James Walter Spratley was born in August 1840, in Smithfield, Virginia. He eventually moved to Alabama.

 

He enlisted in the Confederate army in April 1861, and he mustered in as a private in the 7^th Alabama Infantry. In November 1861, he insisted that it was the “duty of every southern man to remain in the army, especially as long as the Enemies of the South may see proper to wage war upon us.” By early 1862, he was serving as a quartermaster sergeant. The regiment disbanded in April 1862, and he joined the 3^rd Alabama Cavalry soon afterward. He was promoted to major in October 1862.

 

Union forces captured him at Port Hudson on July 9, 1863, and imprisoned him on Johnson’s Island in Ohio. Decades later, he recalled that “We were on a bleak island under the eyes of sentinels, with guns loaded—and the stern reality forced itself upon us that we were, in truth, prisoners of war.” He vividly recalled the “slow, weary hours of captivity” and the severity of Ohio winters. He noted that “Our spirits were sustained by expectation of exchange during the first year of captivity, but after that we lost hope and concluded we would not be released until the end of the war.” He remained there until March 1865, when he was transferred to Point Lookout and then to Fort Delaware. He was released on July 24, 1865.

 

He settled in Mobile, Alabama, after the war, and he married Marianne Gaillard on December 9, 1868. He earned a living as an accountant. He published several articles about his wartime experiences in the late 1800s and early 1900s. He died in Mobile on March 27, 1912.

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