National Archives

James Forsyth as a young company grade officer at the start of the Civil War.

James W. Forsyth was born August 8, 1835 in Maumee, Ohio. Second, then first lieutenant of Company D, 9th Infantry from December 1856 to July 1861. 

He was assigned to Company D, Ninth Infantry at Fort Bellingham, following graduation from West Point. He was a capable officer who was instrumental in the completion of the frontier fort and was to serve as the company's acting when Capt. George E. Pickett was away on leave.

Witnesses reported that the two men did not agree on issues that fueled the growing sectional dispute, but it not interfer with their duties. 

During the war, Forsyth served on the staffs of George B. McClellan and Philip H. Sheridan, where he became closely acquainted with a brash young officer named George A. Custer.

His staff skills and valor in battle spurred his rise through brevet ranks culminating in promotion to brigadier general on May 19, 1865. Forsyth earned a colonel’s brevet for his actions at FIVE FORKS on April 1, 1865. In command of the Confederate forces was his past superior officer and close friend, George E. Pickett. 

Forsyth remained in the army and closely aligned with Sheridan following the war. As a full colonel, he commanded the Seventh Cavalry (Custer's regiment) at WOUNDED KNEE Creek on December 29, 1890. He survived an attempted censure from Brig. Gen. Nelson Miles, his immediate superior, and retired a major general. He died October 24, 1906.