VA-B40 Death of 2d. Lt. James Big Yankee Ames

Marker text: DEATH OF 2D. LT. JAMES "BIG YANKEE" AMES

Sargeant James F. Ames of the 5th New York Cavalry deserted the Union army in Feb. 1863 and joined Lt. Col. John S. Mosby's Partisan Rangers (later 43d Cavalry Battalion). Nick named "Big Yankee," Ames rose to the rank of 2d lieutenant. On the night of 8 Mar. 1863 he guided Mosby's Rangers on the Fairfax Court House raid which Mosby captured Union Brig. Gen. Edwin Stoughton. On 9 Oct. 1864 a Federal soldier shot and killed Ames on the road leading to Benjamin "Cook" Shacklett's house. The Union soldier was killed by Ranger Pvt. Ludwell Lake, Jr. Ames was buried nearby in an unmarked grave. Mosby said of Ames, "I never had a more faithful follower."

Department of Historic Resources, 2001