James Bryan enlisted in Company E, 4th Infantry, in 1849 and was discharged in 1854 after serving under Lieutenant U.S. Grant. He later became a pioneer packer and rancher. Born in Wexford, Ireland, in 1828, he married Mary J. Fragley in 1864, and they had nine children: James, Charles, Alice, Lillian, Helena, William, Gertrude, Harry, and Nellie. He died in California in 1913.