James Edmond Hall (1841-1915) was born in Barbour County, West Virginia. In May of 1861 he joined a newly organized militia called the Barbour Greys, which was mustered into the Confederate Army as Company H of the 31st Virginia Volunteer Infantry. His diary records a common soldier's experience in the Civil War from major campaigns as part of the Army of Northern Virginia, to a Union prison, and finally Appomattox and the end of the conflict.