Background
James Camp was born on September 9, 1825, in Franklin, Williamson County, Tennessee, United States. He was the son of Benjamin and Margaret Camp Tappan.
20 Main St, Exeter, NH 03833, United States
Tappan attended Phillips Exeter Academy.
New Haven, CT 06520, United States
Tappan graduated from Yale University in 1845.
farmer lawyer military politician
James Camp was born on September 9, 1825, in Franklin, Williamson County, Tennessee, United States. He was the son of Benjamin and Margaret Camp Tappan.
Tappan attended Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, New Hampshire, and graduated from Yale University in 1845. He read law in Vicksburg, Mississippi, before beginning practice in Helena, Arkansas, in 1848.
James Camp Tappan developed a successful law practice and became active in local politics.
He served in the Arkansas legislature in 1850-1852 and was a receiver for the United States Land Office at Helena from 1852 to 1860. When the Civil War began, he joined the Confederate war effort. He entered the Confederate Army as a colonel of the 13th Arkansas Regiment and was a hero of the battle of Belmont, Missouri, on November 7, 1861.
After participating in the charge on the Hornet's Nest at the battle of Shiloh the following March, Tappan fought in the battles of Richmond and Perryville, Kentucky, during Bragg's campaign in October 1862. He was promoted to brigadier general on November 5, 1862. Tappan served under General Sterling Price on the Little Rock expedition in Arkansas in 1863, on the Camden expedition, and in the battle of Jenkins' Ferry in the spring of 1864.
Later, he also fought at the battles of Mansfield and Pleasant Hill, Louisiana, during the Red River expedition, also in the spring of 1864. He was on Price's last raid into Missouri.
After the war, Tappan returned to his law practice in Helena. He remained out of politics until after Reconstruction. He was speaker of the Arkansas House from 1897 to 1899 and declined a nomination for governor.
Tappan was a Democrat and despite his parents' New England ancestry, he supported the Confederacy.
James married Mary Elizabeth Anderson in June 1854. His only child, Mary, was born in Helena in 1871. She never married and lived in the family home until her death in 1944.