reid & Johnston, at Fort Madison, was admitted to the bar of the District Court while Hon. George H. Williams was Judge, and subsequently was admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of the State, and District Court of the United States for the district of Iowa. He practiced till 1856 at Fort Madison, being the correspondent of the Commercial Collecting Agency of Messrs. B Douglas & Co. He was City Attorney, Clerk of the council, and holds commissions as a Notary Public under every Governor of the State. In the spring of 1856, he removed to Keokuk where he has since resided. He took a leading and active part in politics as a Democrat, was nominated for Register of the State Land Office in 1858, and was defeated by 500 less votes than the balance of the ticket.

In the war of the Rebellion, he was the first volunteer in Keokuk, in 1861. Joined company “A” of the Second Iowa Infantry, went with it to the field at St. Joseph, was transferred to Company “I,” Fifteenth Iowa Infantry in November, 1861, made First Lieutenant Dec. 1, 1861, and Captain on July 4, 1862. He was severely wounded in the neck at the battle of Shiloh, April 6, 1862, in which his company lost in casualties twenty-two out of sixty-six men, six of whom were killed. He was in the siege of Corinth, at Iuka, the march through Central Mississippi, siege of Vicksburg, the march to and capture of Meridian, the expedition to Mechanicsville and Monroe, La. He enlisted the first company of veteran volunteers in the Seventeenth Army Corps. He went to the front after being home on veteran furlough. Joined Gen. Sherman’s army at Rome, Ga., in the spring of 1864. Was in the battles before Kenesaw, at Nicajack Creek, on the 21st and 22nd of July, and 28th July, with Ezra Church, before Atlanta, being eighty-seven days under fire. On the 22d of July, the day General McPherson was killed, he had his sword shot from his side, and fought with a musket, and the history of his regiment speaks of him on that occasion as “always brave and reliable on the battle-field,: saying “he captured alone seven men, delivering them to the Provost Marshal of the Third Division present.” On that day he lost in casualties all but nine out of thirty-three men. After the capture of Atlanta, he was in the battle of Jonesboro, Snake Creek, Gap, the pursuit of Hood, in which and the “march to the sea” and siege of Savannah, Ga., he acted as field-officer, part of the time commanding the Regiment. He was on the march through the Carolinas, the capture of Columbia, and battle of Bentonville, the last action of his regiment. He was present at the funeral of President Lincoln, at Washington, and subsequently at the grand review of the Armies of the Potomac and the West. He was twice brevetted—once as Major, for “gallant and meritorious services in the field during the war,” and again as Lieutenant-Colonel on the same day for “gallant and meritorious services during the war.” His military career ended with the muster-out of his Regiment at Louisville, Ky., on the 24th of July, 1865, he having been in active service in the field from the commencement to the close of the war. Col. Reid is of Scotch-Irish descent, his parents being natives of South Carolina, and was born in Union County, Indiana, and is now forty-three years of age. He was married in November, 1869 to Miss Annie Flynt, at Quincey, Ill., a lady of winning address and many accomplishments. Since the close of the war, on account of injury to his hearing from exposure in the service, he has been successfully engaged in the prosecution of military claims. He wrote many letters home from the army for publication with the signature “Monroe.” which were extensively copied, and are highly spoken of. He is now an occasional contributor to the press, being gifted as a writer with rare descriptive talents. Of an active temperament and genial disposition, his eventful life has been filled with many adventures, some of which he graphically relates in his happy and humorous style to his many friends.

Source:
Illustrated Historical ATLAS of Lee County, IOWA
A. T. Andreas
Chicago, ILL.
1874

Transcription by Mary H. Cochrane, Volunteer