James Dearing

James Dearing
James Dearing
	Brigadier General ; (not confirmed) ; Colonel
Commands held	Dearing's (Lynchburg) Battery ; 38th Virginia Light Artillery Battalion ; 8th Confederate Cavalry Regiment ; Dearings Brigade
Battles/wars	American Civil War First Battle of Bull Run; Peninsular Campaign; Second Battle of Bull Run; Battle of Fredericksburg; Siege of Suffolk; Battle of Gettysburg; Bermuda Hundred Campaign; Battle of Plymouth; Petersburg Campaign; Battle of Boydton Plank Road; Appomattox Campaign Battle of High Bridge (DOW); ;

James Dearing (April 25, 1840 – April 22, 1865) was a

Confederate Senate did not approve his nomination. His actual permanent grade was colonel

.

Early life

Dearing was born in Campbell County, Virginia. He was a great-grandson of Colonel Charles Lynch, a famous revolutionary war veteran who probably gave his name to what is now known as "lynching".^{[citation needed]} A graduate of Hanover Academy he received an appointment to the United States Military Academy in 1858, where he was described as "a reckless, handsome boy" who introduced the tune "Dixie" to the academy, earning him the reputation of a secessionist and demerits from his superiors. Nonetheless, he was ranked first in his class of 1862. When his home state seceded he resigned, just short of the premature graduation of his class, on April 22, 1861.

Civil War

Dearing traveled to

Peninsular Campaign, where Dearing was highly praised by Lieutenant General James Longstreet, and in the Second Battle of Bull Run.^[2] When Pickett was elevated to division command in Longstreet's First Corps in September Dearing's battery was assigned to the division and fought in the Battle of Fredericksburg

.

Captain Dearing was promoted to Major in early 1863, and was appointed Chief of Artillery in Pickett's Division. In April his battalion - made up of the batteries of Captains

Stribling ("Fauquier"), Caskie ("Hampden"), Macon ("Richmond Fayette") and Blount (Dearing's old Lynchburg) - was officially organized as 38th Battalion, Virginia Light Artillery. He led his unit with the division into Longstreet's Tidewater Operations and the Siege of Suffolk.^[3]

At the

Peach Orchard, gave Dearing the command of two of his batteries.^[4] Those batteries, Jordan's "Bedford" and Woolfolk's "Ashland", were on the right of Alexander's line; and participated in the charge of Barksdale and Kershaw. On July 3 Dearing's battalion took part in the massive artillery barrage prior to Pickett's Charge, positioned right in the center supporting Pickett's division. Inflicting heavy damage Dearing's batteries suffered from counter-battery fire, but stayed in position and was reinforced by numerous guns and sections on Col. Alexander's orders. After the initial charge Dearing's guns supported the advance of Anderson's brigades and put shell against the counterattack of George Stannard's 2nd Vermont Brigade, wounding the later.^[5]

Afterwards of Gettysburg Pickett was assigned to command the Department of Southern Virginia and North Carolina; and Dearing went with him. When Pickett needed a mounted force for his operations he selected Major Dearing to command it, and Dearing gathered some 200 men for a provisional battalion.

James A. Seddon approved it the next day and Dearing, officially a Lieutenant Colonel of artillery, was promoted to provisional Colonel of cavalry. His regiment, known as 8th Confederate (or simply "Dearing´s Confederate") Cavalry, was composed of the former 12th North Carolina Cavalry Battalion and several other companies, as well as a battery of light artillery.^[7]^[8]

In April 1864, while Dearing participated in the operations again New Bern and

P.G.T. Beauregard, Dearing and his confederate brigade (with its own artillery) served as scout and fire brigade.^[10]

In July Dearing was given a command in the ANV again, serving in the cavalry division of Major General

W.H.F. "Rooney" Lee. His new brigade consisted of the 8th Georgia, 4th and 65th North Carolina cavalry regiments as well as the 16th North Carolina Battalion; later changed included the addition of the 7th Confederate Cavalry.^[11] He was falsely reported to be killed in the Battle of Boydton Plank Road.^[12] When Beauregard gained command of the Department of the West in winter 1864 he recommended Dearing for a division command, but his recommendation was not followed.^[13]

During the

West Point classmate, Brigadier General Ranald S. Mackenzie, then commanding in Lynchburg.^[15]

Dearing died on April 22 (like Colonel Washburn), and is buried in Spring Hill Cemetery.

Notes

^ The War of the Rebellion : a compilation of the official records of the Union and Confederate armies I-IX, pp. 515
^ The War of the Rebellion : a compilation of the official records of the Union and Confederate armies I-XI-1, pp. 939
^ The War of the Rebellion : a compilation of the official records of the Union and Confederate armies I-XVIII, p. 995
^ The War of the Rebellion : a compilation of the official records of the Union and Confederate armies I-XXVII-2, pp. 429
^ The War of the Rebellion : a compilation of the official records of the Union and Confederate armies I-XXVII-2, pp. 387
^ The War of the Rebellion : a compilation of the official records of the Union and Confederate armies I-LI-2, p. 799
^ The War of the Rebellion : a compilation of the official records of the Union and Confederate armies I-XLV, pp. 895
^ The War of the Rebellion : a compilation of the official records of the Union and Confederate armies I-XLV, p. 1083
^ The War of the Rebellion : a compilation of the official records of the Union and Confederate armies I-XLV, pp. 1265
^ The War of the Rebellion : a compilation of the official records of the Union and Confederate armies I-XLVIII
^ The War of the Rebellion : a compilation of the official records of the Union and Confederate armies I-XL-3, p. 763
^ The War of the Rebellion : a compilation of the official records of the Union and Confederate armies I-XLII-1, p. 23
^ The War of the Rebellion : a compilation of the official records of the Union and Confederate armies I-XLIV, p. 979
^ The War of the Rebellion : a compilation of the official records of the Union and Confederate armies I-LVI-1, pp. 1267
^ Warner, p. 70

