James McCown (March 21, 1817, Virginia – July 8, 1867, Warrensburg, Missouri) was a Confederate States Army officer in the American Civil War.
When Missouri was to elect representatives to a state constitutional convention to decide whether or not to secede, Foster supported Unionist Aikman Welch.
On the afternoon of election day, February 18, 1861[4] McCown and his son William became involved in a political argument at the Warrentown courthouse which turned into a gunfight, and Marsh Foster was shot dead.
[2][5][6][1] At the start of the Civil War, McCown joined the Missouri State Guard (Confederate allied), becoming colonel of the 2nd Cavalry Regiment of the 8th Division.
[4] After the war, Hornsby brought suit against McCown (along with Sterling Price, James S. Rains, Jeremiah V. Cockrell, and others) for false imprisonment by the rebel soldiers in 1861.
[10][11] Sterling Price was the leader of the Confederate Missouri State Guard, and Raines and Cockerell were fellow officers in the 8th Division.