Battle Barksdale

A full and well-lived life ended with the death of Colonel Battle Malone Barksdale, age 93, on Thursday, August 27, 2009. Although in failing health for several years, he remained active.
The youngest of seven children of Dr. and Mrs. John Woodson Barksdale, Battle was born on February 1, 1916, in Vaiden, MS. His father served in the Medical Corps in France in World War I. Having been taught to read and write by his siblings, he talked his parents into allowing him to start school at mid-year on his sixth birthday in 1922. The family lived in Vaiden, Winona, and Greenwood before moving to Jackson in 1923, in order for Dr. Barksdale to serve at the Jackson Infirmary. Their home at 1440 North State Street still stands.
After graduating from Central High School in 1933, Battle Barksdale entered West Point on July 1, 1933, and graduate on June 12, 1937. Of the 298 graduates in that class, less than ten remain.
Battle Barksdale rendered splendid service in the Army for 20 years, retiring in 1957 as a Colonel. He was a proud member of the field artillery, which was in part still drawn by horses at his first duty station at Fort Benning, Georgia. In 1939, after marrying his late wife, Grace Harris, to whom he was married almost 70 years, they were stationed in Hawaii until 1942 and witnessed the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor and other military installations on December 7, 1941. In World War II, Colonel Barksdale served in the European Theater as a battalion commander. During the Korean War, he commanded an American artillery battalion and was later an advisor to a South Korean artillery unit.
After leaving the Army, he served as Secretary of the Jackson Planning Board for three years, and then as an account executive with Merrill Lynch until he retired in 1986, at age 70.
Battle was a lifelong Episcopalian. He and his wife were members of St. James and St. Andrew's. (His giving close-order drill to acolytes at St. James will never be forgotten). Battle and Grace were committed to helping others and were very active and generous in many community activities. Battle was an avid and skilled golfer and tennis player in the eighties.
Colonel Barksdale was preceded in death by his parents; his wife; and his six siblings, Elizabeth Lawson, Emily Humphrey, Charlotte Turner, Therese Vinsonhaler, Jack, and Henry.
He is survived by his daughter, Nancy Bowman (Rick); grandchildren, Rick (Jamie), Lisa, Michael, and Erin; great grandchildren; and many nieces and nephews. His last few years were greatly enhanced by his caretakers, who were also his good friends.
A celebration of Battle Barksdale's life will be held at St. James Episcopal Church, 3921 Oakridge Drive, in Jackson at 10 am today with visitation at 9 am in the parish hall. Wright & Ferguson Funeral Home in Jackson is handling the arrangements. Burial will follow at Lakewood Memorial Park.
Throughout his life Battle Barksdale more than lived up to his Christian name. Captain of the boxing team at West Point, he was nicknamed "The Battler" by his classmates. He was that and much more. He was a beloved and devoted husband, father, grandfather, brother, uncle, and a sterling member of West Point's Long Gray Line that stretches back to 1802. His lifetime of service and commitment more than qualifies him for the final words aspired to by every West Pointer, stated in the Alma Mater for his beloved West Point: "Well done. Be thou at peace."