James "Jimmie" Evans was a slight Welshman who volunteered for the Union in the Civil War in 1861, the year following his arrival in the States. After serving in Shiloh, he was captured on the front lines trying to rescue a wounded soldier at the Battle of Chickamauga in 1863. He was a POW for for 15 months.
He wrote about his experience "Jimmie Evan's Camp-Fire, or 15 Months in Rebel Prisons," a 31 page handwritten manuscript available at the Norwich University Archives.
Evans was part of a prisoner exchange in Charleston, S.C. in 1864. He soon re-enlisted with the 5th US Infantry. At Fort Sumner he served under Captain Charles A. Curtis who became the eighth president of Norwich. As president, Curtis asked Evans to come to Norwich as armorer and to be in charge of maintenance. Evans started at Norwich in 1869.
Born in Ebbu Vale, South Wales around 1835, Evans had worked in the iron industry as a puddler, one who melts metal. As Norwich's armorer, he was responsible for keeping small arms in perfect working order--as much a gunsmith as metalsmith. He also was charged with keeping supplies of coal, oil and wood. His greatest talent, was his relationships with cadets.
"He is a marvelous story teller, and many a night, during the annual encampment, he beguiled the evening hours with weird tales of western life," wrote 1876 alum, George D. Thomas in the "Reveille." He became so much a part of the cadet's daily life that he "graduated" with them each year.
In 1901 after 32 years of service at Norwich, he retired. He died in 1904.
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