Rubuta ci gaba don wannan sakin layi - James Conner ya shiga cikin harin Fort Sumter a matsayin kyaftin na Montgomery Guards, wani rukunin 'yan bindiga na Kudancin Carolina. A farkon yakin basasa, ya ki amincewa da alƙawari a matsayin mai gabatar da kara na gundumar. Maimakon haka, ya zama kyaftin a cikin Hampton Legion kuma ya yi yaƙi a yakin farko na Bull Run (Manassas na farko), ya dauki umurnin wucin gadi na rundunar bayan da aka ji rauni Kanar Wade Hampton. A ranar 21 ga Yuli, 1861, an nada Conner babban jami'in rundunar Hampton. Bayan Yaƙin Bakwai Bakwai
a lokacin yakin Peninsula, ya dauki umurnin 22 na Arewacin Carolina Volunteer Infantry Regiment. A lokacin Yakin Kwanaki Bakwai, ƙafarsa ta karye ta hanyar bindiga a lokacin yakin Gaines Mill. Bayan watanni biyu na farfadowa, ya dawo ya jagoranci rundunarsa a yakin Chancellorsville da yakin Gettysburg.