"Hardest artillery fighter the war produced"

Maj. James Breathed was born near present-day Berkeley Spring, W. Va., on December 15, 1838, and moved while young with his family to Washington Co., Md. He attended St. James School in Lydia, where his father John Breathed was headmaster. At age 21, he graduated from the University of Maryland Medical School. During the Civil War, he served as a lieutenant in the 1st Virginia Cavalry under J.E.B. Stuart, and later as a major in Stuart's Horse Artillery.

Breathed so distinguished himself in the Battles of Chancellorsville, Brandy Station, Gettysburg, Spotsylvania Court House, and Yellow Tavern that Gen. Robert E. Lee regarded him as "The hardest artillery fighter the war produced." he returned to Hancock, Md., after the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox Court House to live with his sister and practice medicine. His family was among the founders of St. Thomas Episcopal Church. Breathed's brother-in-law Robert Bridges, co-owner of the Round Top Cement Mill, was the largest employer in Hancock during the war. His first cousin Dr. James Breathed Delaplane was also a physician here, and his office stood on this site. Maj. James Breathed died on February 14, 1870, and is buried in St. Thomas Episcopal Church Cemetery.

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