The War for Southern Independence:
28th
Mississippi Cavalry
(from Dunbar
Rowland’s "Military History of Mississippi,
1803-1898"; company listing courtesy of H. Grady
Howell’s "For Dixie Land, I’ll Take My Stand’)
Company A -- McAfee Hussars (raised in Carroll, Holmes,
& Yalobusha Counties, MS)
Company B -- Dixie Rangers (raised in Carroll County, MS)
Company C -- Buckner Light Horse (raised in Warren County,
MS)
Company D -- Washington Cavalry (raised in Washington
County, MS)
Company E -- Mayson’s Dragoons (raised in Bolivar County,
MS) and Avent’s Company (raised in Calhoun County, MS)
Company F -- Clanton’s Company (raised in Yalobusha
County, MS)
Company G -- Van Dorn Rangers, aka Smith’s Company
(raised in Rankin County, MS)
Company H -- Tucker’s Company (raised in Monroe County,
MS)
Company I -- Johnson Rebels (raised in Warren County, MS)
and Carroll County Cavalry (raised in Carroll County, MS)
Company K -- Bingaman Rangers (raised in Adams County, MS)
Company L -- Morris’ Company (raised in DeSoto &
Panola Counties, MS)
Colonels -- Peter B. Starke, Joshua T. McBee, commissioned
April 1, 1865.
Lieutenant-Colonels -- Samuel W. Ferguson, promoted
BrigadierGeneral; Edward P. Jones, commissioned May 10, 1863;
S. S. Champion, commissioned April 1, 1865.
Majors -- Edward P. Jones, captured at Franklin, Tenn.,
April 10, 1863; Joshua T. McBee, commissioned May 10, 1863: C.
L. Johnson, commissioned April 1, 1865.
Adjutant -- S. H. Starke. Quartermaster -- R. H. Smith.
Commissary--James Hazlett. Surgeons -- R. B. Maury, C. R.
Mayson, commissioned February 6, 1863. Assistant Surgeons --
W. S. Ward, W. T. Ward, commissioned May 6, 1862; L. M. Mays,
commissioned November 16, 1864.Original officers commissioned
24 February, 1862.
Starke was commanding brigade after 25 December, 1863 --
roll of February, 1864.
This regiment was organized early in 1862, for three years
or the war, extra to the requisitions upon the State for
infantry. It is numbered consecutively with the infantry
regiments. The original officers -- Starke, Ferguson and Jones
-- were commissioned February 24, 1862; the regiment was
reported May 14 in camp at Jackson, where it was organized.
Colonel Starke was a man of prominence, who had been the Whig
candidate for Congress in 1846, to succeed Col. Jefferson
Davis. He had organized a cavalry company in his home county,
Bolivar, early in 1861. Samuel Wragg Ferguson,
Lieutenant-Colonel, was a native of South Carolina, graduate
of West Point, who resigned a Second Lieutenancy in the First
Dragoons, United States Army, to enter the Confederate
service. As a Brigadier-General he was associated with
Mississippi troops throughout the war. The first active
service of the regiment was occasioned by the naval attack on
Vicksburg, beginning in May, 1862. Five companies of Starke's
Cavalry reinforced Gen. M. L. Smith, at Vicksburg, and were
posted to watch the flanks along the Yazoo and below Warrenton
on the Mississippi. In June the Secretary of War countermanded
order that Capt. W. H. Johnson, stationed on the Big Black
River, should burn all cotton in reach, whether liable to fall
into enemy's hands or not. Regiment reported 462 present,
troops of Gen. M. L. Smith, August 27, 1862.
Later the regiment was at Camp Burrus, in Bolivar County.
They operated along the river and in the swampy country, where
many contracted fever. September, 436 present; 865 present and
absent
There is a Federal report of an expedition from the
Missouri shore to Bolivar County and a skirmish with four
companies of Bolivar County troops, near Totten's plantation,
Coahoma County, August 2, 1862. September 14, part, at least,
of the regiment was in a skirmish near Prentiss, Bolivar
County; September 19 they attacked some transports at
Niblett’s landing on the Mississippi, opposite Island No.
