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Brig. Gen. James M. Shackelford (b. 1827, d. 1909) Between two resignations from Federal service, James Murrell Shackelford rose to the rank of brigadier general of volunteers and was celebrated for his capture of Confederate raider John H. Morgan. Shackelford was born July 7, 1827, in Lincoln County, Kentucky. During the Mexican War, he joined Co. I of the 4th Kentucky Volunteers. He mustered out in 1848 and studied law. In 1853, he was admitted to the Kentucky bar. He practiced in Louisville until the start of the Civil War. At the start of the war, he recruited the 25th Kentucky Infantry (Union) and was commissioned as its colonel Jan. 1, 1862. Less than a month and a half later, this regiment was part of Col. Charles Cruft’s 1st brigade, 3rd division, in the campaign against forts in northern Tennessee. At Fort Donelson, the regiment suffered 84 casualties in the elimination of Confederate opposition in that part of the state. Shackelford resigned his commission in late March, possibly due to health. He recovered by August of 1862, raising another regiment, the 8th Kentucky Cavalry, a 12-month unit frequently split into three parts which served in separate areas. He was commissioned as colonel of this unit Sept. 13, 1862. Shackelford received a minor foot wound in a skirmish with Confederates of Adam Johnson’s command at Geiger’s Lake, Kentucky, soon after this regiment was raised. He was elevated to brigadier general of volunteers March 17, 1863, to rank from Jan. 2, 1863. When John H. Morgan raided through Indiana and Ohio, Shackelford commanded the 1st brigade of the 2nd division of the XXIII Corps in trying to capture the raider. This brigade was a group of infantry and cavalry gathered for the purpose of stopping Morgan. Shackelford broke up Morgan’s raiders and captured Morgan himself near Wellsville, Ohio. Shackelford participated in the capture of Cumberland Gap as the leader of the 3rd and 4th brigades of the XXIII Corps. He later led the cavalry corps of the Department of the Ohio in action at Blue Springs, Tennessee, and Bean’s Station, Tennessee. He opposed Lt. Gen. James Longstreet’s Confederates near Knoxville. Shackelford resigned his commission in January of 1864, citing the recent death of his wife and the need to raise his four young children. After that, he returned to practice law. In 1889, he was appointed U.S. judge for the Indian Territory. After that, he set up law practice in Muskogee, Indian Territory, and was attorney for the Choctaw Nation. He died Sept. 7, 1909, in Port Huron, Michigan (his summer home). He was buried in Cave Hill Cemetery in Louisville.

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