Name: WILLIAMS, JAMES MATT
Rank: Private
Enlisted: 3 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. VA, 1862/08/09; Hazel River, 1862/08/23; Manassas Junction, 1862/08/27; Manassas Plains, 1862/08/28-30; Chantilly, 1862/09/01; Harpers Ferry, 1862/09/13; Sharpsburg, 1862/09/17. Absent sick: Shepardstown, 1862/09/29. Severely wounded: Fredericksburg, 1862/12/13. Present: Suffolk, VA, 1863/05/03; Chickamauga GA, 1863/09/19-20; Raccoon Mt., TN, 1863/10/27; Lookout Valley TN, 1863/10/28; Campbell Station, 1863/11/16; Knoxville, TN, 1863/11/20,29; Dandridge TN, 1864/01/16; Chester Station 1864/06/17. Absent sick: Gettysburg, PA 1864/07/02-03. Absent on detail: Wilderness, VA, 1864/05/06; Spotsylvania, VA, 1864/05/08&12; Cold Harbor, 1864/06/03. Absent wounded: Fussell's Mill, 1864/08/16. Absent on furlough: Fort Gilmer, 1864/09/29; Fort Harrison, 1864/09/30; Darbytown, 1864/10/07&13. Williamsburg Road, 1864/10/27. Promoted 3rd Sgt 1864/08/08. Paroled At Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia, discharged 1865/04/10.
Date of Birth: 15 December 1840	Place of Birth: Alabama
Date of Death: 15 August 1923	Place of Death: Dale County, Alabama
Buried: Center Ridge Church Cemetery, Dale County, Alabama
Father:
Mother:
Spouse(s): Sarah Elizabeth Weed (b 22 August 1847 in Gwinnett County, Georgia, d 6 June 1933; daughter of John H. Weed and Phebe Jones)
Children: None
Occupation: Farmer
Residence(s): Ariton, Dale County
Other: Letter, Alabama Pension Commission to Adjutant General, 1924/11/05; Witness to Certificate: W. C. Mizell, who served in same company. "He was a splendid soldier, always present for duty; was severely wounded at Fredericksburg, Virginia, December 13, 1862, and again at New Market Heights, or Deep Bottom, Virginia, August 14, 1864, from which he never fully recovered, but returned to his company and remained true to the flag of the Confederacy until it was furled in smoke and blood at Appomattox. He returned to Dale County and lived near Ariosto Station until 1903, when he moved to Covington County, Alabama. No man in that county is truer to his country in war and in peace, nor a better citizen, than "Matt" Williams. If all would imitate his example we would have an earthly paradise." (Oates, The War Between the Union and the Confederacy, Appendix A)
Photographs:
Submitter: Georgia V. Fleming	E-mail: hyacinth@ala.net