Marshall County MSGenWeb


Roster of Confederate Soldiers of Marshall County with Some from Surrounding Areas Compiled By Bobby Mitchell, 1998 Copyright Bobby Mitchell 1998-2006. All Rights Reserved. Foreword Over the past twelve years I have made copies of hundreds of pages with thousands of names from the rosters of Confederate organizations contained in the MS Department of Archives and History in Jackson. Of course there can never be a complete listing of all the men who served from Marshall County, as many went to distant places to enlist. In the same manner, not all the men listed in this publication were from Marshall County; many were from surrounding counties, who either enlisted in Marshall County, or who enlisted at some distant place in a company that was designated as being from Marshall County. There is no practical way to separate men who were from an area outside our county from those within the county, when one is working with lists of names, rather than compiled service records, which many times give the place of residence. Marshall County in 1860 was also much larger than it is now, having surrendered one hundred or more square miles to Benton, Lafayette, and Tate counties in the years following the War Between the States. Consequently, many of the men listed were from old Marshall County, but today would not be considered from this county. Some men are listed more than one time. This is due to the fact that many, if not most, changed regiments during the course of the War, and so are listed under each regiment (there are 4020 entries in this volume). On a page following the Foreword is a copy of the type roster I copied from the records (copied on a blue sheet). Many are confusing, with notations to check another regiment, or even to look under a different name, as one had hired a substitute, etc. Because one is shown here does not mean that individual had an exemplary military career. These lists merely mean that an individual was on the rolls of that organization at some point. Huge numbers were listed as deserters, when in reality, some had deserted; some had joined another regiment, while still carried on the rolls of the former unit; some were in POW camps: some were in hospitals; some were on sick leave at home; and some had been killed or had died of disease. The volumes I worked with in Jackson were very large, legal sized books, with typewritten lists of names. The names had been compiled long ago, when Mr. Dunbar Rowland, Head of the Archives had begun to accumulate Confederate information. The information had been collected from records, put onto index cards, then alphabetized by regiment, then typed with old manual typewriters. They were typed on onion skin paper, on pages that were punched to hind from the tops of the pages. Sometime later, the pages had been removed from those top-bound volumes, and bound into books. Since the pages had originally been bound from the top of the page, the typed material is now much closer to the left margin than would have been done if originally prepared to bind from the side. Because of this, some of the names are now so close to the binding as to make it difficult to read, and sometimes impossible to copy and get a legible copy. Also, the original archivists had trouble reading some of the names, but had done the best that they could in transcribing the material. Hence, many names are obviously misspelled, but I copied them as they were in the books. Two names I copied as they were, then put the corrected spellings in a parenthesis. One was my third great uncle, David Lesueur, carried on the roll as “Lesumer”. The other was a Norfleet, who was carried on the roll as “Norglet”. The rest are as they were on the rolls. One should look for all combinations when seeking a particular name. How did I determine which names to use? When Mr. Rowland began to acquire information, he wrote to the various newspapers around the state, asking readers to inform him of Confederate units in the War. Readers responded with name of various local companies which had gone into military service. The SOUTH (later named THE SOUTH REPORTER) eventually obtained a list of about twenty companies from Marshall County. Most were known by such names as the Confederate Guards, the Home Guards, the Jeff Davis Rifles, the Rough and Readies, etc. Using these company names, I looked in the military records to find the official names of the companies after regiments were formed, then copied the roster of those regiments. The entire roster of each regiment had to be copied, as the companies were not listed individually. (A copy of the names of these companies will be found at the end of the Foreword.) In each case the original roll of a company was probably composed of all local men. But as the War continued, many others joined the companies, and not all would have been from Marshall County. Several regiments were sent to Virginia, and it is highly probable that men enlisted there, who had never even been to Mississippi. Since I was working from rosters, there is no way, as earlier stated, who in Company “A” might have been from Marshall County and who was not. Due to this fact, I included everyone who was ever in a company which originated in Marshall County. Also, a great number of men are included who lived in what is now Tate or Benton counties. The same is true for other counties around Marshall County. Company “I” of the Seventeenth Mississippi Infantry is not listed as being from Marshall County. When looking over the rolls, though, I noticed many names of men from the Byhalia Area. Company “I” was officially listed as being from DeSoto County, but so many names were Marshall County names, I listed that entire company. Alfred Jefferson Vaughn, (later Brig. General) raised some men for a company from Early Grove. When there was not enough equipment for them to join a Marshall County company, he and his men crossed over the state line and joined a group of men from Moscow, TN in forming Company “E”, Thirteenth TN Infantry. I have listed that entire company also. The Ninth Mississippi Infantry had hundreds of men from Marshall County in it. Then it was reorganized and mixed with the Tenth Mississippi Infantry. When the Ninth was reorganized, a considerable number of the old Ninth joined John Hunt Morgan's famous 2nd KY Cavalry (Morgan's Men). Nearly one hundred men from North Mississippi joined Company F, 2nd KY Cavalry, including at least 24 from Marshall County. Those Marshall countians are also included. It was impossible to choose those from Companies “B”, “D”, “F”, and “K” of the original 9th MS to include so I put them all in, more than 1000 names from these four companies alone. I have identified nine fully commissioned Confederate Generals connected with Marshall County, either before, during or after the War, and two others who were Brigadier Generals with the Mississippi State troops, for a total of eleven in our county. All are listed, even if they served in units outside MS. For instance, Gen. Daniel Govan was an Arkansas officer, but he lived here before the War, and was returned here for burial when he died in 1911. Buried in Hill Crest Cemetery in Holly Springs are Maj. General Edward Cary Walthall, Brig. Gen. Winfield Scott Featherston, Brig. Gen. Daniel Govan, and Brig. Gen. Sam Benton. Also the two state Brig. Generals are buried in Hill Crest, Christopher H. (Kit) Mott, and Absalom West. Three Generals with Marshall County connections, Brig. Gen. Elkanah B. Greer, Brig. Gen. James Chalmers, and Brig. General A. J. Vaughan are buried in Elmwood Cemetery in Memphis, TN. Brig. General Claudius W. Sears is buried in Oxford, MS. Oddly enough, John Wesley Frazer, the only man to have lived in Holly Springs as a young boy, and to have received an appointment to West Point while living in Holly Springs, is the only one of the eleven most people have never heard of. (A Copy of his appointment to West Point follows.) Gen. Frazer graduated from West Point in 1849, and served in the US Army until he resigned in March, 1861 in order to join the Confederate Army. Gen. Frazer was killed in an accident in New York City in 1906, while visiting there for a cancer treatment. He is buried in Clifton Springs, New York. COMPANIES IDENTIFIED BY *THE SOUTH* Walker Reserves, 1st MS Regiment, Company A Alcorn Rifles, 1st MS Regiment, Company B Ballentine's 2nd MS Partisan Rangers, Company F & H Morgan's Men, 2nd KY Cavalry, Company F Capt. William R. Mitchell's Partisan Rangers 3rd MS Cavalry, Companies A, E, & G 18th MS Cavalry Battalion, Company A 18th MS Cavalry Battalion, Company C (General Chalmer's Escort Company) 12th MS Cavalry Regiment, Company F Home Guards, 9th MS infantry, Company B Jeff Davis Rifles, 9th MS Infantry, Company D Quitman Rifle Guards, 9th MS Infantry, Company F Mississippi Rangers, 17th MS Infantry, Company B Rough and Readies, 17th MS Infantry, Company D Sam Benton Rifles, 17th MS Infantry, Company F Confederate Guards, 17th MS Infantry, Company G Salem Cavalry, 19th MS Infantry, Company H 19th MS Infantry, Company I Wynne's Relief, 34th MS infantry, Company D Coldwater Rifles, 34th MS Infantry, Company E Goodman Guards, 34th MS Infantry, Company F Bowen Rifles, 34th MS Infantry, Company I Pettus Rangers, 44th MS Infantry, Company H There are possibly other companies which should be identified with Marshall County, but the above list is primarily those from old newspapers. Records of some of the regiments are nearly non existent. Records were carried in a troop wagon, and occasionally, during a battle, some might be destroyed. Also, after the War, some were hidden or destroyed to prevent carpetbaggers from obtaining the list of Confederate soldiers. Most of those hidden records were sequestered in the Masonic Lodge in Jackson. About 35 years after the War, when only three or four men were left who knew of their existence, they were finally revealed to others, and eventually released to Washington to be copied. They were later returned to Jackson. One occasionally finds a reference to a unit which is unknown to any historians today. A few men from our area were in the 7th MS Cavalry, but one can find very little about it, even though it had a large enrollment. If any one knows of soldiers omitted from this roster, please let me know and I will put them on a list for future inclusion. Also, I plan to continue to try to identify more men to add to our rolls of Marshall County Confederate Soldiers. Bobby Mitchell 470 North Bonds Drive Holly Springs, MS 38635 Copyright Bobby Mitchell, All Rights Reserved
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Roster of Confederate Soldiers of Marshall County with Some from Surrounding Areas

Compiled By Bobby Mitchell, 1998
Copyright Bobby Mitchell 1998-2006. All Rights Reserved.

