(Wilson's Creek National Battlefield)
James Fleming Fagan was born in Kentucky in 1828. Ten years later, Fagan moved with his family to Arkansas. As an adult, Fagan managed the family farm in southern Arkansas. During the Mexican American War, Fagan served as a lieutenant in the Arkansas Regiment of Mounted Volunteers. When the Civil War started, Fagan raised a company of volunteers and was appointed colonel for the 1st Arkansas Infantry. His first big action took place at the Battle of Shiloh when he led this regiment when during the Battle of Shiloh on April 6-7, 1862. The regiment suffered a 45 percent casualty rate.
In September 1862, Fagan was promoted to brigadier general and sent back to Arkansas. At the close of 1862, Fagan led a brigade during the Battle of Prairie Grove. During the failed attack on Helena, Arkansas, Fagan’s brigade took over 400 casualties. In April 1864, Fagan led a cavalry division in a successful attack against the Federal supply train in the Battle of Marks' Mills during Steele’s Camden Expedition. This effort resulted in a promotion to major general on April 25, 1864.
Fagan was 36 years old when he commanded one of the cavalry divisions during Price's Missouri Expedition in 1864. His division consisted of mostly Arkansas Cavalry. There were four brigades and two batteries of two guns each. Units from his division were part of the failed attack on Fort Davidson during the Battle of Pilot Knob. His men suffered several hundred casualties. His division also participated in the Battles of the Little Blue (October 21), Independence (October 22), and Westport (October 23). One of Fagan's brigades was guarding the Confederate wagon train when it was attacked on October 23, 1864. On October 25, Fagan's Division was part of the defense line during the Confederate defeat at the Battle of Mine Creek.
On the retreat into Arkansas, Fagan cooperated with Confederate forces under the command of Col. William H. Brooks and guerrilla leader Buck Brown to assault Fayetteville, Arkansas, on November 3, 1864. Federal forces under the command of Col. Martina La Rue Harrison were well entrenched and easily fought off the feeble Confederate attack.
After the war ended, Fagan was paroled in June 1865, after which he returned to Arkansas and returned to his family’s plantation. Fagan returned to command when he became the commander of the militia supporting Joseph Brooks during a dispute over the 1872 Arkansas gubernatorial election. In 1875, President Grant appointed Fagan, a US marshal in Arkansas. Fagan died in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1893 and is buried in Mount Holly Cemetery there.
OR s1 v41 p1, 397–400.
Sinisi, Kyle S. The Last Hurrah: Sterling Price’s Missouri Expedition of 1864. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2016, 300–331.
Warner, Ezra J. Generals in Gray: Lives of the Confederate Commanders. Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State University Press, 1987, 85–86.
Wikipedia. “James Fleming Fagan,” December 24, 2021. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Fleming_Fagan.