10. Thence they returned to Camp Burrus and from there moved
to Panola. In October Colonel Starke was ordered, with his own
and Major Blythe's command, to attack a Federal force opposite
Helena, but no action appears to have resulted.
Company I, Captain Johnson, was at Vicksburg in December,
1862, and took part in the Chickasaw Bayou campaign, while the
remainder of the regiment, according to Federal reports, was
engaged with Steele's expedition from Helena, in the vicinity
of Panola, in the same month. In January, 1863, the regiment
was assigned with Pinson's and Ballentine's Regiments, to the
First (Cosby's) Brigade of Gen. W. T. Martin's Division of the
cavalry under General VanDorn, about 7,500 strong, which made
the campaign in Middle Tennessee early in 1863, supporting
General Bragg's army, then on the Shelbyville line. Starke's
Regiment moved from Okolona to Columbia, Tenn., in February,
about 625 strong. They were present at the battle of
Thompson's Station, March 5, but held in reserve; were in the
skirmish with Minty's Cavalry at Thompson's Station, March 9,
and actively engaged in the attack on Franklin, April 10. Gen.
Granger reported that the Fortieth Ohio Infantry, after a
stubborn fight, "was finally forced to fall back through
the town to the river, and it was followed by a part of the
Twenty-eighth Mississippi Cavalry, under command of Major
Edward P. Jones. But few of this regiment who came into town
returned." The regiment suffered a heavy loss in killed,
wounded and captured. In General Orders, April 10, 1863, Gen.
W. H. Jackson mentioned "the gallant and meritorious
conduct of officers and men of the Twenty-eighth Mississippi
Cavalry, in the charge upon Franklin today. When ordered to
charge into the town, they did so promptly at their swiftest
speed, and although in the face of the enemy’s batteries and
houses lined with sharpshooters, they drove everything
resistlessly before them and pushed their victorious columns
to the bank of the Harpeth River, killing and wounding a
considerable number of the enemy, and upon returning formed in
good order in an open field in easy range and under the
well-directed fire of the enemy's heavy guns. To show the
danger to which they were exposed, attention is directed to
the official report of killed, wounded and missing. The charge
today into Franklin, under such adverse circumstances, finds
no parallel in this war, and will embellish another page of
the history of our country with the martial achievements and
glory of Southern arms."
Van Dorn's campaign, during which he lost his life in a
private affair, left Mississippi open to Grierson's raid and
Grant's advance from Bruinsburg to Jackson and the Yazoo
River. The Twenty-eighth, leaving Tennessee May 17, reached
Mechanicsburg June 7, a march of 400 miles. During the
following operations Cosby's and Whitfield's (Texas) Brigades
constituted the division of General W. H. Jackson. June 22,
1863, Lieut-Col. R. C. Wood, with Starke's Regiment, Major J.
T. McBee commanding, and Adams' Regiment, Capt. S. B,
Cleveland commanding, attacked a detachment of the Fourth Iowa
Cavalry, under Major Parkell, which had been sent to blockade
the road at Birdsong's Ferry on the Big Black. Parkell had
with him one howitzer, which was posted at the head of a
narrow lane, strongly fenced on each side, and repeated
charges were made up this lane before the Federal force could
be started and the gun captured. Wood reported 5 killed, 16
wounded and 1 missing, and that he took 33 prisoners. Parkell
reported 8 killed and 16 wounded, 4 mortally. Wood, in his
report recorded "the great gallantry and elan displayed
by Major McBee and the officers and men of his command."
This famous affair is known as the battle of Bear Creek.
Companies A and F, under Captain Clanton, were particularly
distinguished. In his final report, General Pemberton
mentioned Privates E. G. Walker and Charles McInroe, of Maj.
W. H, Johnson's Cavalry, part of this regiment, as among those
who carried dispatches through the Federal lines to or from
General Johnston.
