James R. Fleming’s interest in the Civil War was piqued when he rescued a grocery bag full of old letters from the attic of his grandmother’s house just before its demolition. He was astonished to find that the letters were dated 1861 and 1862. These letters from Civil War soldiers McDill and McCreight inspired Mr. Fleming to do further research; eventually he included the histories of five of his ancestors in The Confederate Ninth Tennessee Infantry.

James R. Fleming was awarded the Jefferson Davis medal for excellence in preservation and research of Civil War history by the United Daughters of the Confederacy. A graduate of the University of Tennessee at Martin, Mr. Fleming resides in his hometown of Memphis in a restored 1912 foursquare house with his wife, Judge Karen R. Williams. In addition to his writing projects and historical research, he enjoys participating in living histories, working as an interpretive historian for the National Park Service, and collecting Civil War artifacts. Mr. Fleming is also an accomplished bluegrass banjo player and, with his wife, collects and plays period musical instruments.