John was enlisted at Camp Marion on 19 July 1861, age 21, by A. M. Manigault. He was a 4th Corporal in Company H, 10th Regiment of South Carolina Volunteers. John's Muster Roll of Nov 1862 states "Absent sick." John's Muster Roll of Nov/Dec 1862 states "Dead." On a Register of Claims of Deceased Officers and Soldiers from South Carolina which were filed for settlement in the Office of the Confederate States Auditor for the War Department presented by A. B. Bristow, Atty for J. C. McGee and filed June 10, 1863, "Where died - Smiths X Roads." He died of sickness at Smith's Cross Roads, somewhere in Tennessee, in 1862.
According to "ROLLS And HISTORICAL SKETCH + 10th REG'T, S. C. VOLS. + ARMY of the CONFEDERATE STATES 1861-1865" by C. I. Walker, Late Lieut.-Col. of the Regt., Chasn, SC, 1881, page 43, "J. C. McGEE, died in camp, 1862." From Kathie Webber141