James A . Cunningham James Adams Cunningham ( November 27 , 1830 – July 17 , 1892 ) was a volunteer officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War . Serving as a company commander in the 1st Battalion Massachusetts Infantry ( which later became the 32nd Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry ) on garrison duty at Fort Warren in Boston , Cunningham was transferred with his unit to the battle front in the spring of 1862 . He fought in numerous battles with the Army of the Potomac , eventually taking command of the 32nd Massachusetts in 1864 . In the closing days of the war , Cunningham distinguished himself during the Appomattox Campaign , earning the award of the honorary grade of brevet brigadier general . During the Battle of Appomattox Court House , Cunningham received the flag of surrender sent by General Robert E . Lee . After the war , Cunningham served with the Massachusetts General Court and as Adjutant General of Massachusetts . Early life . Born in Boston in 1830 , James Cunningham moved to Gloucester , Massachusetts as a young man and took up a career as a stagecoach driver . He married Ann Eliza Lane of New Jersey and had two children before the Civil War . Civil War service . Company command . A few months after the start of the Civil War , Cunningham assisted with the recruitment of a company of volunteer infantry in Gloucester . The company was formed in November 1861 under the command of Captain James P . Draper and became Company D of the 1st Battalion Massachusetts Infantry . Cunningham was second in command of the company , receiving the commission of 1st lieutenant on December 2 , 1861 . The company was made up almost entirely of Gloucester fishermen and , early in its service , had a reputation for unruliness . The battalion was stationed during the winter of 1861 – 1862 at Fort Warren , the largest fortification in Boston harbor . There , the unit trained in infantry and artillery drill and also guarded the approximately 1 , 000 Confederate prisoners held at the fort . On March 6 , 1862 , Cunningham was promoted captain and placed in command of Company F of the battalion . In May 1862 , the battalion was transferred to the battle front in northern Virginia . That summer , four more companies were added to the battalion , amounting to ten companies as required for a full regiment . The unit was designated , on September 3 , 1862 , the 32nd Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry . The regiment became part of the V Corps in the Army of the Potomac . Over the course of 1862 , Cunningham commanded Company F in combat during the battles of Second Bull Run , Antietam and Fredericksburg . In 1863 , he participated in the battles of Chancellorsville , Gettysburg and Mine Run . In 1864 , still in command of a company in the 32nd Massachusetts , Cunningham saw action in the Overland Campaign , a series of battles aimed at grinding down the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia and taking the Confederate capital of Richmond . The Overland Campaign ended in a stalemate and resulted in the long Siege of Petersburg . Regimental command . Because several of the senior officers of the 32nd Massachusetts were killed or wounded in the course of the Overland Campaign and the Siege of Petersburg , Cunningham was promoted to lieutenant colonel in the summer of 1864 and took command of the regiment at the end of September . He would command the regiment for the remainder of its service . In late March 1865 , the Confederate army abandoned its siege lines at Petersburg and retreated towards western Virginia , bringing about the Appomattox Campaign and , ultimately , the end of the war . It was during this campaign , on April 2 , 1865 , that Cunningham distinguished himself in the wake of the Battle of Five Forks . The battle , having taken place on April 1 , 1865 , forced the Confederates to begin their retreat from Petersburg and Richmond . That night , Cunningham was placed in command of a brigade of skirmishers and ordered to lead the pursuit of the retreating Confederate army . Deploying his brigade under the eye of Major General Philip Sheridan , Cunningham pushed his men rapidly westward , covering many miles of ground and overtaking hundreds of Confederates in the course of their retreat as well as significant amounts of Confederate supplies . On January 18 , 1867 , President Andrew Johnson nominated Cunningham for the award of the honorary grade of brevet brigadier general , United States Volunteers , to rank from April 1 , 1865 , for distinguished services during the campaign against Richmond , and for especial gallantry at the battle of Five Forks , Virginia , and the U . S . Senate confirmed the award on February 21 , 1867 . Over the next week , the Union cavalry and V Corps ( including Cunningham ' s 32nd Massachusetts ) pursued the Confederates , forcing their surrender at the Battle of Appomattox Court House on April 9 , 1865 . Near the close of the battle , Cunningham spotted through his field glasses a white flag of truce . Riding forward , Cunningham ascertained that the flag was born by a Confederate staff officer who wished to communicate a message to Lieutenant General Ulysses S . Grant that Confederate General Robert E . Lee wished to discuss terms of surrender . After the close of the war , Cunningham was mustered out of service with the rest of the 32nd Massachusetts on June 29 , 1865 . Post - war life . Immediately after the war , Brevet Brig . Gen . Cunningham dabbled in politics , serving briefly as a representative to the Massachusetts General Court in 1865 . At the close of 1866 , he accepted an appointment as Adjutant General of Massachusetts , becoming the commanding general of the Massachusetts Volunteer Militia . He succeeded the wartime adjutant general , William Schouler and served in that capacity until 1879 . In 1882 , Cunningham became the superintendent of the Massachusetts Soldier ' s Home in Chelsea , a position he occupied for ten years until his death in Chelsea on July 17 , 1892 . He was buried in Oak Grove Cemetery , Gloucester , Massachusetts .