Foreword

Over the past twelve years I have made copies of hundreds of pages with thousands of names from the rosters of Confederate organizations contained in the MS Department of Archives and History in Jackson. Of course there can never be a complete listing of all the men who served from Marshall County, as many went to distant places to enlist. In the same manner, not all the men listed in this publication were from Marshall County; many were from surrounding counties, who either enlisted in Marshall County, or who enlisted at some distant place in a company that was designated as being from Marshall County. There is no practical way to separate men who were from an area outside our county from those within the county, when one is working with lists of names, rather than compiled service records, which many times give the place of residence. Marshall County in 1860 was also much larger than it is now, having surrendered one hundred or more square miles to Benton, Lafayette, and Tate counties in the years following the War Between the States. Consequently, many of the men listed were from old Marshall County, but today would not be considered from this county.

Some men are listed more than one time. This is due to the fact that many, if not most, changed regiments during the course of the War, and so are listed under each regiment (there are 4020 entries in this volume). On a page following the Foreword is a copy of the type roster I copied from the records (copied on a blue sheet). Many are confusing, with notations to check another regiment, or even to look under a different name, as one had hired a substitute, etc. Because one is shown here does not mean that individual had an exemplary military career. These lists merely mean that an individual was on the rolls of that organization at some point. Huge numbers were listed as deserters, when in reality, some had deserted; some had joined another regiment, while still carried on the rolls of the former unit; some were in POW camps: some were in hospitals; some were on sick leave at home; and some had been killed or had died of disease.

The volumes I worked with in Jackson were very large, legal sized books, with typewritten lists of names. The names had been compiled long ago, when Mr. Dunbar Rowland, Head of the Archives had begun to accumulate Confederate information. The information had been collected from records, put onto index cards, then alphabetized by regiment, then typed with old manual typewriters. They were typed on onion skin paper, on pages that were punched to hind from the tops of the pages. Sometime later, the pages had been removed from those top-bound volumes, and bound into books. Since the pages had originally been bound from the top of the page, the typed material is now much closer to the left margin than would have been done if originally prepared to bind from the side. Because of this, some of the names are now so close to the binding as to make it difficult to read, and sometimes impossible to copy and get a legible copy.

Also, the original archivists had trouble reading some of the names, but had done the best that they could in transcribing the material. Hence, many names are obviously misspelled, but I copied them as they were in the books. Two names I copied as they were, then put the corrected spellings in a parenthesis. One was my third great uncle, David Lesueur, carried on the roll as “Lesumer”. The other was a Norfleet, who was carried on the roll as “Norglet”. The rest are as they were on the rolls. One should look for all combinations when seeking a particular name.

How did I determine which names to use? When Mr. Rowland began to acquire information, he wrote to the various newspapers around the state, asking readers to inform him of Confederate units in the War. Readers responded with name of various local companies which had gone into military service. The SOUTH (later named THE SOUTH REPORTER) eventually obtained a list of about twenty companies from Marshall County. Most were known by such names as the Confederate Guards, the Home Guards, the Jeff Davis Rifles, the Rough and Readies, etc. Using these company names, I looked in the military records to find the official names of the companies after regiments were formed, then copied the roster of those regiments. The entire roster of each regiment had to be copied, as the companies were not listed individually. (A copy of the names of these companies will be found at the end of the Foreword.) In each case the original roll of a company was probably composed of all local men. But as the War continued, many others joined the companies, and not all would have been from Marshall County. Several regiments were sent to Virginia, and it is highly probable that men enlisted there, who had never even been to Mississippi. Since I was working from rosters, there is no way, as earlier stated, who in Company “A” might have been from Marshall County and who was not. Due to this fact, I included everyone who was ever in a company which originated in Marshall County. Also, a great number of men are included who lived in what is now Tate or Benton counties. The same is true for other counties around Marshall County. Company “I” of the Seventeenth Mississippi Infantry is not listed as being from Marshall County. When looking over the rolls, though, I noticed many names of men from the Byhalia Area. Company “I” was officially listed as being from DeSoto County, but so many names were Marshall County names, I listed that entire company. Alfred Jefferson Vaughn, (later Brig. General) raised some men for a company from Early Grove. When there was not enough equipment for them to join a Marshall County company, he and his men crossed over the state line and joined a group of men from Moscow, TN in forming Company “E”, Thirteenth TN Infantry. I have listed that entire company also. The Ninth Mississippi Infantry had hundreds of men from Marshall County in it. Then it was reorganized and mixed with the Tenth Mississippi Infantry. When the Ninth was reorganized, a considerable number of the old Ninth joined John Hunt Morgan's famous 2nd KY Cavalry (Morgan's Men). Nearly one hundred men from North Mississippi joined Company F, 2nd KY Cavalry, including at least 24 from Marshall County. Those Marshall countians are also included. It was impossible to choose those from Companies “B”, “D”, “F”, and “K” of the original 9th MS to include so I put them all in, more than 1000 names from these four companies alone.

