James S. Rains

James Spencer Rains was born in Tennessee to Asahel and Malvina (Duncan) Rains.[1] By 1840, Rains had moved to the vicinity of Sarcoxie, Missouri. He served as prewar general of the militia and as Newton County, Missouri judge from 1840 to 1842. In 1844, he was elected to the state house by Newton County and served in the Missouri Senate from 1854 to 1861. Between 1845 and 1852, Rains served as an agent for Indian affairs in various locations and ventured to California as a "forty-niner", where he served as a general in the California state militia. In 1860, Rains was an unsuccessful candidate for the U.S. Congress for the Southwest Missouri District. Rains County, Texas is named for his brother Emory Rains, an early Texas legislator.[2]

On May 18, 1861, Governor Claiborne Jackson of Missouri appointed Rains brigadier general of the 8th Division of the Missouri State Guard. While he was an excellent recruiter, Rains was completely unfit for military command. His failure to instill organization and discipline led to derisive nicknames such as "Rains' Blackberry Cavalry"[3] and routs referred to as "Rains' scares."[4]

Rains led his command ineptly at the Battle of Carthage as his cavalry failed to cut off the retreat of a small Union force over open prairie.[3]^:172-176 (It is a matter of historical contention as to whether he was in command of the whole Missouri State Guard on the field, but if he was, he seems to have provided no direction beyond his own 8th Division.)[3]^:115

His standing did not improve when his cavalry panicked and was routed in a skirmish south of Springfield at Dug Springs. At the Battle of Wilson's Creek, his force was surprised and driven away by the initial attack of Brig. Gen. Nathaniel Lyon's advancing infantry. Rains continued to serve in the major battles of the Missouri State Guard in 1861 and 1862. He was wounded at the Battle of Pea Ridge and ran afoul of the commander of the Confederate forces, Earl Van Dorn, during the retreat.

Rains did not accompany the Missouri forces across the river into Mississippi in April 1862. He remained behind with other Missouri State Guard forces who did not wish to leave the Trans-Mississippi. Major General Thomas Hindman placed Rains in command of the mixed guard and Confederate forces in Northwest Arkansas. Hindman relieved Rains of command in October 1862 for "incompetence and insobriety."[1]^:191

Rains moved to Texas to recover his health. In 1864, he returned to Missouri at the command of Confederate Governor Thomas C. Reynolds to recruit during Price's Missouri Expedition. With the end of the expedition, Rains withdrew.

After the war, Rains settled in Wood County, Texas and later Kaufman County, Texas, where he became a farmer, railroad promoter, lawyer, and political organizer/candidate. He failed in his run for lieutenant governor in 1878. He died on May 19, 1880 at his home and is buried at Lee Cemetery in Seagoville, Dallas County.

• James S. Rains at Find a Grave