James Ronald Chalmers James Ronald Chalmers ( January 11 , 1831 – April 9 , 1898 ) was an American politician and a brigadier general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War . Early life and education . Born to Joseph Williams Chalmers and his wife near Lynchburg , Virginia , Chalmers moved as a child with his family to Jackson , Tennessee , in 1835 . Three years later , his parents moved the family to Holly Springs , Mississippi . Chalmers later attended St . Thomas Hall . His father , an attorney , was elected in 1845 to fill out an unexpired term as a United States Senator from Mississippi following the previous senator ' s resignation . The younger Chalmers studied law at South Carolina College ( present - day University of South Carolina ) in Columbia and graduated in 1851 . At the age of 21 , he served as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention of 1852 , before being admitted to the bar the following year . Chalmers began practicing law upon his return to Holly Springs . In 1858 , he was appointed as district attorney for the seventh judicial district of Mississippi . He participated in the secession convention of Mississippi in January 1861 . Military service . In March 1861 , Chalmers at the age of 30 enlisted in the Confederate Army as a captain and , despite no prior military experience , was elected as Colonel of the 9th Mississippi Infantry Regiment the next month . Stationed at Pensacola , Florida , during the first few months of the war , Chalmers was promoted to brigadier general on February 13 , 1862 . He fought under General Withers at the Battle of Shiloh on April 6 . On July 1 , 1862 , Chalmers ' force of nearly 5 , 000 infantry engaged in battle with Union Col . Philip Sheridan at a forward outpost near Booneville , Mississippi and , during the subsequent battle , was defeated by the 31 - year - old Union officer . Sheridan employed superior weaponry and , by repeatedly moving Union troops on and off military transport trains , he deceived Confederate forces into believing his command ( numbering 827 men ) was much larger than their own . Despite this embarrassing defeat , Chalmers was considered to have had a successful military career , taking part in the Kentucky Campaign under General Braxton Bragg . He was a brigade commander at the Battle of Stones River , where he was wounded at " Hell ' s Half - Acre " . In 1863 , Chalmers was appointed commander of the District of Mississippi and East Louisiana before he was transferred to the first division of Maj . Gen . Nathan Bedford Forrest ' s cavalry corps the following year . Earning the nickname " Little ' Un ' " while under Forrest , Chalmers saw action in Confederate military operations in North Mississippi , Kentucky , and West Tennessee . He also served with the Confederate Army of Tennessee during Lt . Gen . John B . Hood ' s 1864 campaign . At the end of the war , he was paroled in Gainesville , Alabama , on May 10 , 1865 . Later years . In the years following the war , Chalmers returned to Mississippi where he resumed his law career . As a prominent Mississippi political figure during Reconstruction , he was elected as a member of the state senate from 1876 to 1877 . After Mississippi ' s readmission into the Union , Chalmers was elected as a U . S . Representative for the state for three terms in 1877 , 1878 , and 1882 . He failed in three other bids for election , contested by Republican John R . Lynch and Democrat Van H . Manning . Beginning in the mid - 1870s , the Red Shirts , a paramilitary group supporting the Democratic Party , worked to intimidate and suppress black voting , with considerable violence during elections . In 1877 the federal government withdrew its military from the South , ending Reconstruction . Chalmers retired from politics and , in 1888 , moved to Vicksburg , Mississippi . He continued his law practice for another decade until his death on April 9 , 1898 . He was buried in Memphis , Tennessee , at Elmwood Cemetery , Evergreen Section , Lot 448 .