Col. James Bankhead, 2nd U. S. Artillery. c. 1846. by J. Plumbe
James Bankhead
(1783?1856) was a
U. S. Army
officer
who rose to the rank of
brevet
brigadier general
and served in the
War of 1812
,
Second Seminole War
, and
Mexican?American War
.
Biography
[
edit
]
James Bankhead was born on May 24, 1783, in
Port Royal
, in
Caroline County, Virginia
.
Bankhead joined the U. S. Army in 1808, as a captain in the
5th Infantry Regiment
. Bankhead and
Winfield Scott
entered the army on the same day and they remained lifelong friends. Before the War of 1812, Bankhead served in various commands and staff assignments. During the war he was promoted to
major
. Later he was on the staff of General
Wade Hampton
, and received a
brevet
promotion to
lieutenant colonel
.
His duties as an Army officer took him to Charleston, South Carolina where he met and married the fourth daughter of John Pyne, Ann Smith Pyne, in her mother's home on Church Street on 25 June 1817.
He attained the rank of lieutenant colonel of the
3rd Artillery Regiment
, on April 26, 1832.
He saw active service during the Second Seminole War and received a brevet promotion to
colonel
in 1838 to recognize his bravery.
[1]
Col. Bankhead was in command of the garrison of the
Buffalo Barracks
from October 1838 to August 1841.
[2]
Bankhead served in the
Mexican?American War
, at
Vera Cruz
commanding the
2nd Artillery Regiment
and was promoted to brevet
Brigadier General
for distinguished service in the reduction of Vera Cruz where Bankhead, the senior field officer, acted as chief of artillery, in command of the batteries. From January 1848 he commanded the
Department of Orizaba
, Mexico.
Bankhead was appointed commander of the
Department of the East
in 1854, and made his headquarters at
Fort McHenry
, where he served until his death. He died and was buried, in
Green Mount Cemetery
,
Baltimore, Maryland
on November 11, 1856.
Notes
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