James S. Norfleet

NORFLEET, JAMES S. (1835 ~ 1918). James S. Norfleet, Confederate veteran, was born in Tennessee in 1835.

After immigrating to Mississippi, Norfleet enlisted in the Confederacy at Grenada on May 14, 1862. He was mustered into Captain L. G. Wollard's Company of the 42nd Regiment of the Mississippi Infantry. Wollard's Company later became Company D of the 42nd Mississippi Infantry.

After its organization, the 42nd Infantry was sent to Virginia where it was assigned garrison duty in and around Richmond until it was assigned to General J. R. Davis' Brigade. With Davis, the 42nd took part in numerous engagements including Gettysburg, the Wilderness, and Cold Harbor.

Norfleet did not fight in the majority of the battles in which his unit participated. On June 10, 1863, he was hospitalized in Lynchburg, Virginia and did not rejoin the 42nd until after they fought at the Battle of Falling Water in Maryland on July 14, 1863.

Norfleet did fight at the Battle of Bristoe Station, Virginia on October 14, 1863, but became ill again and was furloughed until March 9, 1864. His military records show him as absent without leave for the next five months. During that time, he missed another four engagements: the Wilderness, Spottsylvania, Hanover Junction, and Cold Harbor.

After finally rejoining his company in August, 1864, Norfleet participated in the Battle of Weldon Railroad, where he was wounded and taken captive on October 1, 1864.

After being held as a prisoner of war for nearly a year at Point Lookout, Maryland Military Prison, Norfleet signed an oath of Allegiance to the United States and was released. It is believed that he returned to Mississippi.

In 1876, Norfleet moved to Texas and eventually settled in Silver, Cooke County, where he worked as a farmer. In 1900, he applied for a Confederate Pension from the State of Texas. It was approved on March 28, 1901.

On February 16, 1912, he was admitted into the Confederate Men's Home in Austin, where he lived until his death on February 11, 1918. He was buried at the Texas State Cemetery the next day.

Norfleet was married, but his wife's name is not currently known. According to his Confederate Home Roster, she died before he moved to Austin.

There was also no mention of any children, but he did list a nephew, an S. M. Connor, who also lived in Silver, Texas, as his next of kin.

Information taken from: Compiled Military Service Record; Confederate Pension Application # 8195; Confederate Home Roster; Civil War Soldier and Sailors System Website at http://www.itd.nps.gov/cwss/; and Death Certificate #9666.