AUTHOR: James Paris
James Clontz was a farmer in Union County, North Carolina before the Civil War started. On July 4, 1862, when he was thirty-two years old, he enlisted in the Confederate Army as a private. He served in Company H of the 57th Infantry (North Carolina).
According to his military records, James was promoted to Corporal (Full, Vol) on Nov. 15, 1862, and promoted to Sergeant (Full, Vol) in May,1863. He got pneumonia in December 1862, and was hospitalized at Richmond, Virginia. In Feb. 1863, he was granted a 60-day furlough and returned to serve on May 3, 1863.
On May 4, 1863, James was taken as a POW at Chancellorsville, Virginia and confined at Fort Delaware, Delaware. On May 23, 1863, he was paroled then arrived for exchange at City Point, Virginia a day later. He returned to serve on Oct. 31, 1863.
In 1864, James was wounded; he was treated for “gunshot of the arm” on May 16th at a hospital in Richmond. Several months later, he was furloughed on October 31, 1864 and returned to service on November 15th. Then, on March 25, 1865, James was captured again—this time at Fort Stedman, Virginia. He was confined a few days later at Point Lookout, Maryland. He was detained there until he took the Oath of Allegiance in June 1865, then he was released.
James returned home to Union County after the war. He died on November 21, 1911 and is buried at Union Cemetery in Brief, NC.
