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 [decorative delimiter] Class of 1871

Vol. III
p168
2372

(Born Wis.)

James Cooperº Ayres

(Ap'd Wis.)

3

Born Aug. 24, 1849, Green Bay, WI.​a

Military History. — Cadet at the Military Academy, Sep. 1, 1867, to June 12, 1871, when he was graduated and promoted in the Army to

Second Lieut., 3d Infantry, June 12, 1871.

Served: on frontier duty at Camp Supply, I. T., Oct. 2, to Nov., 1871, — Ft. Wallace, Kan., to May 10, 1872, — Acting Regimental Adjutant, Apr. to June, 1872, — Ft. Hays, Kan., to Oct. 18, 1873, — and Ft. Riley, Kan., to July 26, 1874 (leave of absence, to Sep. 24, 1874); awaiting orders,

(Transferred to Ordnance, Nov. 1, 1874)

to Nov. 1, 1874; as Assistant Ordnance Officer at Rock Island Arsenal,

(First Lieut., Ordnance, Dec. 1, 1874)

Ill., Nov. 14, 1874, to Apr. 26, 1877, and Nov. 16, 1877, to Jan. 29, 1878; as Chief Ordnance Officer, Department of the Platte, May 24 to Nov. 3, 1877; in command of Ordnance Depot at Ft. Lincoln, Dak., Feb. 16, 1878, to Sep. 10, 1881; as Assistant at Springfield Armory, Mas., Sep. 30, 1881, to July 25, 1884, — Benicia Arsenal, Cal., Sep. 29,

(Captain, Ordnance, Mar. 15, 1883)

1884, to Sep. 28, 1888, — Watervliet Arsenal, N. Y., Oct. 24, 1888, to Mar. 1, 1889, — and to the Ordnance Board at the U. S. Proving Ground, Sandy Hook, N. J., to –––––.

Vol. IV
p206
[Supplement, Vol. IV: 1890‑1900]

Military History. — Served: As Assistant to Ordnance Board in charge of Sandy Hook Proving Ground, Feb. 15, 1889 to May 28, 1890; ordered to visit Whitworth Works, Manchester, England, while on leave of absence abroad, March 17, 1890; Chief Ordnance Officer, Department of the Platte, and commanding Omaha Ordnance Depot, May 28, 1890 to July 1, 1894; Recorder Board of Ordnance and Fortification, July 1, 1894 to April 8, 1898. — Also, while on this duty, Assistant Sandy Hook Proving-Ground, Aug. 22, 1894 to July 29, 1897; Inspector life-saving guns and projectiles at Cold Spring, N. Y., Aug. 28, 1894 to Feb. 15, 1895; Inspector of manufacture of pneumatic dynamite guns, Sept. 27, 1894 to Dec. 27, 1895; constructed sea‑coast battery for State of New Jersey at Sea Girt, N. J., April 12, 1895 to May 25, 1896; Inspector of 10‑inch disappearing carriages at Plainfield, N. J., June 21, 1895 to Dec. 22, 1896; on special duty, 1894 and 1895, preparing index to reports of Chief of Ordnance and completing Artillery Circular I. on modern guns and mortars; member of Ordnance Board, Dec. 3, 1895 to April 15, 1898. — Jan. 16, 1895, investigated and reported upon claims incident to sinking of schooner Henry R. Tilton by a deflected 10‑inch projectile from the Sandy Hook Proving-Ground; Inspector of manufacture of Howell disappearing carriage and iron castings at Cold Spring, N. Y., Jan. 6, 1897 to April 15, 1898; in charge of U. S. Powder Depot, Dover, N. J., April 3 to May 6, 1897; Inspector of 8‑inch disappearing carriages, Plainfield, N. J., Jan. 15, 1897 to Aug. 21, 1898; Inspector of 8‑inch projectiles, Brooklyn, N. Y., July 1 to Aug. 21, 1896; Inspector of armor and deck piercing projectiles at Derby, Ct., Dec. 1, 1897 to April 15, 1898; Assistant to Chief of Ordnance in charge of Supply Division, April 15, 1898 to Dec. 8, 1899; Principal Assistant in Ordnance Office, Washington, D. C., July 6, 1898 to Dec. 8, 1899, when he

Died, Dec. 8, 1899, at Washington, D. C, from the effects of an accidental collision of a wagon with his bicycle: Aged 50.

Portrait and obituary in Annual Report, Association of Graduates, for 1900.º

Buried, Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA.


Thayer's Note:

a Capt. Ayres' birth data are from his AOG obituary.


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