Name: EDWARDS, JAMES RUSSELL (listed on muster roll as James R. Edwards)
Rank: Promoted 5th Sgt 1863/09/06; promoted 2nd Sgt 1864/06/10; elected 2nd Lieut 1864/11/01.
Enlisted: July 1861 at Westville, Dale County
Service History: Present: Winchester VA, 1862/05/25; Cross Keys VA, 1862/06/08; Cold Harbor, 1862/06/27; Malvern Hill, 1862/07/02; Cedar Mt, 1862/08/09; Hazel River, 1862/08/23; Manassas Junction, 1862/08/27-30; Chantilly, 1862/09/01; Harper's Ferry, 1862/09/13; Sharpsburg, 1862/09/17; Shepherds Town VA, 1862/09/18; Fredericksburg VA, 1862/12/13; Suffolk VA, 1863/03/03; Gettysburg Pa, 1863/07/02-03; Battle Mount VA, 1863/07/24; Chickamauga GA, 1863/09/19-20; Camel Station, 1863/11/16; Knoxville TN, 1863/29&29; Dandridge TN, 1863/01/16; Wilderness VA, 1864/05/06; Spotsylvania VA, 1864/05/08&12; Present: Cold Harbor VA, 1864/06/03; Chester Station, 1864/06/17; Deep Bottom, 1864/08/14; Fussell Mill, 1864/08/16; Ft Gilmer, 1864/09/29; Ft Harrison, 1864/09/30; Darbytown, 1864/10/07; Darbytown East Road, 1864/10/13; Williamsburg Road, 1864/10/27; Absent on Detail: Raccoon Mt TN, 1863/10/27; Lookout Valley TN, 1863/10/28. Served as color bearer; commander of the company at surrender, Appomattox, Virginia.
Date of Birth: 29 May 1840	Place of Birth: Lee County, Alabama
Date of Death:	Place of Death:
Buried:
Father: Spencer Edwards (b 3 April 1817 in Georgia, d 2 November 1897 in Taylor County, Georgia; son of William Newton Edwards and Mary Whatley)
Mother: Mary Ann Willis (b abt 1821 in Georgia, daughter of John Willis and Susan //, married 25 April 1836 in Talbot County, Georgia)
Spouse(s): Sarah Biggs
Children: Thomas, Ada, Wilson, May, Mary W. (Ziglar), Belle Boyd
Occupation: Farmer
Residence(s): Ariton, Dale County, Alabama
Other: Alabama Pension # 11666, Dale County. Name of pensioner: J. R. Edwards, witnesses: H. C. Yelverton & W. R. Painter. Wounded at the Battle of the Wilderness, VA, 1864/05/03, unable to make a living on account of General Disability, age 61, residing P. O. Rocky Head, AL "There was no better soldier in the regiment thatn 'Jim' Edwards. He was never sick, and always present for duty; had the good fortune never to be wounded, though a hard fighter and always conspicuous in action. ... He returned home unscathed by the enemy's bullets, though as brave a man as ever went upon a battlefield. We went to work upon his father's farm, universally respected by all who knew him." (Oates, The War Between the Union and the Confederacy, Appendix A)
Photographs:
Submitter: Georgia V. Fleming	E-mail: hyacinth@ala.net