James A Barber
James was born on the 11th of July 1841, in Westerly, Rhode Island, and he enlisted into the 1st Rhode Island Light Artillery in November of 1861. It was his actions as a Corporal with Battery G on the 2nd of April 1865, that would later earn him the Medal of Honor. The citation reads:
Was one of a detachment of 20 picked artillerymen who voluntarily accompanied an infantry assaulting party, and who turned upon the enemy the guns captured in the assault.
James Received the Medal of Honor the following year on the 20th of June, and he was married to Hannah, with whom he had seven children. Their wedding took place less than one month prior to his Medal of Honor actions and he mustered out of the Army in June of 1865. James went to work as a mariner, harvesting seaweed that would be turned into fertilizer, and on the 26th of June 1925, James Albert Barber died at the age of 83. He is buried with his parents and one of his sons in the River Bend Cemetery in Westerly, Rhode Island: Section 21, Lot 385.
