History-a

	Sign In Sign-Up

A brief History of the 38th Mississippi

In march of 1862 the 38th Mississippi was organized as an infantry unit, and in May all General P.G.T. Beauregard

companies were ordered to rendezvous at Jackson. It was here that the regiment received it's training, and elected their commanding officers, Colonel Fleming W. Adams, Lt. Colonel Preston Brent, and Major Franklin W. Foxworth. Shortly after their organization and training the regiment was ordered to Corinth MS. which was occupied by the Army of the Mississippi under the command of General P. G. T. Beauregard. On May 29th Beauregard pulled the army Gen. Sterling Price

back toward Tupelo followed closely by Union General Henry Halleck, the 38th had arrived just a few days before the evacuation. The retreat was a costly one for the Confederates, but a large number of men died from sickness that was spread during the occupation of Corinth, and the 38th was no exception. In fact their losses were so great that they were ordered to Columbus MS. on July 1st, and Saltillo in August to pickup new recruits. By August the regiment was up to strength (963 men), and was assigned to Colonel John D. Martin's Brigade of General Henry Little's Division, attached with the Army of the West under the command of General Sterling Price.
By September Colonel Martin's Brigade which included the 36th, & 37th Mississippi, and the 37th Alabama took part in the Battle of Iuka, but was ordered "not to return fire". Colonel Adams gives the reason for this in his report dated September 23, 1862, "Soon after the line of battle was formed General Little said to me that he wished the two regiments (the 38th & the 37th) on the right to advance, and cautioned me not to fire, from the fact that General Hebert's command was just in front of us." General Little gave the regiment orders to help in taking a Union battery to their front. Lt. Colonel Preston Brent made the following statement in his report of Sept. 23 "The regiment advanced gallantly to the charge until it reached the top of a hill in full view of the enemy's battery, when it was halted and ordered to lie down." At some point during the battle Colonel Adams was wounded in the knee, but stayed with the regiment until after dark. He kept his command there for several hours, and than turned the command over to Lt. Colonel Brent. Adams was than taken to the rear, and several days later was declared "unfit for duty." In his only battle action report Colonel Adams states of his men "My command never fired a shot, because I had been so ordered, but it was under a very heavy fire, and acted, with but few exceptions, with coolness and courage." Lt. Colonel Brent reported a loss of 4 killed, 1 mortally wounded, and 2 wounded (including Adams) (Battle Map of Iuka.) In late November General Price with his force of 17,000 troops had linked up with Major General Earl VanDorn's 10,000. General VanDorn

On October 3, 1862 their combined forces attacked Union General William S. Roscrans at Corinth. The plan was to cut Grant's supply line before he could attack Vicksburg. Colonel Martin's Brigade charged the outer works at an angle where they were exposed to an enfilading fire from musket and cannon. Many were killed including Colonel Martin. The following day the brigade was ordered to attack the inner batteries. The troops charged across a railroad, and up the rampart of a heavy fortified artillery emplacement. The 38th lost 4 killed and 4 wounded, among the killed was Lt. Colonel Walter L. Keirn, formally the Captain of CO. A "Holmes County Volunteers".

Vicksburg
After the Battle of Corinth the 38th, with 264 men on the roster, were sent to Snyder's Bluff on the Yazoo General Hebert

River north of Vicksburg. This move also placed them under the command of Louisiana General Louis Hebert (pronounced "a-bear"). On May 17th & 18th the regiment along with the rest of Hebert's Brigade were moved to the front line for the up coming siege of Vicksburg. They were placed in a position covering the Jackson & Graveyard roads. On May 22nd, Grant ordered an attack on the Confederate works covering the Jackson road, & the Stockade Redan, the attack failed. The 38th took part in repulsing the Yankee attack, but the number of causalities are not known. On June 2nd the 38th was moved to the right flank of the Louisiana Redan covering the same road. They were stationed between the 3rd & 21st Louisiana.


This marker shows the position of the 38th guarding the Jackson & Graveyard roads up to June 2nd.	A marker showing the position of the 38th supporting the 3rd Louisiana Redan.

On June 25th the Yankees were set for an attack on the Redan that would be spearheaded by a mine explosion. According to several sources the Confederates new about the attack, and were able to pull back to a safe location before the blast. The Union forces occupied the creator made by the blast, but were pushed back be the Confederates with a ferocious counter attack.

Blasting the redan

The explosion on the evening of the 25th.

Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Home