I have identified nine fully commissioned Confederate Generals connected with Marshall County, either before, during or after the War, and two others who were Brigadier Generals with the Mississippi State troops, for a total of eleven in our county. All are listed, even if they served in units outside MS. For instance, Gen. Daniel Govan was an Arkansas officer, but he lived here before the War, and was returned here for burial when he died in 1911. Buried in Hill Crest Cemetery in Holly Springs are Maj. General Edward Cary Walthall, Brig. Gen. Winfield Scott Featherston, Brig. Gen. Daniel Govan, and Brig. Gen. Sam Benton. Also the two state Brig. Generals are buried in Hill Crest, Christopher H. (Kit) Mott, and Absalom West.

Three Generals with Marshall County connections, Brig. Gen. Elkanah B. Greer, Brig. Gen. James Chalmers, and Brig. General A. J. Vaughan are buried in Elmwood Cemetery in Memphis, TN.

Brig. General Claudius W. Sears is buried in Oxford, MS.

Oddly enough, John Wesley Frazer, the only man to have lived in Holly Springs as a young boy, and to have received an appointment to West Point while living in Holly Springs, is the only one of the eleven most people have never heard of. (A Copy of his appointment to West Point follows.) Gen. Frazer graduated from West Point in 1849, and served in the US Army until he resigned in March, 1861 in order to join the Confederate Army. Gen. Frazer was killed in an accident in New York City in 1906, while visiting there for a cancer treatment. He is buried in Clifton Springs, New York.

COMPANIES IDENTIFIED BY THE SOUTH

Walker Reserves, 1st MS Regiment, Company A
Alcorn Rifles, 1st MS Regiment, Company B
Ballentine's 2nd MS Partisan Rangers, Company F & H
Morgan's Men, 2nd KY Cavalry, Company F
Capt. William R. Mitchell's Partisan Rangers
3rd MS Cavalry, Companies A, E, & G
18th MS Cavalry Battalion, Company A
18th MS Cavalry Battalion, Company C (General Chalmer's Escort Company)
12th MS Cavalry Regiment, Company F
Home Guards, 9th MS infantry, Company B
Jeff Davis Rifles, 9th MS Infantry, Company D
Quitman Rifle Guards, 9th MS Infantry, Company F
Mississippi Rangers, 17th MS Infantry, Company B
Rough and Readies, 17th MS Infantry, Company D
Sam Benton Rifles, 17th MS Infantry, Company F
Confederate Guards, 17th MS Infantry, Company G
Salem Cavalry, 19th MS Infantry, Company H
19th MS Infantry, Company I
Wynne's Relief, 34th MS infantry, Company D
Coldwater Rifles, 34th MS Infantry, Company E
Goodman Guards, 34th MS Infantry, Company F
Bowen Rifles, 34th MS Infantry, Company I
Pettus Rangers, 44th MS Infantry, Company H

There are possibly other companies which should be identified with Marshall County, but the above list is primarily those from old newspapers. Records of some of the regiments are nearly non existent. Records were carried in a troop wagon, and occasionally, during a battle, some might be destroyed. Also, after the War, some were hidden or destroyed to prevent carpetbaggers from obtaining the list of Confederate soldiers. Most of those hidden records were sequestered in the Masonic Lodge in Jackson. About 35 years after the War, when only three or four men were left who knew of their existence, they were finally revealed to others, and eventually released to Washington to be copied. They were later returned to Jackson.

One occasionally finds a reference to a unit which is unknown to any historians today. A few men from our area were in the 7th MS Cavalry, but one can find very little about it, even though it had a large enrollment.

If any one knows of soldiers omitted from this roster, please let me know and I will put them on a list for future inclusion. Also, I plan to continue to try to identify more men to add to our rolls of Marshall County Confederate Soldiers.

Bobby Mitchell
470 North Bonds Drive
Holly Springs, MS 38635
Copyright Bobby Mitchell, All Rights Reserved

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