3rd Regiment MS Inf., Co. B, Sunflower Dispensers AKA Sunflower Rifles

Source: Hemphill, Marie M., Fevers, Floods and Faith, (Indianola MS),
Sunflower County Historical Society, 1980, p. 67-68

"Organized 9 September 1861, the company was mustered into service at Camp Clark, Bay St. Louis, by 1st Lt Charleston Hurst. Originally designated as Company "E", it became Company "B" when attached to the Mississippi Infantry. Company "B" fought at Shiloh and Fort Pemberton, and participated in the sinking of the Cairo on the Yazoo by the first successful launching of a floating land mine." Ms Hemphill includes a narrative of this event as well as the action at Brown's (or Browning's) Bar on the Yazoo River near Shell Bluff Plantation.

Following secession from the Union, Sunflower County citizens answered the Call to Arms. They organized and equipped two units and citizens from the County also joined units being raised in other counties. The Sunfower Guards left almost immediately after being organized while the Sunflower Dispensers (also known as the Sunflower Rifles) remained in the County awaiting the State's instructions. From newpaper articles, veterans' accounts, local, and family histories, we find Sunflower County was not affected as much by the war as other counties in the State. Certainly no major battles were fought here, but the Sunflower River was of strategic importance and the battle at Fort Pemberton (near Greenwood MS in what is now Leflore County) was but one of several attempts by the Union to gain access to Vicksburg via Mississippi's waterways.

No unit designation is ever mentioned in Ms Hemphill's book; however A Military History of Mississippi by Dunbar Rowland includes a description of the 22nd Mississippi Infantry which discusses some of the river expeditions on the Sunflower River. It is likely this is the regiment to which the Sunflower Dispensers were attached.

Officers

Morgan, William H., Captain
Westbrook, P. H. or V.H.?, 2nd Lt
Poindexter, Charles R., 3rd Lt

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