James L. Kilgore

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James L. Kilgore was a 1st Lieutenant in the 19th Indiana Infantry / Company A.

Antebellum

War Career

Kilgore was commissioned 1st Lieutenant of the 19th Indiana Infantry / Company A on July 29, 1861 and mustered the same day. He resigned on October 11, 1861[1], though Alan D. Gaff suggests he may have been discharged as part of a purge of unqualified officers in the regiment. However, it is also likely that he was discharged on account of Typhoid Fever.[2] He reenlisted on February or March 1, 1862[3] in the 19th Infantry and briefly served as a recruit unassigned to a particular company. Again, he was discharged April 23, 1862 for "rheumatism," a collection of symptoms commonly confused with Typhoid Fever.

He enlisted a third time on January 1, 1864 as a recruit in the 36th Indiana Infantry / Company K where his brother Alfred Kilgore briefly served in late 1861 and early 1862. He died on August 5, 1864 of chronic diarrhea while serving in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Family

  • David Kilgore (Father) - First elected to the Indiana House of Representatives in 1833 as a Whig, Kilgore served a long and successful career in politics and government before the outbreak of the war. During the war he served as a close adviser to Indiana Governor Oliver P. Morton and organized several relief efforts for Indiana troops.
  • Alfred Kilgore (Older Brother) - A lawyer who served in the 36th Indiana Infantry between September 1861 and May 1862. He was elected to the Indiana House of Representatives and served from 1863-1867 before his untimely death in 1871.
  • Married with children[4]

Notes

  1. Gaff, On Many A Bloody Field, 65 claims that he was discharged on this day for "domestic considerations." RAGSI (2) 169 lists that he resigned but gives no date.
  2. Olson, Tracking the Political Career of David Kilgore, 98 refers to an oral history recorded with a descendent named Byron Kilgore. His story contains several inaccuracies.
  3. RAGSI (4) 409 lists March; Gaff, 88 lists February.
  4. Olson, Tracking the Political Career of David Kilgore, 98.

Sources