[3][1] His father was a former West Point graduate who abandoned a military career to become a civil engineer specializing in railroad construction.

[5] Whistler attended Christ Church School in Pomfret, and St. James College in Williamsport, Maryland from 1850 to 1852.

[9][2][3] In 1860, Whistler moved to Richmond, Virginia where he attempted to secure a commission as a medical officer with the Confederate States Army.

[3][4] On his application, he wrote, " “Being a physician by profession, I felt that the only true position for me was on the medical staff, as the want of any military education disqualified me for any other office.

[4][2] Arriving at his post in time for the battle of Spotsylvania Court House he made a favorable impression on his new comrades "[ordering] his servant to take his horse to the rear and out of danger, while he remained with the line of battle until it entered the Bloody Angle, and he was detained to look after such as had fallen in the charge.

"[2][4] He took part in the battles of Jericho Ford, Riddle's Shop, Petersburg, Deep Bottom, Fussell's Mill, Ream's Station and Jones's Farm.

[2][4] Ultimately he teamed up with another Confederate officer and slipped across the Chesapeake and through the Union lines to Philadelphia, using a false named while dressed in civilian clothing.

[9][3] He presented a paper on the subject of syphilis of the larynx at the Hospital for Diseases of the Throat and Chest in London in 1879.

[1][9] He presented a paper on the subject of syphilis of the larynx at the Hospital for Diseases of the Throat and Chest in London in 1879.

[1] His bride, Helen "Nellie" Euphrosyne Ionides (1849-1917) came from a wealthy Greek merchant family from Tulse Hill and was an occasional model for James Whistler.