Source: Confederate Veteran, Vol. XV, June 1907, No. 6, page 269, 270 James H. Bickerstaff Maj. James Henry Bickerstaff, one of the most prominent citizens and veterans of Seale,.Ala., died at the residence of his son, in Columbus, Ga., May 18, 1906. He had been in ill health for some time, and had gone to Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, for treatment; but the operation there performed did not bring the hoped-for improvement. James Bickerstaff was born in Russell County, Ala., in 1844. He was among the first to respond to the call of the Southland, and enlisted in the Russell Volunteers, under Capt. Ben Baker, in April, 1861, before he was seventeen years old, and his company was sent to Virginia. He took part in the first battle of Manassas. While in camp there his brother Robert, also a member of the company, died from exposure and measles and was buried at Manassas. After the term of his first enlistment had expired. he returned to Alabama with several companions and joined the battalion of Maj. James Waddell. However, his father, Capt. U. F. Bickerstaff,. having organized a company of Russell County men, James Bickerstaff was transferred to that command, Company I, 34th Alabama Regiment and was made second lieutenant. The company was stationed at Corinth. Miss., for some time. In the battle of Murfreesboro Comrade Bickerstaff manifested great courage and determination. In the midst of the battle his father was mortally wounded, and Captain Burch, commanding the company, was also wounded. With tears of grief blinding his eyes, lieutenant Bickerstaff seized the sword that had fallen from his father's hand, assumed command, rallied the company, and led them on in the battle until himself shot down, seriously wounded in the thigh and slightly in the arm. His father lingered until February 14, and was nursed and cared for by a Mrs. Thompson in her own home and was buried in her garden. While attending the Reunion at Nashville in 1904 Captain Bickerstaff visited Murphreesboro in the hope of locating his father's grave, but was not successful. Among other battles in which he took part were Mumsfordville and Perryville, Ky.. Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge, Tenn., Chickamauga, and all the battles from Dalton, Ga., to Atlanta. In the battle of East Point, near Atlanta, July 28, 1864, he lost his left arm, a bullet shattering the elbow. After Hood's campaign into Tennessee, Major Bickerstaff again joined his command and accompanied them to South Carolina. Of this later attempt at service he said: "Finding the loss of an arm too much for me, I sorrowfully returned home, took charge of my mother's farm, and helped to care for her and my younger brothers and sisters." A few years later he was married to Miss Emma Lindsay Harrard, of Columbus, Ga., who, with four sons and three daughters, survives him. His aged mother heart-broken over his death, joined him in the spirit land a few months later. For several years Major Bickerstaff served Russell County as tax collector, but at the time of his death was engaged in farming and brick-manufacturing, being successful in both enterprises. He was pension examiner for Russell County and a member of the staff of Gen. George P. Harrison, with the rank of Major, also an officer of Camp Waddell, and was always interested in anything pertaining to the Southland. For forty years he had been a humble follower of Christ. He was tenderly laid to rest by his comrades dressed in his suit of Confederate's gray. The casket was of the same gray and draped with a Confederate flag. Over the grave a prayer was offered, a salute fired, and taps sounded. Recognizing his true worth and many noble qualities, one of his home papers said of Major Bickerstaff: "Few men have lived and died in Russell County or elsewhere who have left a record of so great faith, hope, and service. He was a gentleman of the old school, courtly, courteous, an upright, honorable citizen of whom Russell County and the State may be well proud, and a true friend whose death we all sincerely mourn and deplore."