James Edwards Rains (April 10, 1833 – December 31, 1862) was a lawyer and colonel in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War.

He was killed while leading his brigade at the Battle of Stones River (Murfreesboro) on December 31, 1862, before the Confederate States Senate acted on his nomination.

[2] While at Yale, he was a member of the Linonian Society, and won first prize for his speech, "Is the maxim, 'Our Country Right or Wrong' worthy of our support?"

[1] When the Civil War began, despite his personal objections to the concept of secession, Rains enlisted in April 1861 in the Confederate army as a private in the "Hermitage Guards", a local company.

But the forces that Maj. Gen. Edmund Kirby Smith had gathered about Knoxville, in addition to those in the neighborhood of Cumberland Gap, made the Union occupation of that post almost a barren victory.

In August, Smith advanced into Kentucky, leaving Maj. Gen. Carter L. Stevenson with a strong division to operate against the Union general Morgan, who was holding the gap with about 9,000 men.

At the Battle of Stones River on December 31, 1862, Rains was shot through the heart and killed instantly while leading his brigade forward in an attack against Union artillery.