James Carson Breckinridge

James Carson Breckinridge
Breckinridge as a Major General, circa 1935
Born	(1877-10-13)October 13, 1877 Memphis, Tennessee
Died	March 2, 1942(1942-03-02) (aged 64) Summit Point, West Virginia
Place of burial	Lexington Cemetery
Allegiance	United States of America
Service/branch	United States Marine Corps
Years of service	July 11, 1898 to October 1, 1941
Rank	Lieutenant General
Battles/wars	Spanish–American War *Philippines Campaign United States occupation of Nicaragua Mexican Revolution *Battle of Veracruz World War I United States occupation of the Dominican Republic
Awards	Navy Cross Order of Military Merit (Dominican Republic)
Relations	Dorothy Throckmorton Thomson, John C. Breckinridge

James Carson Breckinridge (September 13, 1877 – March 2, 1942) was a lieutenant general of the United States Marine Corps. He was the son of Clifton Rhodes Breckinridge and a member of the prominent Breckinridge family.

Breckinridge attended the University of Tennessee in 1897 and 1898. He was appointed as a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps in 1899 to fight in the Spanish–American War, seeing service at Cavite in the Philippines. He was promoted to captain on July 23, 1901, serving as the commander of Marine detachments at sea through that decade. He served ashore in Panama and Nicaragua from late 1909 to early 1911, months later, temporary expeditionary duty in Cuba. In April 1914, he participated in the United States occupation of Veracruz while in command of the Marine attachment from the USS Utah. He received a commendation for his conduct in battle.

Breckinridge served during World War I as naval attaché at many diplomatic posts from April 1916 to September 1918, to include Petrograd, Russia, Christiania, Norway, Copenhagen, Denmark, and , Sweden. His service would earn him the Navy Cross, for "distinguished service in the line of his profession as Naval Attache to the American Legations at Christiana and Stockholm, and for a time also at Copenhagen. At all of these posts of duty, the service of information established and conducted was of great value to the United States and allied Powers." He was promoted to major on June 12, 1916, to lieutenant colonel two months later, and to colonel on July 1, 1918.