James Simmons, the eldest son of James Simmons, Sr., was born in 1758 near Lynches Ferry on the James River in a portion of Albemarle County, Virginia, which later became Amherst County in 1761. His mother's name is unknown. He and his siblings, Anna, Frances, John, Richard, Christianna, Charity, Elizabeth, Charles, Nancy, Moses, Elisha, Sarah, and Joshua, grew up on his father's farm in the rolling hills of the Piedmont plateau where on a clear day he could see the great Appalachian Mountains to the west.  
 
On the first day of 1777, he enlisted in Captain James Franklin's company of foot soldiers for the 10th Virginia Regiment to become a part of the Continental Army under the command of General George Washington. The 10th Virginia Regiment, commanded by Colonel Edward Stephens, participated in the Battle of Brandywine on 11 September 1777 and was a part of General Weedon's 2nd Virginia Brigade of General Greene's division engaged in the Battle of Germantown on 4 October 1777, with other elements of General Washington's army.
  
Following the defeat at Germantown, the 10th Regiment, still a part of Weedon's Brigade, encamped at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, on 19 December 1777, along with the rest of the Continental Army, where it spent the infamous winter at Valley Forge. On 18 June 1778, the 10th Regiment marched out of Valley Forge toward the east to follow the retreating British Army. The Regiment engaged in the Battle of Monmouth Courthouse on 28 June 1778. In October 1778, the disseminated 6th Virginia Regiment was merged into the 2nd Virginia Regiment, the 10th Virginia Regiment was re-designated the 6th Virginia Regiment, and the 14th Virginia re-designated the 10th Virginia Regiment.  
 
He participated in the assault of Stoney Point on 16 July 1779 in a night attack as a member of the 1st Regiment commanded by Colonel Christian Febiger of General Anthony Wayne's Corp of Light Infantry, crossing a large marsh covered in places with two to four feet of water with fixed bayonets and unloaded muskets in order to prevent an accidental musket blast from alerting British sentries to reach the first line of abatis of the British. He was in the van of the attacking force in a company commanded by Captain Clough Shelton. 
 
In the words of Colonel Febriger, "Half after eleven o'clock, the whole moved forward; the van of the right consisted of 150 volunteers commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Fleury. These were preceded by 20 picked men under the command of Lieutenant Knox, not, as the General mentions, to remove the abatis and other obstructions, but to cover Captain Shelton, who commanded the front of the remaining 130 men, of whom several men had their muskets slung and carried axes for that purpose; but when Lieutenant-Colonel Fleury had taken a post with Lieutenant Knox in front of the 20 men and Captain Shelton finding it impossible to remove the abatis, and the gallant Major Posey, whose name has not even been mentioned, at the head of Febigers Regiment pressing close upon him, threw away his axes and took to the Bayonet and followed Fleury and Knox into the works at not more than few yards distance". 
 
On 4 January, three years and three days after enlisting at Lynches Ferry, James received his discharge from Colonel Febriger in Philadelphia and, without any pay, bade Captain Shelton and the 6th Regiment farewell and returned home to his father's farm. He had served his new country well, having engaged in the battles of Brandywine Creek, Germantown, Monmouth, and Stoney Point. He returned to Virginia, and in 1786, James married his childhood sweetheart, Elizabeth Gillenwaters.
 
After the birth of his first daughter, Mary 'Polly" Simmons, in 1789, James, along with Thomas Gillenwaters family, moved his young family into the Spartanburg District, South Carolina, where he purchased a farm from Henry Turner in 1790. By 1796, James had fathered three more children, John, Nancy, and Frances, before he sold his property and migrated to Hawkins County, Tennessee, sometime in the spring of 1796. There, he rejoined childhood friend Joel Gillenwaters as neighbors in Hickory Cove. Thomas Gillenwaters also joined them in Hawkins County. Four more children were to follow in the next seven years: Elizabeth, Thomas, James G., and Rachel.
 
When the Revolutionary War Pension Act of 1818 was passed, he immediately applied for a pension. Before the Hawkins County Court of Pleas and Quarter sessions in August of 1818, James made his original statement in support of his claim, never dreaming of the difficulties he would face in the next five years before his case was finally resolved in Washington. He served three full years when most enlistments were a matter of weeks or a few months, was never granted leave, was only sometimes paid his stipend of six and two-thirds dollars per month, and received no pay upon discharge. He survived through the terrible winter encampments at Valley Forge and Morristown. He fought in four major battles and two skirmishes. He was awarded a pension of eight dollars per month.
 
The Patriot died in Hawkins County in April 1851 at the age of ninety-two. He outlived his daughter Mary and his sons John and Thomas. He is buried along with his wife, Elizabeth, in the Gillenwaters Cemetery located on Cope Lane just off Hickory Cove Road in Hawkins County, Tennessee.