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- James attended East Greenwich Academy, then Brown University, where he was valedictorian in 1862. His oration, which was on the "Scholar's Relations to Humanity," was delivered in the uniform of a captain of infantry beneath the traditional scholastic gown. In September 1862, he was mustered into the army as captain of Company H, 7th Regiment, RI Infantry. He was wounded at the Battle of Fredericksburg, VA, on 13 December 1862, sustaining a hit from a musket ball which shattered his lower jaw. It was a compound fracture in which the bone was "badly shattered and imperfectly united." After a period of recuperation at a hospital in New Haven, CT, he was officially discharged due to disability on 2 May 1863. Having returned to Rhode Island in April 1863, he was elected to the RI House of Representatives from Warwick, but soon resigned this political position to return to military service with a group known as the Invalid Corps, renamed Veterans Reserve Corps. He accepted a captain's commission and served in several different units, including one which guarded rebel prisoners at Camp Chemung in Elmira, NY, from November 1864 to June 1865.
While stationed at Elmira, James studied law in his spare time, and was appointed to serve as Judge Advocate of a General Court Martial in Albany, NY, from May to December 1865. He was later assigned to serve from January 1866 to November 1868 as an officer in Virginia for the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands. In this agency his job was to help people transition from wartime to a peacetime economy, and to assist and protect newly freed African-Americans. The organization established schools and distributed food, clothing, and firewood to the needy. James also used his legal expertise to aid individuals in the courts.
During his convalescence at New Haven, CT, James had met a young woman named Ellen "Nellie" F. Howard, with whom he established a lasting friendship and carried on a correspondence. They were married in Brooklyn, NY, in 1868. Shortly after this he entered into law practice in Portsmouth, VA. In 1872 they moved to Brooklyn, where he practiced law in New York City for the remainder of his life. His business focused on tax, patent, and real estate law. James H. Remington was one of the earliest members of the NY State Bar Association, and president of the US Law Association from 1881 to 1899.
In the 1870 Federal Census, James H. Remington is age 31, b RI, a lawyer, living in a hotel at Portsmouth, VA. His wife's name is not listed, although she may very well have been living there with him.
In the 1880 Federal Census, James & Ellen are living in Brooklyn with their two children, as well as Ellen's mother and brother.
James H. Remington was Paymaster of the Kentish Guards c1860 (source: Acts and Resolves of the General Assembly of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations Passed at the May Session, 1858).
The additional following information on James H. Remington is found in a biographical sketch in "The Seventh Regiment of RI Volunteers in the Civil War, 1862 - 1865," by William P. Hopkins; Providence, RI: Snow & Farmham Printers, 1903; Personal Sketches, pp. 352 - 354:
"Captain James Henry Remington, son of Benjamin F., was born at Warwick, R.I., Nov. 9, 1838, on the old homestead, which, up to 1892, at least, had been in the Remington family since it was purchased from the Narragansett Indians. The father was a member of the Rhode Island legislature . . .
"Dec. 30, 1865, General Hooker, by order of the secretary of war, appointed Captain Remington judge advocate of the court of inquiry convened at Rochester, N.Y., to investigate certain charges against Col. E. G. Marshall, a graduate of West Point, attached to the Fifth United States Infantry, who had previously distinguished himself as the commander of the Thirteenth New York Volunteers. The case was hotly contested for several weeks, but resulted in the exoneration of the colonel. In this famous trial he clearly exhibited the ability, learning, and tact that afterward distinguished him at the bar. Subsequently he served at Winchester, Wytheville, and Norfolk, Va., as military commissioner, assisting in the reconstruction of the state and gaining the respect of all parties for his firmness and impartiality. He resigned in September, 1868, having been commissioned major by brevet for gallantry and good conduct to date, from March 13, 1865, and henceforth devoted his attention exclusively to the law.
"Dec. 8, 1868, Mr. Remington was admitted to the bar at Norfolk, and immediately commenced practice in the courts of Virginia. Pending reconstruction he was appointed by General Canby, who commanded the first military district of Virginia, attorney for Norfolk, Princess Anne, Nansemond, South Hampton, and Isle of Wight counties. So satisfactorily did he discharge his duties that when the state had become reconstructed, he was at once elected by the people attorney for Norfolk County and the City of Portsmouth. When the organization of the Grand Army of the Republic commenced he became one of its leaders, and it was largely through his personal influence that the Department of Virginia was established. In December, 1870, he was appointed its commander by Gen. John A. Logan, then commander-in-chief of the order, but previously had been chosen commander of the Farragut Post at Portsmouth . . .
"Mr. Remington was a member of the Plymouth Church, Brooklyn, and for many years a warm friend and admirer of Henry Ward Beecher . . . He was also a supporter of the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences."
From website of Greenwood Cemetery in Brooklyn, NY: REMINGTON JAMES H. Burial date 1899-02-11 Lot 26526 Section139
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1838 - 1899 (60 years)
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