Civil War Union Brigadier General. Entered the Union Army as Captain and commander of Company D, 2nd United States Sharpshooters on November 2, 1861. Served with his regiment in the Northern Virginia area until he was promoted to Colonel and aide-de-camp to Maj. Gen. David Hunter in July 1862. While serving in this post in South Carolina he was involved with Colonel Thomas W. Higginson in the recruitment of the first African-American Union regiment (their efforts were later terminated by the Lincoln Administration), and in the unsuccessful Union assault on Charleston in 1863. In September 1863 he was assigned to the staff of Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker, who commanded the Army of the Tennessee's XI and XII Corps, and served with him throughout the Battle of Chattanooga and the Campaign to capture Atlanta. When General Hooker resigned over a command dispute, James Fessenden was transferred to Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan's Shenandoah Valley command and promoted to Brigadier General, US Volunteers. He commanded various brigades in the XIX Corps, but was not engaged in any serious action towards the end of the war. His service did not end until he was mustered out in January 1866. He was brevetted Major General, US Volunteers on March 13, 1865 for his service. His father was power Maine Senator (and Secretary of the Treasury) William Pitt Fessenden, to whom he owed much for his high military rank. His younger brothers were Union Major General Francis Fessenden, and Lieutenant Samuel Fessenden, who was mortally wounded at the Second Battle of Bullrun.   Ex Carlile collection.