The 43rd Mississippi Infantry Regiment was a regiment of infantry in the
Confederate States Army
The Confederate States Army (CSA), also called the Confederate army or the Southern army, was the Military forces of the Confederate States, military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) duri ...
. It fought in many battles and campaigns of the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
. It was known as "The Camel Regiment" after its mascot,
Douglas the Camel.
Service history
Organized in the summer of 1862 and serving in the
Army of the West of Gen.
Sterling Price, the first battle that the 43rd fought was at
Iuka. At the
Battle of Second Corinth, Colonel William Hudson Moore and Lieutenant Colonel Richard W. Leigh were killed by Union forces. After the battle, Richard Harrison was promoted to Colonel and Columbus "Lum" Sykes promoted to Lieutenant Colonel.
Their next battles were during
Union Gen.
Ulysses S. Grant's Vicksburg Campaign between April and July 1863. At the
Siege of Vicksburg a mine blew up which killed six members from the 43rd. The regiment was part of General
Hebert's brigade defending the Third Louisiana Redan. The regiment's namesake camel, Douglas, was killed by Union sharpshooters on June 27, 1863 at Vicksburg,
and the regiment was captured along with the rest of the Confederate defenders when the city fell to Union forces on July 4.
In September 1863, a detachment from Company H of the 43rd Regiment which had not been captured at Vicksburg was organized as Captain Merriman Pound's 9th Battalion Mississippi
Sharpshooters and sent to join
Braxton Bragg's Army of the Tennessee in
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
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* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States
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* Georgia (name), a list of pe ...
, fighting at the
Battle of Chickamauga.
After Chickamauga, Pound's Battalion was sent back to
Mississippi
Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...
and some of the 43rd rode with General
Forrest
Forrest may refer to:
Places
Australia
*Forrest, Australian Capital Territory
*Forrest, Victoria, a small rural township
*Division of Forrest, a federal division of the Australian House of Representatives, in Western Australia
*Electoral distric ...
to drive Union forces out of the state. In the spring of 1864, the 43rd regiment was sent to Georgia to fight in the
Atlanta Campaign against
William T. Sherman
William is a masculine given name of Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle Ages and into the modern era. It is ...
's invading Federal army. In
Cobb County, Georgia
Cobb County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, and is a core county of the Atlanta metropolitan area in the north-central portion of the state. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 766, ...
, the regiment hauled cannons up the side of Kennesaw Mountain.
After Atlanta was lost, the 43rd fought in General
John Bell Hood's
Tennessee Campaign which included the Battles of
Franklin and
Nashville
Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...
. Afterwards it was sent to the Carolinas and fought at the Battles of Kinston and Bentonville, North Carolina.
The 43rd Mississippi was part of Gen.
Joseph E. Johnston's surrender of the Army of Tennessee at
Bennett Place on April 26, 1865. The army was soon disbanded and the men of the 43rd walked back to their home state and rebuilt their communities.
Commanders
Commanders of the 43rd Mississippi Infantry Regiment:
*Col. William H. Moore, killed at Corinth, 1862.
*Col. Richard Harrison
*Lt. Richard W. Leigh, killed at Corinth, 1862.
*Lt. Col. Columbus Sykes
*Lt. Col. James O. Banks
Organization
Companies of the 43rd Mississippi Infantry Regiment:
*Company A – Frank Rodgers Rifles of
Monroe County[Howell, p. 648]
*Company B – Lowndes Riflemen of
Lowndes County
*Company C – Whitfield Guards of Monroe County
*Company D – Capt. Thompson's Company of
Choctaw County
*Company E – Capt. Smith's Company of
Pontotoc County
*Company F – Capt. Hampton's Company of Lowndes County
[Howell, p. 645]
*Company G – Capt. Winter's Company of Monroe County
*Company H – Itawamba Tigers of
Itawamba County
*Company I – Capt. Banks Company of Lowndes County.
*Company K – Kemper
Fencibles
The Fencibles (from the word ''defencible'') were British regiments raised in the United Kingdom, Isle of Man and in the colonies for defence against the threat of invasion during the Seven Years' War, the American War of Independence, the Fren ...
of
Kemper County.
*Company L –
Gholson's Rebels of Monroe County.
[Howell, p. 596, 648]
See also
*
List of Mississippi Civil War Confederate units
Notes
Works Cited
*
*{{cite book , first1=Dunbar , last1=Rowland , first2=H. Grady Jr. , last2=Howell , title=Military history of Mississippi, 1803-1898 , date=1988, publisher=Reprint Co., location=Spartanburg, S.C., isbn=0871522667 , oclc=194626367
Military units and formations disestablished in 1865
Military units and formations established in 1862
Units and formations of the Confederate States Army from Mississippi
1862 establishments in Mississippi