James Pickands, a former Cleveland Grays militiaman, enlisted in the 1st Ohio Infantry in 1861 before joining the 124th Ohio Infantry as major. He became the regiment’s senior officer at the Battle of Chickamauga after Colonel Oliver Payne was severely wounded, and later rose to lieutenant colonel. After the war he moved to Marquette, Michigan, and in 1883 co-founded the iron-ore firm Pickands Mather and Company.