James N. Thurston, CSMC-- Part 2-- Attended the Citadel

From the Military Wiki.  "List of alumni The Citadel, the Military College of South Carolina."

JAMES N. THURSTON

James N. Thurston (1861). First graduate to serve in the Confederate States Marine Corps (CSMC).  As a cadet, was a member of the Star of the West Battery that fired the first shots of the Civil War..

One of 22 officers selected to be the initial cadre of the CSMC.  As a prisoner of war, he made a daring escape from Fort Delaware.  (This is in disagreement with the previous post which said he escaped from Fort Warren.  Fort Warren was often used to house Confederate officers, so this is most likely where he escaped.)

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There were six other Citadel graduates who had high positions in the Confederacy:

Col. Charles C. Tew

Colonel William J. Magill

Brig. Gen. Johnson Hagood  (who was near Fort Fisher and the Wilmington Campaign in 1865)

Brig. Gen. Micah  Jenkins

Maj. Gen. Evander M. Law

Brig. Gen. Thomas Huguenin

--Old B-Runner

James N. Thurston, CSMC

In the last post, I wrote that Nelson Tift had involvement with the construction of the CSS Atlanta and noticed that the Confederate officer above him on the list had been captured on that ship.

From Register of Officers of the Confederate Navy 1861-1865.

JAMES THURSTON

Born in South Carolina.  Appointed from South Carolina.  Second lieutenant Confederate  Marine Corps, September 20, 1861.  First lieutenant Marine Corps, July 4, 1862.

Served in C.S. Army, 1861.  Charleston Station, 1861.  Savannah Station, 1861-1863.

C.S.S. Atlanta; captured by  the U.S.S. Weehawken, June 17, 1863; escaped  August 19, 1863, from Fort Warren; recaptured; paroled  September 28, 1864; exchanged at Cox Wharf, Virginia, October 18, 1864.

Drewry's Bluff, Virginia,  1864.

--Old B-Runner

CSS Atlanta/USS Atlanta

Lt. James North Thurston, CSMC, was aboard the CSS Atlanta when it was captured June 17, 1863. It had previously been the blockade-runner Fingal before conversion into an ironclad. After capture, the Atlanta became a US warship until the end of the war. Decommissioned June 21, 1865, it was sold May 4, 1869 and then purchased by Haiti for $160,000 in gold. It sank December 1869 off Cape Hatteras on its way to that country.

And, That's the Story. --Old B-Runner

Some More on James North Thurston, CSMC

Born October 25, 1840, in South Carolina and died April 13, 1904. Buried at Green Mount Cemetery in Baltimore, Maryland.

He was captured on the CSS Atlanta and imprisoned at Fort Warren from whence he escaped August 19, 1863, for a short time before being recaptured. Fort Warren was a better prison than most. Only a dozen deaths occurred there along with seven escapes, of which four were recaptured.

Thurston was paroled and exchanged at Cox's Wharf, Virginia, October 18, 1864.

Runaway, Runaway. --Old B-R'er

James North Thurston, CSMC

From the Yahoo Civil War Navy and Marine Forum.

Someone wrote in looking for more information on this man. He was the first Citadel graduate to serve in the CS Marine Corps after being a member of the famous Citadel Star of the West Battery which fired what some consider to be the first shots of the war on the Star of the West in Charleston Harbor.

Thurston was one of 22 officers selected to be the initial cadre of the Confederate Marines.

He was captured but made a daring escape from Union Fort Delaware and after the war was a business owner.

From the Biographical Sketches Commissioned Officers of the Confederate States Marine Corps.

The Confederate Marines!! --Old B-Runner