mcdonald2

Richard James applied for a pension for his war service, but was denied on grounds of desertion. The confusion came when several of the men spent a few days at home. From a letter sent to the Board by R. F. Holland, we get the following explanation: "…Afficiant states that on the retreat most or all of the company went to their houses in Giles County, after being at home a few days, himself in company with the said R J McDonald and others left homes to rejoin the command and when they got to the Tennessee River, they found all the ferries and crossing places on the river were strongly guarded by the enemy, so they failed to reach the command. They found out if they attempted to cross the river they would be captured, so they returned home. Afficiant further states that R J McDonald made a good solider and was all the times ready to obey all orders. He made every effort to reach his command after his return home on the retreat and he did not consider it any sense as desertion." In a letter written by E.D. Lasater, Gleason Station, Tennessee, to Major John R. Hickman of Nashville, Tennessee, on August 10, 1905, we have a small indication of Richard James's later life: "…Mr. McDonalds service entitles him to a pension, he is now old and poor, owns no home, has a wife and two daughters to support and one of the daughters totally blind. He himself not able to hold out to work much, so under these worthy circumstances, your honorable pension board can see its way clear, to grant a pension to a worthy confederate soldier who served faithfully in the army, part of the time in rags and barefooted."
When Richard James died, Luvina Catherine filed for a widow's pension on June 24, 1910, to help support herself and daughters, Ida and Nellie, since there wasn't any property, and Richard James had not been able to make a very good living on the small farm they rented. Ida had been born with poor eyesight and had surgery in Nashville but eventually went blind when she was about 8 years old. She attended the school for the blind in Nashville for a short time. Ida lived with her brother, Sid McDonald, and his wife, Daisy, until her death in 1940. Richard James was buried in a cemetery near Gleason, Tennessee, but his grave is unmarked.

Some of the battles fought by the 32nd Regiment were four days of fighting at Fort Donelson; Lookout Mountain; Swamp Creek; Resaca: New Hope Church; Powder Springs Road; Kennesaw Mountain; Columbia, South Carolina; and Bentonville, North Carolina which was their last battle. While fighting in the two day battle at Chickamauga in Georgia, Richard James was wounded in the left leg. He was also wounded in the left hip at Fort Donelson, Tennessee, on the Cumberland River and again in front of the left elbow at Marietta, Georgia. Although these were considered flesh wounds, later in his life they would so disable him that he could not make a living. By the time General Joseph E. Johnston surrendered his Army of Tennessee on April 26, 1865, there was only one company left of the 32nd Regiment. The men took the oath of loyalty to the United States and started their long walk home to Giles County.