The troops in Company D were formed primarily of men from DeSoto County in 1861. The 44^th Mississippi was initially known as Blythe's Battalion under the command of Lt. Col. A. K. Blythe (not to be confused with Blythe's Battalion, Cavalry, under the command of G. L. Blythe).

On September 7, 1861, the battalion of Lieut.-Col. Blythe was assigned to the brigade of Gen. B.F. Cheatham, near New Madrid, Missouri. The regiment was part of the force that attacked Grant at Belmont, Missouri.

In April 1861 the regiment was in General Bushrod Johnson's Brigade and took part in the fighting at Shiloh on April 6 & 7, 1862. The command was then known as Blythe's Mississippi Regiment under Col. A. K. Blythe. In describing the action of the brigade on April 6^th, General Cheatham said: "Blythe's Mississippi advanced to the left and attacked the enemy, and, wheeling to the right, drove one of the enemy's batteries, with its support, from its position; but as it advanced upon the enemy Colonel Blythe was shot dead from his horse while gallantly leading his regiment forward in the charge. Within a few minutes of his fall Lieutenant Colonel David L. Herron and Capt. R. H. Humphreys, of the same regiment, both officers of merit, were mortally wounded and the command devolved on Major James Moore, under whose direction the regiment was actively engaged during the remainder of the day and throughout the subsequent action of the 7th. The regiment at all times eminently manifested the high spirit which has always characterized the soldiers of Mississippi and no braver soldier than its heroic leader was lost to our cause."

At Corinth, Mississippi April 26, 1862, the regiment was transferred to Trapier's Brigade of Withers' Division, Braggs' Corps. In the reorganization under General Bragg, the regiment was assigned to Chalmers' Brigade, with which it participated in the Kentucky campaign. At the battle of Murfreesboro, Tennessee (December 31, 1862 - January 2, 1863) Chalmers' Brigade was stationed at the right of Polk's Corps, the right of the brigade resting on Stone's River. They were part of the attack at dawn, December 31, but Chalmers' Brigade was not ordered into action until 11 o'clock. The Mississippians charged with gallantry, but the storm of lead and iron that met them at the burnt house struck down General Chalmers and shattered the line of grey. The regiments became separated, but soon rallied, reformed and fought gallantly through the remainder of the battle, which raged about the Round Forest for three days. The casualties of the regiment were 4 killed, 31 wounded, 17 missing.

The forty-fourth fell back to Shelbyville and Tullahoma in January 1863. By Order of War Department, June 6, 1863, "the Mississippi Regiment commanded by the late Col. A. K. Blythe, shall be styled the Forty-fourth Mississippi Regiment." In July, 1863, they crossed the Tennessee River, marched over Lookout Mountain and went in camp near Chattanooga. They took part in the Battle of Chicamauga in September 1863. On November 25, 1863, they participated in the battle of Missionary Ridge (Chattanooga, Tennessee) and joined in the retreat to Dalton, Georgia where they went into winter quarters.

Beginning in May 1864 they took part in the Atlanta Campaign. They were in the repulse of Sherman at Rocky Face Ridge, May 8, 1864. The regiment served under General Hood in the constant fighting along the lines of New Hope Church and Kenesaw Mountain in May and June, and until after the battles of Peachtree Creek, July 20, and Atlanta, July 22, in which latter the regiment had considerable casualties. The forty-fourth took part in the battle at Franklin, Tennessee on November 30, 1864 and the battle at Nashville, Tennessee on December 15-16, 1864 before retreating across the Tennessee River.

In the organization of the army near Smithfield, N. C., March 31, 1865, the Tenth and Forty-fourth Regiments and Ninth Battalion were consolidated under the command of Maj. W. C. Richards. On April 9 Sharp's Brigade, of whom the Forty-fourth was part, consolidated as the Ninth Regiment. They surrendered in April 1865 at Goldsboro, NC.

Below is a roster of men who served in Company D extracted from the Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System of the National Park Service. Because the same soldier was sometimes listed more than once due to variations in spelling his name, the total number given is inflated. The listing has not been changed because there is no way to determine where these spelling errors have occurred.