James Fleming Fagan was an American farmer, politician, and senior officer of the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. His brigade distinguished itself in the Camden Expedition of 1864, helping to drive the U.S. Army's Seventh Corps from southwest Arkansas.

During the American Civil War, Arkansas was a Confederate state, though it had initially voted to remain in the Union. Following the capture of Fort Sumter in April 1861, Abraham Lincoln called for troops from every Union state to put down the rebellion, and Arkansas and several other states seceded. For the rest of the civil war, Arkansas played a major role in controlling the Mississippi River, a major waterway.