July 4 the regiment moved from Mechanicsburg to Birdsong's
Ferry, and as Johnston's army fell back to Jackson, they
skirmished with Sherman advance July 7, and fell back covering
Johnston's retreat, skirmishing frequently and resisting a
charge of cavalry at Clinton. Just before the evacuation of
Jackson, July 16, they went to the Federal rear, and recrossed
Pearl River after the retreat of Johnston to Morton.
After the evacuation of Jackson by Sherman, the regiment
was at or near Clinton until moved to Brownsville in
September. October 10 detachments from Starke's and Wirt
Adams' Regiments were attacked, near Port Gibson by a force of
Illinois and Wisconsin Cavalry, whose commanding officer
reported 11 of the two regiments killed. October 14th
McPherson's expedition set out from Vicksburg intending to go
to Canton but on account of the effective resistance made,
proceeded no further than Clinton. There were engagements at
Brownsville, October 15; on the Canton road near Brownsville,
October 15-16; near the Clinton and Vernon cross roads,
October 16; at Bogue Chitto Creek, and near Livingston,
October 17; and near Clinton, October 18, in which all or
parts of the regiment were engaged. After this the regiment
was on guard between the Pearl and Big Black Rivers to the
close of the year. December 25, 1863, Colonel Starke was put
in command of the brigade, then including the First, Fourth,
Twenty-eighth and Ballentine's Regiments. His headquarters was
Clinton. He continued in this command, in Jackson's Division,
under the organization of the cavalry, early in 1864, under
Maj.-Gen. S. D. Lee.
At the outset of Sherman's raid to Meridian, the brigade
met the advance of Hurlbut's column near the Joe Davis
plantation, giving battle there February 4, the Twenty-eighth
being commanded by Major McBee. Gen. Wirt Adams likewise
encountered McPherson's column, but neither Confederate force
was strong enough to make serious resistance. Next day, having
retired through Clinton, and Captain Ratliff reporting a flank
movement on the Springs road, Starke fell back through Jackson
and out on the Canton road. General Sherman reported that
February 5 was "one continued skirmish for eighteen
miles, but we did not allow the enemy's cavalry to impede our
march, but got into Jackson that night on his heels....Loring
and French were marching at the time to concentrate with the
cavalry at Jackson, but were too late. We got into Jackson
first, secured their pontoon bridge, repaired it and commenced
crossing, Pearl River on the 6th and on the 7th marched into
Brandon." Starke, under the immediate direction of
General Jackson, followed, and had a brisk engagement before
Meridian on the 14th, with Winslow's Cavalry fighting on foot.
Sherman then began the destruction of Meridian, as the great
military center of the Southwest. He reported: "For five
days 10,000 men worked with a will. Meridian, with its depots,
storehouses, arsenal, hospitals, offices, hotels and
cantonments no longer exists." The railroad was also
destroyed from Jackson to Meridian, from Meridian north to
Lauderdale Springs, south to Quitman and east about twenty
miles. This all was preparatory to the campaign against
Atlanta. Forrest and Chalmers were busied with Sooy Smith's
Cavalry raid from Memphis, which was easily routed in the
woods, on Sakatonchee Creek. Starke waited three days about
Meridian and then he also went to help against Sooy Smith, but
found on reaching Starkville that Smith was routed. Sherman
having marched to Canton expecting to meet Smith, Starke moved
to that vicinity, and near Sharon, February 27-29, the brigade
skirmished with the enemy, McBee and his regiment having a
serious encounter. On Sherman's retreat an attempt was made to
attack the Federal train at Brownsville, but before McBee had
a favorable opportunity the Federal infantry and cavalry
formed line of battle and Starke retired. The brigade loss
during the campaign Starke reported as 49 killed, wounded and
missing. He estimated the Federal loss occasioned by his
command as 128 killed and captured.
Starke was succeeded in brigade command by Brig.-Ben. Frank
C. Armstrong, and the brigade moved into Alabama in the spring
of 1864. A detachment under Captain Woods, with a detachment
under Lieutenant-Colonel Maxwell. left Tuscaloosa April 19, to
operate against "tories" in Walker and Winston
Counties, Ala.
