[3] James P. Simms started his Confederate States Army service as a second lieutenant C.S.A.

[1][2][3][4] In the fall of 1864, Simms was transferred to the Shenandoah Valley in Major General Joseph Brevard Kershaw's division.

[2] Returning from the Shenandoah Valley, Simms served during the Siege of Petersburg that winter.

[1][2][3][4] Simms was paroled from the Union prisoner of war facility at Fort Warren (Massachusetts) on July 24, 1865.

[2][3] He resumed his law practice and served in the Georgia legislature in 1865–1866 and for the term starting in 1877.