42d Mississippi Infantry Regiment

The 42d Mississippi Infantry Regiment, also known as the "Forty-second Mississippi", was an infantry formation of the Confederate States Army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War, and was successively commanded by Colonels Hugh R. Miller, William A. Feeney, and Andrew M. Nelson.[1][2]

42d Mississippi Infantry Regiment
Active1862–1865
DisbandedApril 12, 1865
Country Confederate States
Allegiance Mississippi
Branch Army
TypeInfantry
SizeRegiment
Part ofDavis' Brigade
Nickname(s)"Forty-second Mississippi"
FacingsLight blue
ArmsEnfield rifled muskets
Battles
Battle honorGettysburg
Commanders
Commanding officers

History

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The Forty-second was organized on May 14, 1862, in the Mississippi Volunteers at Oxford from the counties of Carroll, DeSoto, Tishomingo, Calhoun, Yalobusha, Panola, and Itawamba.[3][4] For a time, it served on provost duty in Richmond, Virginia,[5] then was assigned to Davis' Brigade, Heth's Division, Third Corps, Army of Northern Virginia.

The 42nd Regiment was engaged in fierce fighting during the Gettysburg, taking heavy casualties, with the brigade commander Col. Hugh R. Miller killed in action. In the aftermath of the Gettysburg campaign, the Regiment fought at the Battle of Bristoe Station after retreating into Virginia. It lost 46 percent of the 575 engaged at Gettysburg, had eight disabled en route from Pennsylvania, and had six killed and 25 wounded during the Bristoe Campaign.

In 1864, the 42nd took part in the Battle of the Wilderness, the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, and the Battle of Cold Harbor, before joining the defense of Petersburg, Virginia. When the Union forces broke through the Confederate lines at Petersburg in early April, 1865, the remnants of the 42nd Regiment were captured and surrendered. The Regiment surrendered one lieutenant, one chaplain, and five enlisted men on April 9, 1865.[6]

Regimental order of battle

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Units of the Forty-second Mississippi:[3]

  • Company A, "Carroll Fencibles"
  • Company B, "Senatobia Invincibles"
  • Company C, "Nelson's Avengers"
  • Company D
  • Company E, "Davenport Rifles"
  • Company F, of Calhoun County
  • Company G, "Gaston Rifles"
  • Company H
  • Company I, "Mississippi Reds"
  • Company K

Commanders

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Commanders of the Forty-second Mississippi:

  • Col. Hugh R. Miller, mortally wounded at Gettysburg, 1863.
  • Col. William A. Feeney, killed at the Battle of the Wilderness, 1864.
  • Col. Andrew M. Nelson, wounded at the Battle of the Wilderness, 1864.
  • Lt. Col. Hillary Moseley, wounded and disabled at Gettysburg, 1863.

See also

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Notes

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  This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the National Archives and Records Administration.


References

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  1. ^ Sifakis, Stewart (1995). Compendium of the Confederate Armies: Mississippi. New York: Facts On File. pp. 133–134. ISBN 978-0-8160-2292-2. OCLC 31712711.
  2. ^ Allardice, Bruce S. (2008). Confederate Colonels: A Biographical Register. Columbia: University of Missouri Press. pp. 274, 145, 289. ISBN 978-0-8262-1809-4. LCCN 2008018253. OCLC 799725372. OL 16839816M.
  3. ^ a b Rowland, Dunbar (1988) [1st pub. MDAH:1908]. Military History of Mississippi, 1803-1898: Taken From the Official and Statistical Register of the State of Mississippi, 1908. Spartanburg, South Carolina: The Reprint Company. pp. 121–124. ISBN 978-0-87152-266-5. LCCN 78-2454. OCLC 26822556.
  4. ^ Williams, T. P. (1999). The Mississippi Brigade of Brig. Gen. Joseph R. Davis: A Geographical Account of Its Campaigns and a Biographical Account of Its Personalities, 1861-1865. Dayton, Ohio: Morningside House. pp. 41–42. ISBN 978-0-89029-335-5. OCLC 43558556.
  5. ^ "Grand Exodus of Three Thousand Yankees". Richmond Dispatch. Vol. XXIII, no. 32. August 6, 1862. p. 1.
  6. ^ Crute, Joseph H. Jr. (1987). Units of the Confederate States Army (2nd ed.). Gaithersburg, Maryland: Olde Soldier Books. pp. 187–188. ISBN 978-0-942211-53-5. OCLC 660162619.

Bibliography

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