In an unidentified newspaper, dated November 6, 1862, is a listing of casualties suffered by the 34th Mississippi Infantry (then known as the 37th Regiment) at the battle of Perryville, Kentucky.  The ten companies comprising this regiment were:

Company A – Tippah Rangers;
Company B – Tippah Rebels;
Company C – Smith Rifles (Lafayette Co.);
Company D – Mississippi Avengers;
Company E – Coldwater Rebels (Marshall Co.);
Company F – Goodman Guards (Marshall Co.);
Company G – Sons of Liberty (Tippah Co.);
Company H – Tippah Farmers;
Company I – Bowen Rebels (Marshall Co.);
Company K – Dixie Guards (Tippah Co.)

The regiment was organized at Holly Springs, Marshall Co., Mississippi in April 1862.  Its staff and field officers were: Colonel – Samuel Benton; Lieutenant Colonel – Daniel B. Wright; Major – Thomas A. Falconer; Adjutant – T. W. Miller; and Sergeant Major – Clifton Dancy.  Its first major battle was fought at Perryville, Kentucky were the regiment was conspicuous for bravery and suffered a large number of casualties.  Here is the text of the article:

List of Casualties in the Thirty-Seventh [34th] Mississippi Regiment

The following is a list of the killed and wounded in the 37th Mississippi regiment volunteers, in the battle of Perryville, Kentucky, on the 8th October, 1862, Colonel Samuel Benton, commanding:

Field and Staff—Wounded: Colonel Benton, severely in the right thigh and left side; Lieutenant Colonel D. B. Wright, severely, right forearm; Major A. T. Mason, painfully, left foot; Sergeant-Major Clifton Dancy, painfuly, left arm.

Company A—Wounded: Lieutenant J. W. Notton, slightly in the hand; Orderly Sergeant T. H. Johnson, dangerously; Corporal N. M. Young, severely; Privates A. Stinson, severely; W. T. Bowdon, dangerously; R. H. Bowdon, slightly; J. L. Boston, dangerously; G. D. Queen, dangerously; T. F. Rutherford, slightly; V. A. Hood, slightly; L. L. Luna, dangerously; J. M. Nance, slightly; L. Renfro, slightly; J. Strong, dangerously.

Company B—Killed: Privates L. H. Rogan, G. W. Little, W. A. Jordan, J. A. Vernon.  Wounded: Capt. A. C. Rucker, severely, lower leg; Sergeant S. N. Still, slightly; Privates J. W. Austin, severely; E. Bishop, slightly; H. A. Blakeny, slightly; G. W. Brooks, severely; R. L. George, severely; Thos. A. hurt, severely, left arm; R. D. Kinney, severely; W. C. Lee, severely; Wm. Manning, severely; F. Moody, severely; J. H. Shepherd, severely.

Company C—Wounded: Lieutenant J. R. Turner, slightly; Privates J. A. Pope, severely; W. C. Worthy, severely; P. McNeale, slightly.

Company D—Killed: Privates J. W. Bowen, T. H. Alexander.  Wounded: Corporal A. J. Hamilton, dangerously; Corporal A. N. Smith, slightly; Privates R. S. Boggs, dangerously; J. F. Boren, slightly; B. Gwinn, severely; W. B. Henderson, dangerously; W. P. McCauley, dangerously; J. McElvoy, mortally; J. M. White, dangerously; W. E. Young, severely; W. J. Harrold, slightly; W. F. Harris, slightly; V. A. Lay, slightly.

Company E—Killed: Privates J. S. Funderborks [Funderburk] and Henry Thomas.  Wounded: Corp’l J. H. Collins, slightly; Privates U. M. C. Alexander; W. A. Broodsway, slightly; R. J. Cloud, slightly; W. R. Crawford, slightly; R. J. Dean, dangerously; Dr. M. Flou [Flow], severely; T. D. Fancett, dangerously; J. K. Hardy, severely; W. H. Mosby, severely; A. S. Rogers, slightly; E. K. Kirby, slightly; R. M. Stewart, severely; J. J. Stovall, severely; H. H. Woods, severely in arm.

Company F—Wounded: Sergeant W. E. Hancock, severely; Corporal C. H. C. Drake, mortally; Musician J. A. Alexander, slightly; Privates Howard Falconer, dangerously; T. J. Ross, slightly; Thos. Vaughan, slightly; J. W. Wages, slightly.

