James Edward Rains
Encyclopedia
James Edward Rains was a lawyer and general in the Confederate States Army
during the American Civil War
. He was killed at the Battle of Stones River
(Murfreesboro).
, the son of Methodist minister Rev. John and Lucinda Cartwright Rains. He spent his youth making tack in his father's small saddlery. A benefactor lent him $400 to attend Yale
, where he graduated second in the Class of 1854. He then studied law before serving as headmaster at the Millwood Institute in newly formed Cheatham County. He was associate editor of the Daily Republican Banner, serving under a future fellow Confederate general, Felix Zollicoffer
. Rains was an active member of the Whig Party
, and was initially opposed to secession
. He was elected the Nashville city attorney in 1858. He married Ida Yeatman later that year, and their only child, a daughter named Laura, was born in 1859. Rains was attorney general
for his judicial district in 1860.
in the "Hermitage Guards", a local company. He was quickly elected first lieutenant
, captain and finally appointed colonel
of the 11th Tennessee Infantry, succeeding George E. Maney
. He was commissioned May 10, 1861. The greater part of his military service was in eastern Tennessee. During the winter of 1861–62, he commanded the garrison at the Cumberland Gap
and successfully repulsed numerous attempts by Union
forces to seize the critical gap. It did not fall until June 1862 when Federals finally outflanked his position. His defense of the gap proved vital, as east Tennessee would have been completely lost to the Confederates much earlier in 1862. But the forces that Maj. Gen. Edmund Kirby Smith
had gathered about Knoxville, in addition to those in the neighborhood of Cumberland Gap, made the Union occupation of that post almost a barren victory. In August, Smith advanced into Kentucky
, leaving Maj. Gen. Carter L. Stevenson
with a strong division to operate against the Union general Morgan, who was holding the gap with about 9,000 men. Col. Rains commanded a brigade
in Stevenson's division. Kirby Smith's success in the Kentucky Campaign eventually forced the Union forces to abandon Cumberland Gap and retreat through eastern Kentucky to the Ohio River
.
Rains was rewarded for his contribution at Cumberland Gap by being given a commission to brigadier general on November 4, 1862. When Gen. Braxton Bragg
was concentrating his army at Murfreesboro, Tennessee
, that same month, Rains's brigade
of troops from North Carolina
, Alabama
, and Tennessee traveled to Murfreesboro and was assigned to the division
of Maj. Gen. John P. McCown
in Hardee
's Corps. At the Battle of Stones River
in December, Rains was shot through the heart and killed instantly while leading his brigade forward in an attack against Union artillery
. His last words were "Forward my brave boys, forward!" He was initially buried on the battlefield, but Rains's father, and 3 year old daughter, met with Union Maj. Gen. William Rosecrans
and formally requested General Rains's body. It was transferred through Federal lines and reburied in the Nashville City Cemetery. In 1888, Rains was reinterred in the Confederate section of Mount Olivet Cemetery
in Nashville.
Tennessee Division, in honor of James E. Rains.
Confederate States Army
The Confederate States Army was the army of the Confederate States of America while the Confederacy existed during the American Civil War. On February 8, 1861, delegates from the seven Deep South states which had already declared their secession from the United States of America adopted the...
during the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. He was killed at the Battle of Stones River
Battle of Stones River
The Battle of Stones River or Second Battle of Murfreesboro , was fought from December 31, 1862, to January 2, 1863, in Middle Tennessee, as the culmination of the Stones River Campaign in the Western Theater of the American Civil War...
(Murfreesboro).
Early life
Rains was born in Nashville, TennesseeNashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
, the son of Methodist minister Rev. John and Lucinda Cartwright Rains. He spent his youth making tack in his father's small saddlery. A benefactor lent him $400 to attend Yale
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
, where he graduated second in the Class of 1854. He then studied law before serving as headmaster at the Millwood Institute in newly formed Cheatham County. He was associate editor of the Daily Republican Banner, serving under a future fellow Confederate general, Felix Zollicoffer
Felix Zollicoffer
Felix Kirk Zollicoffer was a newspaperman, three-term United States Congressman from Tennessee, officer in the United States Army, and a Confederate brigadier general during the American Civil War...
. Rains was an active member of the Whig Party
Whig Party (United States)
The Whig Party was a political party of the United States during the era of Jacksonian democracy. Considered integral to the Second Party System and operating from the early 1830s to the mid-1850s, the party was formed in opposition to the policies of President Andrew Jackson and his Democratic...
, and was initially opposed to secession
Secession
Secession is the act of withdrawing from an organization, union, or especially a political entity. Threats of secession also can be a strategy for achieving more limited goals.-Secession theory:...
. He was elected the Nashville city attorney in 1858. He married Ida Yeatman later that year, and their only child, a daughter named Laura, was born in 1859. Rains was attorney general
Attorney General
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general, or attorney-general, is the main legal advisor to the government, and in some jurisdictions he or she may also have executive responsibility for law enforcement or responsibility for public prosecutions.The term is used to refer to any person...
for his judicial district in 1860.
Civil War
When the Civil War began, despite his personal objections to the concept of secession, Rains enlisted in April 1861 in the Confederate army as a privatePrivate (rank)
A Private is a soldier of the lowest military rank .In modern military parlance, 'Private' is shortened to 'Pte' in the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth countries and to 'Pvt.' in the United States.Notably both Sir Fitzroy MacLean and Enoch Powell are examples of, rare, rapid career...
in the "Hermitage Guards", a local company. He was quickly elected first lieutenant
First Lieutenant
First lieutenant is a military rank and, in some forces, an appointment.The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations , but the majority of cases it is common for it to be sub-divided into a senior and junior rank...
