5th MS Infantry, Co. I,
"Stennis' Company"

This information was donated by Tom Neely.

Company I, 5th Mississippi Infantry was known as the Kemper Rebels, and as Stennis' Company, enrolled at Peden, DeKalb and Scooba, mustered into State service August 3, 1861.

Captains-Adam T. Stennis, elected Major; Tandy C. K. Bostick
First Lieutenants: Tandy C. K. Bostick, Robert M. Peden
Second Lieutenant: Allen J. Henderson
Third Lieutenant: James D. Peden

Company K of the 6th Battalion Infantry, known as the Kemper Guards, was said to have been organized July 13, 1861, and lists many of the same officers as Company I, of the 5th Regiment:

Captains: Adam T. Steinas (Stennis); Tandy C. K. Bostick, D. C. Durham, wounded at Atlanta
First Lieutenants: Tandy C. K. Bostick, R. M. Peden, D. C. Chamberlain
Second Lieutenants: Allen J. Henderson, John McRae
Third Lieutenants: James D. Peden, D. D. Durham
Adam T. Stennis was later elected Major of the 5th Mississippi Infantry Regiment.

Rowland has a note about this company as follows: "This company had gone to Virginia in July, 1861, had been attached to the 59th Virginia, took part in the battle of Roanoke Island, N. C., February 8, 1862, was captured and had returned to Mississippi on being exchanged." Sifakis states that the 6th Battalion Inf. was disbanded in the summer of 1862 following the Vicksburg Bombardment in May through July 27, 1862.

The Fifth Regiment of Infantry was first commanded by Albert E. Fant, Colonel. The regiment was organized in 1861 and participated in the following battles:
Shiloh
Corinth Campaign
Murfreesboro
Tullahoma Campaign
Chickamauga
Chattanooga Siege
Chattanooga
Atlanta Campaign
Peach Tree Creek
Atlanta
Franklin
Nashville
Carolinas Campaign
Bentonville

Company I, Fifth Mississippi had men named to the Roll of Honor, and mentioned in Rowland's short history of the unit. At Shiloh, "...Toward evening, near the river, in a very stubborn battle across a deep ravine, Captains R. J. Armstrong and T. C. K. Bostick (Company I), were killed while gallantly leading their companies." At Stone's River, (Murfreesboro) W. R. Flanagan of Company I was chosen for the Roll of Honor. James M. McDonald was selected for Chickamauga.

At the Battle of Peach Tree Creek a Lt. J. T. Hobgood shown as commanding, the company suffered 5 wounded.

Only a small remnant surrendered on April 26, 1865.

Those searching for ancestors in one of these units may find their records carried through the other, or through another unit altogether. As the casualties mounted, and this regiment suffered terribly, they were consolidated with other numbered units. Some men who left home with Captain Stennis wound up with their records in a unit with an unfamiliar designation. If you will email Tom Neely with your ancestor's name he will try to help you verify the correct unit.

Sources: Rowland, Military History of Mississippi, 1803-1898, Brandon Printing, 1908
Sifakis, Compendium of the Confederate Armies-Mississippi,
Facts on File, NY, 1995

The following are men that served in this company. If you have additional Civil War information about your ancestor in this company, please let me know, so I can add them to the "Soldiers" section. These names came from the Civil War Soldiers & Sailors System.