By Robert L. Willett
James C. Cameron was from Ottawa, Illinois and was 22 years old when he enlisted with the Union Army on 3 December 1861.
He became a First Lieutenant in Yate's Sharpshooters, Company A of the 64th Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment; the regiment was sent south in 1862 and he was listed as wounded in the battle of Corinth, Mississippi 3-4 October 1862.
Recovered, he was assigned to General Grenville Dodge's staff in Corinth and detailed to Iuka to become Provost Marshall of the District of Corinth. Dodge's command was part of the Army of the Tennessee under General Grant.
He was released from this command to join the 1st Alabama Cavalry in April 1863, and assigned to march with Dodge's screening force to protect Colonel Abel D. Streight's raiders headed for Alabama. Dodge's force encountered Confederate Colonel Philip Roddey's cavalry while Dodge was enroute to meet Streight. Several minor battles were fought, and in the battle near Bear Creek, Alabama on April 17, 1863, he was killed while leading a charge against Roddey's men.
His brother Alexander Cameron, also in the 1st Alabama Cavalry, took his body back to the family burial plot in Ottawa, Illinois.
Service records compiled by Glenda Todd and used with her permission. This and other information about the history of the First and the men who fought with the unit
can be found in her book, First Alabama Cavalry, USA: Homage to Patriotism.