, captain and finally appointed colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
of the 11th Tennessee Infantry, succeeding George E. Maney
George Maney
George Earl Maney was an American soldier, politician, railroad executive and diplomat. He was a general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War and a postbellum U.S...
. He was commissioned May 10, 1861. The greater part of his military service was in eastern Tennessee. During the winter of 1861–62, he commanded the garrison at the Cumberland Gap
Cumberland Gap
Cumberland Gap is a pass through the Cumberland Mountains region of the Appalachian Mountains, also known as the Cumberland Water Gap, at the juncture of the U.S. states of Tennessee, Kentucky, and Virginia...
and successfully repulsed numerous attempts by Union
Union Army
The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...
forces to seize the critical gap. It did not fall until June 1862 when Federals finally outflanked his position. His defense of the gap proved vital, as east Tennessee would have been completely lost to the Confederates much earlier in 1862. But the forces that Maj. Gen. Edmund Kirby Smith
Edmund Kirby Smith
Edmund Kirby Smith was a career United States Army officer and educator. He served as a general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War, notable for his command of the Trans-Mississippi Department of the Confederacy after the fall of Vicksburg.After the conflict ended Smith...
had gathered about Knoxville, in addition to those in the neighborhood of Cumberland Gap, made the Union occupation of that post almost a barren victory. In August, Smith advanced into Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
, leaving Maj. Gen. Carter L. Stevenson
Carter L. Stevenson
Carter Littlepage Stevenson, Jr. was a career military officer, serving in the United States Army in several antebellum wars and then in the Confederate States Army as a general in the Western Theater of the American Civil War.-Early life and career:Stevenson was born to a prominent family in...
with a strong division to operate against the Union general Morgan, who was holding the gap with about 9,000 men. Col. Rains commanded a brigade
Brigade
A brigade is a major tactical military formation that is typically composed of two to five battalions, plus supporting elements depending on the era and nationality of a given army and could be perceived as an enlarged/reinforced regiment...
in Stevenson's division. Kirby Smith's success in the Kentucky Campaign eventually forced the Union forces to abandon Cumberland Gap and retreat through eastern Kentucky to the Ohio River
Ohio River
The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...
.
Rains was rewarded for his contribution at Cumberland Gap by being given a commission to brigadier general on November 4, 1862. When Gen. Braxton Bragg
Braxton Bragg
Braxton Bragg was a career United States Army officer, and then a general in the Confederate States Army—a principal commander in the Western Theater of the American Civil War and later the military adviser to Confederate President Jefferson Davis.Bragg, a native of North Carolina, was...
was concentrating his army at Murfreesboro, Tennessee
Murfreesboro, Tennessee
Murfreesboro is a city in and the county seat of Rutherford County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 108,755 according to the United States Census Bureau's 2010 U.S. Census, up from 68,816 residents certified during the 2000 census. The center of population of Tennessee is located in...
, that same month, Rains's brigade
Brigade
A brigade is a major tactical military formation that is typically composed of two to five battalions, plus supporting elements depending on the era and nationality of a given army and could be perceived as an enlarged/reinforced regiment...
of troops from North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
, Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
, and Tennessee traveled to Murfreesboro and was assigned to the division
Division (military)
A division is a large military unit or formation usually consisting of between 10,000 and 20,000 soldiers. In most armies, a division is composed of several regiments or brigades, and in turn several divisions typically make up a corps...
of Maj. Gen. John P. McCown
John P. McCown
John Porter McCown was a career officer in the United States Army, fighting in the Mexican–American War and in the Seminole Wars. He also served as a general in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War....
in Hardee
William J. Hardee
William Joseph Hardee was a career U.S. Army officer, serving during the Second Seminole War and fighting in the Mexican-American War...
's Corps. At the Battle of Stones River
Battle of Stones River
The Battle of Stones River or Second Battle of Murfreesboro , was fought from December 31, 1862, to January 2, 1863, in Middle Tennessee, as the culmination of the Stones River Campaign in the Western Theater of the American Civil War...
in December, Rains was shot through the heart and killed instantly while leading his brigade forward in an attack against Union artillery
Artillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
. His last words were "Forward my brave boys, forward!" He was initially buried on the battlefield, but Rains's father, and 3 year old daughter, met with Union Maj. Gen. William Rosecrans
William Rosecrans
William Starke Rosecrans was an inventor, coal-oil company executive, diplomat, politician, and United States Army officer. He gained fame for his role as a Union general during the American Civil War...
and formally requested General Rains's body. It was transferred through Federal lines and reburied in the Nashville City Cemetery. In 1888, Rains was reinterred in the Confederate section of Mount Olivet Cemetery
Mount Olivet Cemetery (Nashville)
Mount Olivet Cemetery is a 250-acre cemetery located in Nashville, Tennessee.Mount Olivet has been continuously operated since its establishment in 1856. It serves as the final resting place for many of Middle Tennessee's political and business leaders, including several former governors of...
in Nashville.
Honors
After the war, surviving members of the 11th Tennessee from Dickson County named their camp of the veterans group, the Association of Confederate SoldiersAssociation of Confederate Soldiers
The Association of Confederate Soldiers was an organization formed by veterans of the American Civil War in 1887 as an offshoot of the United Confederate Veterans...
Tennessee Division, in honor of James E. Rains.
See also
- List of American Civil War generals