".the Civil War came on, and he joined the cause of the south and marched away. Aunt Mary and the children lived in the home of the Squire White and his good wife while Uncle Jim was away. At one time while Uncle Jim was in the service, they were camped so near the enemy they could hear the commanding officer giving orders. Uncle Jim, with his love for fun, could not resist the temptation, so in a loud voice answered the officer, then mocked and taunted him. For this offense he was severely reproved, and barely escaped court martial. After it was over, one of his fellow soldiers said: "Jim, will you now learn to keep your mouth shut?"
At another time he and some comrades were foraging. Seeing some barn-yard turkeys he baited a fishhook with corn and dropped it where an old "gobbler" soon found it and swallowed the corn, whereupon Uncle Jim started running and saying "the gobbler is after me," dragging the turkey into camp."
"Perry and James Amick are mentioned with the same fun loving spirit in these exploits from Shackleford, F. G. "My Recollections of the War," Nicholas Chronicle. March 1895 - November 1895. "They were a dedicated bunch, and seemed to endure the daily suffering with high spirits and a sense of humor. As men who made a living farming in the western counties, they seemed to enjoy good whiskey, or even bad whiskey. But they were also among those who attended church services and revivals.
Any time food was missing or someone's pipe blew up in their face, the first thought was the Amick's, James and Perry. There was always joking. Laughing at Captain Thornton's skinny legs or making fun of Fred Reynold's escape across the river at Piedmont. They swore he cleared the 50-foot-wide river in 2 leaps. The Nicholas boys would never pass up a home-cooked meal. Not only did they enjoy the food, but also the few hours of family life that all soldiers missed.
Christmas Day 1862 found the men up early...several had a drop of mountain dew and were quite spirited, firing their muskets. Col. McCausland came into camp and order the firing stopped, but as soon as he left it started anew. McCausland then sent word to stack arms, This started a mad scramble to clean rifles, as no one wanted to be caught with a recently fired musket....All the colonel ordered was the muskets be stacked and the men were allowed to return to their celebration.
As the men wintered at Narrows in 1864, they again amused themselves with their favorite pastime, whiskey...with very little money, procurement of their favorite beverage was often difficult...and when the men heard of a certain place where whiskey could be obtained, they set out from camp with 12 canteens, and a plan.
Before the men left camp, they filled 6 canteens with water. At the purchase point they filled 6 empty canteens without asking the price. After the canteens were filled, they asked the propreitor the price. When hearing the cost, they announced it was an enormous sum and wanted to return the whiskey to the barrel, agreeable, the men poured the six canteens of water into the barrel. The men returned to camp with free spirits, and the terrible knowledge of watering down the next poor soldiers whiskey."
(From Shankleford's Recollections)
James Parker Amick enlisted June 10,1861 and was captured at Staunton, June 15, 1864 and held at Camp Morton.