References

War Department; The War of the Rebellion : a compilation of the official records of the Union and Confederate armies., Series I; Washington, D.C.; 1881-1901
Eicher, John H., and
ISBN 978-0-8047-3641-1
.

Krick, Robert K. "James Dearing." In The Confederate General, vol. 2, edited by
ISBN 978-0-918678-64-5
.

Sifakis, Stewart. Who Was Who in the Civil War. New York: Facts On File, 1988.
ISBN 978-0-8160-1055-4
.

ISBN 978-0-8071-0823-9
.

External links

James Dearing at Find a Grave

[1] The War of the Rebellion : a compilation of the official records of the Union and Confederate armies I-IX, pp. 515

[2] The War of the Rebellion : a compilation of the official records of the Union and Confederate armies I-XI-1, pp. 939

[3] The War of the Rebellion : a compilation of the official records of the Union and Confederate armies I-XVIII, p. 995

[4] The War of the Rebellion : a compilation of the official records of the Union and Confederate armies I-XXVII-2, pp. 429

[5] The War of the Rebellion : a compilation of the official records of the Union and Confederate armies I-XXVII-2, pp. 387

[6] The War of the Rebellion : a compilation of the official records of the Union and Confederate armies I-LI-2, p. 799

[7] The War of the Rebellion : a compilation of the official records of the Union and Confederate armies I-XLV, pp. 895

[8] The War of the Rebellion : a compilation of the official records of the Union and Confederate armies I-XLV, p. 1083

[9] The War of the Rebellion : a compilation of the official records of the Union and Confederate armies I-XLV, pp. 1265

[10] The War of the Rebellion : a compilation of the official records of the Union and Confederate armies I-XLVIII

[11] The War of the Rebellion : a compilation of the official records of the Union and Confederate armies I-XL-3, p. 763

[12] The War of the Rebellion : a compilation of the official records of the Union and Confederate armies I-XLII-1, p. 23

[13] The War of the Rebellion : a compilation of the official records of the Union and Confederate armies I-XLIV, p. 979

[14] The War of the Rebellion : a compilation of the official records of the Union and Confederate armies I-LVI-1, pp. 1267

[15] Warner, p. 70

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v t e Gettysburg figures
Confederate leaders	Lee Alexander R. Anderson G. Anderson Archer Armistead Barksdale Benning Brockenbrough Chambliss Daniel Davis Doles Early Ewell Garnett Gordon Hampton Hays Heth Hill Hood Humphreys Imboden Iverson Jenkins Johnson J. Jones W. Jones Kemper Kershaw Lane Law F. Lee W. Lee Longstreet Mahone Marshall McLaws O'Neal Oates Pender Pettigrew Perrin Pickett Posey Ramseur Robertson Rodes Scales Semmes Smith G. Steuart J. E. B. Stuart Thomas Trimble J. Walker R. Walker Wilcox Wofford Wright
Union leaders	Meade Ames Ayres Barlow Barnes Baxter Biddle Birney Buford Caldwell Candy Carpenter Carr J. Chamberlain Claflin Cross Curtin Cushing Custer Cutler Crawford Doubleday Farnsworth Geary Gibbon Gilsa Graham Greene Gregg Hancock Harrow Hays Hooker Howard Humphreys Hunt Kilpatrick Krzyżanowski Lincoln Meredith Merritt Newton Nolan Paul Pleasonton Reynolds Rice Robinson Rowley Ruger Schimmelfennig Schurz Sedgwick Sickles Slocum Stannard Starr Steinwehr Sykes Tilton Tyler Vincent Wadsworth Ward Warren Weed Webb Willard Williams Zook
Other notable military personnel	Alger Avery Baker Belo Berdan Biddle Brooke Brown Bryan Burgwyn Burling Carroll Carter T. Chamberlain Colvill Corby Coster Dearing Devin Ellis Enderlin Lyon Fremantle Fry Gamble Garrard Godwin Goree Gregg Grimes Gwyn Hall Harrison Haskell Hazlett Howell Humiston Jeffords Jones Kelly Keogh Lang Latimer Lewis McCandless McDougall McFarland McIntosh Mayo Melcher Morrill Muhlenberg O'Rorke Pardee Pegram Perrin Poague Salomon Smith Sorrel Spear Stone Taylor Trobriand Wainwright Ward
Local civilians	Broadhead Bryan Burns McClean McConaughy McPherson Wade Wills

Authority control databases
International	FAST VIAF
National	United States
Other	SNAC

Early life

Civil War

See also

Notes

References

External links