Then came the Civil War. The battery with which Colonel Nims had been connected was among the first to volunteer and although he was not a member he rendered efficient aid in equipping and drilling the men, accompanying them as far as New York when they started on active service. Just as he took the train, a prominent official said to him, "Nims, we will have six guns ready for you when you return."
The organization of the 2d Massachusetts and its service in the field has already been recorded in the pages of this book and this naturally includes the military career of its captain.
A few quotations may serve to show the more personal side of Colonel Nims and the relations existing between the commander and his men.
The following extract is from a letter written by an officer while at Franklin, La. "Captain Nims is the hardest working officer I ever saw, always looking out for the interests of the battery and the men. Hardly ever in his quarters, nothing escapes his observation. He is a man of strict probity and has none of the minor vices, always reliable and reminds one of the hero Garibaldi. Although proud of his battery and its reputation, and pleased at anything written or said in its praise, he thoroughly detests personal flattery and indeed I would not venture to say this much to him for my commission."
A quotation from the Boston Transcript at the close of the war: "It is a remarkable fact that during the three and a half years that Captain Nims commanded the 2d Battery, punishment was to its members almost unknown. Splendid discipline was maintained solely by esprit de corps and by the respect and affection entertained for the commander on one hand and by the fatherly care and solicitude always exhibited by Captain Nims for his men under all circumstances. The slight mortality by disease in this battery is attributed by the members to the efficiency of their leader."
Some years after the war a niece of Colonel Nims was visiting in the South and dined at the home of a former Confederate captain. She was told that at one time during the war, orders were given to the Confederate officers to kill Captain Nims at any cost as his battery was inflicting so much damage upon their forces.
After the discharge of the original Nims' Battery at the end of three years, Captain Nims immediately secured enough enlistments for another battery and at once returned to New Orleans. But an injury to his ankle received while he was at home to muster out his men, and the fact that most of his boys were no longer with him led him to resign his commission and accept a position in the Chief Quarter-Master's department at New Orleans, where he remained till after the close of the war. After peace had been fully restored and the work of reconstruction had been begun, Captain Nims returned to Boston and bought back the little drug store he had left at the beginning of the war, where he remained for nearly a half century until at the age of ninety he retired from business, in 1910. After the return of peace the attention of the government was directed to Captain Nims' services and on March 13, 1865, by special enactment of the Senate he received the titles of "Brevet Major—Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel—and Brevet Colonel, for gallant and meritorious service during the war," thus explaining the title Colonel Nims.
After leaving the army, Colonel Nims took almost no part in military or political affairs—except in connection with Nims' Battery Association and for a short time serving as commander of Post 7, G.A.R. He was also a member of the Loyal Legion. He would never accept a pension. To quote his own words on the subject, "I don't want a pension. It doesn't seem right to me that a man should be paid by the Federal government simply because he was in the army. I served my country to the best of my ability and I don't want any pay for it either. If one were incapacitated for earning a living that would be a different matter."
During the half century that Colonel Nims maintained his drug store at the West End he saw many changes in that neighborhood. Someone has said that he served the poor and needy from his little store as faithfully as he ever served his country in the days of the war. Everyone in that section regarded him as a friend and helper, and he was always ready to give aid to those who needed it. He made it a practice to give away one prescription at least, every day. If the families of any of his men were in need, it was his delight to care for and assist them.
Colonel Nims died at his home, 42 Blossom Street, on May 23, 1911, at the age of 91 years. His funeral was held at Trinity Church on May 25 and was attended by the remaining members of the battery and by members of the Loyal Legion together with many friends who honored and loved him. He was buried in Mount Hope Cemetery.