May 5, 1864, the brigade moved from Carthage to Montevallo,
Ala.; 14th, arrived at Rome, Ga.; 17th, reached Adairsville
and engaged the enemy with considerable loss in killed and
wounded; May 20, fought at Cassville, crossed the Etowah, and
moved to Dallas, skirmishing. May 28 the brigade was
dismounted temporarily and put in the trenches on the extreme
south of the line extending from northeast of New Hope Church,
southwest of Dallas. At four in the evening, after lying in
the trenches under a scorching sun all day, they formed in
line of battle and charged, driving in the Federal skirmishers
and encountering a heavy fire of musketry and artillery from
the main line of the enemy. The Twenty-eighth drove the
gunners from their battery, but were forced to retire before
taking possession of the guns. In falling back Captain Clanton
was killed and Lieut. T. N. Fowler severely wounded. The
regiment had 20 killed and wounded, "a severe price to
pay for feeling the enemy," one of the men wrote home.
After this they skirmished continually as the armies moved
to the Marietta line, skirmished on that line and in the
Federal rear near Powder Springs, picketed the Chattahoochee
River, moved to West Point July 17 to meet Rousseau's
expedition, took part in the battle of July 28 near Atlanta,
skirmished at Herring's Mill July 30, was in the battle of
August 6, and fought near Jonesboro, August 30.
The regiment, in Armstrong’s Brigade, Jackson's Division,
crossed the Tennessee River, near Florence, November 16-17,
and began the march into Tennessee November 21, under the
command of Major-General Forrest. Armstrong's Brigade was in
battle at Lawrenceburg, Campbellsville, Columbia, Spring Hill
and Franklin; in November, followed the Federal army to
Nashville, thence moved to the investment of Murfreesboro, and
was particularly distinguished in battle there December 7. In
the rear guard of the army during the retreat from Nashville
they fought at Columbia, Warfield's, Richland Creek, Pulaski,
King's Hill and Sugar Creek, December 22-26. The casualties of
the regiment were 10 killed, including Lieut. W. W. Wyatt, and
49 wounded. (See notice of brigade, First Cavalry). Gen. W. H.
Jackson, commanding the division, indorsed on the campaign
report of General Ross, of the Texas Brigade: "Lieutenant
Hunt, of Twenty-eighth Mississippi, particularly distinguished
himself; commanding a squadron of cavalry, dismounted his men
in an open field."
Colonel Starke was promoted to Brigadier-General November
4, 1864, and the regiment is assigned to his brigade in
General Chalmers' orders of February, 1865. When Gen. J. H.
Wilson started on his raid through Alabama and Georgia in
March and April, 1865, the brigade moved from Pickensville,
Ala., to meet him, and after three days and nights of marching
and countermarching arrived near Selma during the assault upon
the fortifications there, April 2, but were cut off from the
town by the Federal troops and were unable to render any
assistance. When Selma was taken they were compelled to retire
in the night, thirty miles, across the Cahawba River, after
which they moved to Livingston and went into camp. There the
last muster rolls were made, up to April 31, 1865. The
capitulation by Gen. Richard Taylor occurred May 4, 1865. The
cavalry commands under General Forrest were surrendered at
Gainesville, Ala., May 22, 1865.
[Transcriber’s Note: The following information on
Brig.-Gen. Frank C. Armstrong’s Escort Company is included
at the end of the history of the 28th MS Cavalry in
Rowland’s epic of Confederate Mississippi. None of the
soldier’s mentioned below are listed as members of the 28th
MS Cavalry in H. Grady Howell’s best-ever index of
Mississippi Confederates. However, in deference to Rowland,
this information is included below. It seems to have no
relation to the 28th MS Cavalry.]
Armstrong's Escort, enlisted at Monroe, La., 4 April, 1862.
Captain -- Junius Y. Webb. First Lieutenant -- Lynn B.
Watkins. Second Lieutenant -- Nathaniel M. Martin.
Third Lieutenant -- John J. Carter. Escort company for
Brig.-Gen. Frank C. Armstrong.
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