James Gallant Spears (March 29, 1816 – July 22, 1869) was an American general who served in the Union Army during the Civil War.

[2] Disappointed with the Convention's peaceful final petition, Spears returned to his home in Bledsoe County, planning to take no part in the upcoming war.

In June 1862, the 25th participated in General George W. Morgan's capture of the Cumberland Gap, a key mountain pass located at the junction of Tennessee, Kentucky and Virginia.

[4] In August, Spears led a sortie into Tennessee, and scattered a small Confederate contingent at Wallace's Crossroads (near modern LaFollette).

General Morgan wrote that Spears had "great energy and courage, but has an idea that war means extermination.

"[6] In October 1862, Spears and the 25th Brigade were placed under the newly organized Army of the Cumberland, which was commanded by General William S. Rosecrans.

Rosecrans marched south to Nashville before turning eastward in pursuit of Braxton Bragg's Army of Tennessee.

[7]: 223 By the spring of 1863, a number of officers under Spears had grown tired of his "tyranny and ungentlemanly conduct," and accused him of incompetence.

[8][10] At the opening of the Battle of Chickamauga in September 1863, Spears's unit occupied Lookout Mountain, overlooking Chattanooga.

He was attacked by a Confederate force led by Nathan B. Forrest, but was ordered by Rosecrans to abandon the mountain rather than risk capture.

[7]: 339  In December 1863, Spears led his brigade north as part of an expedition to relieve Union-occupied Knoxville, which had been placed under siege by General James Longstreet.