James Downing

Downing's obituary tells the war more fully than the plaque. It lists his prisons, among them Libby, Belle Isle, Andersonville and Millen, until he was exchanged in time to be with his corps at Lee's surrender at Appomattox. He rose from sergeant to first lieutenant and was brevetted major. In 1881 a shattering accident cost him his leg, which Dr. Spohn amputated below the knee at Carrizo. In 1893 a Grand Army of the Republic member arranged government headstones for fourteen soldiers buried in Corpus Christi, Downing among them.

What the plaque says

James Downing Born in Devonshire, England, on December 4, 1842, to William and Hannah Downing, James Downing immigrated to Boston, Massachusetts, in about 1850 with his family. On March 6, 1862, James enlisted for three years in the First Massachusetts Heavy Artillery. Downing saw major combat in Virginia in 1864, including the Siege of Petersburg, during which he was taken captive and sent to Andersonville Prison, a notoriously horrific prisoner-of-war camp. While being transported, Downing escaped and traveled back to the front lines to rejoin his regiment. After the Civil War, Downing was promoted to second lieutenant in the 36th United States Colored Troops, assigned to Company F, comprised of formerly enslaved African Americans from North Carolina and Virginia. The regiment was transferred to Corpus Christi, where 2,000 African American soldiers were stationed. Downing served as Post Adjutant and Assistant Provost Marshal. As Union soldiers in a southern state, the troops and Downing were not always welcome; however, the von Blücher family opened their home to Downing, and he eventually wed Mary Felicia von Blücher. Downing held many different positions and jobs in Corpus Christi, including brick yard owner, Nueces County Voter Registrar (1867), Chief Engineer of the Fire Department, Alderman (1875-76, 1877), Mayor pro tem (1875) and City Marshal (1877-1880). From 1880-86, he lived in Zavala County as Deputy Collector of Customs, returning to Corpus Christi when he was appointed a U.S. Commissioner for the Western District of Texas. Downing died in Corpus Christi on April 28, 1891 and is buried at Old Bayview Cemetery. He is remembered for his contributions to his adopted city, state and nation. (2019)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Mirador de la Flor — 0.6 mi
  Corpus Christi's bayfront memorial to Selena Quintanilla-Pérez, the Tejano singer from this city, killed in 1995 at twenty-three, visited by about thirty thousand people a year.
• Art Museum of South Texas — 0.8 mi
  Philip Johnson's 1972 museum on the Corpus Christi bayfront, joined in 2006 by Ricardo Legorreta's Miller Wing, holding more than 2,000 works mostly from Texas and the Americas.
• Texas State Aquarium — 1.0 mi
  A nonprofit aquarium on the tip of Corpus Christi Beach built around the Gulf and the Caribbean, with the largest coastal wildlife rescue center in Texas behind the exhibits.
• USS Lexington Museum on the Bay — 1.2 mi
  An Essex-class carrier of 1943 moored off North Beach, the Blue Ghost that Tokyo Rose kept reporting sunk, and the Navy's training carrier for nearly three decades after.

More markers nearby

• Thomas S. Parker — steps away
• Louis de Planque — steps away
• Anna Moore Schwein — steps away
• John Dix — steps away