Cornelius John James – WI 12th Regiment Co. C – Dodgeville
Cornelius John James Jr.’s story starts on a sad note. When he was 4-5 years old, he and his mother sailed from Cornwall. His mother died en route on March 24, 1847. Cornelius grew up in Dodgeville and enlisted in the Wisconsin 12th regiment, Company C on September 19, 1861.
The regiment formed and trained at Camp Randall. The 12th left the state in bitter cold weather on January 11, 1862, for Weston, Missouri. They arrived opposite Hannibal spending the night in the best manner they could, with the thermometer reported as -20 degrees, and without tents and little shelter. Camp life was not an easy life.
Much of the 12th role was in guarding and repairing the railroads. The railroads were a critical resource of the war. Soldiers, material, and food were routinely transported by rail. As such, the railroads would make or break the Union.
Approximately 20% of Company C died of disease which sadly Cornelius was included in this statistic. He enlisted as a healthy 19-year-old with grey eyes, dark hair, rosy complexion, and 5 feet 7 inches in height in Dodgeville, Wisconsin, and died at the age of 20, 1 year and 3 months later, in Oxford, Mississippi on December 22, 1862, of Typhoid Pneumonia and is listed as buried in Corinth, MS Union Cemetery.
Thank you to Bev Zimmerman (great-great niece) and Barb Hohlstein (great-niece) for sharing Cornelius’ story. Other area relatives include Charlie and Jim Anderson, Bev Harms, Corny and Dave James, and Lois Slaney.