James (Jacobus) Grootenhuis was born about January 1846 in the Netherlands. On November 17, 1846 he immigrated to the United States with the group led by Dr. Van Raalte which included his parents, Bernardus and Johanna Hoogewind Grootenhuis and his brother, John (Johannes).

James enlisted in Co. D, 8^th Michigan Infantry in Grand Rapids on February 29, 1864, for three years, age 18. On May 6, 1864, he was wounded in the Battle of the Wilderness. His military records state that he died from amputation of the right leg in the field hospital at Fredericksburg on May 18, 1864.

Caitlin, Janice Van Lente, The Civil War Letters of Johannes Van Lente, Yankee Girl Publications, 1992, translated from the Dutch.

Johannes writes, "Jacobus Grootenhuis had been lying on the battlefield with leg and head wounds for four days without any help or refreshment, and when they took him to the hospital where his leg would have been amputated, he died."