Company G—Killed: Sergeant A. Mouldin, Private W. M. Hill.  Wounded: Lieutenant J. A. Childres, severely in arm; Sergeant C. Hines, dangerously in leg; Corporal T. J. Herring, severely in foot; Corporal W. C. Pugh, severely; Privates W. T. Shapley, severely in both hands; C. C. Hicks, dangerously in face; Ralph Hawkins, slightly; N. James, slightly; Farley Hopkins, slightly; J. Morbry, slightly; F. Robertson, dangerously; J. J. Strut [Street], slightly; J. A. Walker, slightly.

Company H—Killed: Privates W. H. Crump, W. W. McCord.  Wounded: Orderly Sergeant Charlie Smith, seriously; Jacob Goodwin, slightly; P. W. Garrison, slightly; J. P. Gamble, slightly; C. L. Nutt, slightly; S. Noah, slightly.

Company I—Killed: Sergeant J. C. Cathey, Corporal A. J. Oldfield, privates J. F. Simpson, J. W. Hargis.  Wounded:  Lieutenant H. R. Rayburn, slightly, in arm; Sergeant R. B. McKee, slightly, in arm; Sergeant B. M. Childers, slightly; Privates W. T. Aikin, dangerously; W. G. Aiken, dangerously; W. K. Childers, dangerously; L. K. Childers, dangerously; W. Maples, severely; M. L. Strickland, slightly; J. C. South, dangerously; C. F. Smith, severely in arm; S. T. Morton, slightly; W. L. Weaver, slightly; R. Childress, dangerously.

Company K—Killed: Corporal T. T. Royster, Privates J. C. Nunally, E. N. Brown.  Wounded: Captain Ben Lox, severely in lower leg; Lieutenant R. J. Sharp, severely in left shoulder; Lieutenant A. McDonald, mortally, died next morning; Orderly Sergeant F. G. Ayres, very dangerously, in right lung; Privates W. P. Boughman, severely in neck; Nelson Jones, slightly; Sam Simpson, severely, in shoulder; Green Simpson, slightly, in right foot; R. W. McDougal, severely, in right knee; R. W. Hix, slightly, in right leg; T. C. H. Wall, severely, in left arm; T. J. Scott, dangerously, in right arm and side; Frank T. Lick, very severely in head, right leg and left side; B. F. Perkins, slightly, in left shoulder; P. W. Winborn, severely, in right arm; J. E. Winborn, slightly, in head.

Total.—Killed, 19; Wounded, 124.

This regiment went into the battle with three hundred and ten men rank and file; its loss in the engagement was nearly fifty per cent.  The honor of Mississippi was never more bravely vindicated.

Writing more than sixty years later, Samuel A. Hughey, better known to readers of the DeSoto County Times Promoter as “Old Hughey” and a member of Company E, 34th Mississippi, made the following observations:

We want to talk a little this morning on the official report of General Bragg’s army from Chattanooga to Perryville, Ky.  I happened to be in that campaign.  Bragg’s army was camped in and around Chattanooga when he started his campaign.  History says the army crossed the Tennessee River on the 28th of August, 1862.  I claim it cross the river on the 8th or 9th of August.  That’s all right; we crossed the river, and marched over the Cumberland Mountains by way of Pikeville, Spencer and Sparta, to Kentucky, where he engaged General Buell in the battle of Perryville, history says, with 14,000 men, raw, poorly armed soldiers.  General Bragg whipped the socks off General Buell, who had 30,000 fully armed and well-fed soldiers.  During this Kentucky campaign from August 28th to October 12, 1862—say from August 9th to Ocotober 23rd—somebody is wrong about dates, but that’s all right—Bragg’s army captured, according to history, [33?] pieces of artillery and 15,000 muskets, 330 wagons, 1,750 mules, killed 2,430 yankees, wounded 9,600, and captured 14,500 prisoners.  Such is the official history of this command.  General Bragg did well with his small army.  What was old Buell doing while General Bragg was mopping up?  I know a part that he was doing; he was killing and wounding Bragg’s men to beat the band.  He killed and wounded about 18 of my company.  Our regiment suffered a severe loss.  We lost our colonel and lieutenant-colonel, both severely wounded, which left our regiment without a commander.  We borrowed a lieutenant-colonel of the 30th Mississippi to take charge of our regiment.  His name was Reynolds.  He commanded our regiment until the battle of Chickamauga, and he was killed on Saturday morning and Major Pegram took command of the regiment.  He was wounded in the evening of the same day.  The regiment, the 34th Mississippi, then was commanded by Captain Bowen, senior captain of the regiment, the balance of the day.  Old Sherman told the truth, if reports be true.  He said “War is hell.”  I say if hell is any hotter than some of the battles that were fought in the war between the states, I am as near there as I want to be.