42d Mississippi Infantry Regiment explained

Unit Name:	42d Mississippi Infantry Regiment
Dates:	1862–1865
Disbanded:	April 12, 1865
Type:	Infantry
Size:	Regiment
Command Structure:	Davis' Brigade
Nickname:	"Forty-second Mississippi"
Colors:	Light blue
Colors Label:	Facings
Equipment:	Enfield rifled muskets
Equipment Label:	Arms
Battles:	American Civil War Siege of Suffolk Gettysburg Campaign Battle of the Wilderness Battle of Spotsylvania Court House Battle of Cold Harbor Siege of Petersburg Appomattox Campaign
Battles Label:	Battles
Battle Honours:	Gettysburg
Battle Honours Label:	Battle honor
Commander1 Label:	Commanding officers

The 42d Mississippi Infantry Regiment, also known as the "Forty-second Mississippi", was an infantry formation of the Confederate States Army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War, and was successively commanded by Colonels Hugh R. Miller, William A. Feeney, and Andrew M. Nelson.^{[1] [2]}

History

The Forty-second was organized on May 14, 1862, in the Mississippi Volunteers at Oxford from the counties of Carroll, DeSoto, Tishomingo, Calhoun, Yalobusha, Panola, and Itawamba.^{[3] [4]} For a time, it served on provost duty in Richmond, Virginia,^[5] then was assigned to Davis' Brigade, Heth's Division, Third Corps, Army of Northern Virginia.

The 42nd Regiment was engaged in fierce fighting during the Gettysburg, taking heavy casualties, with the brigade commander Col. Hugh R. Miller killed in action. In the aftermath of the Gettysburg campaign, the Regiment fought at the Battle of Bristoe Station after retreating into Virginia. It lost 46 percent of the 575 engaged at Gettysburg, had eight disabled en route from Pennsylvania, and had six killed and 25 wounded during the Bristoe Campaign.

In 1864, the 42nd took part in the Battle of the Wilderness, the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, and the Battle of Cold Harbor, before joining the defense of Petersburg, Virginia. When the Union forces broke through the Confederate lines at Petersburg in early April, 1865, the remnants of the 42nd Regiment were captured and surrendered. The Regiment surrendered one lieutenant, one chaplain, and five enlisted men on April 9, 1865.^[6]

Commanders

Commanders of the Forty-second Mississippi:

• Col. Hugh R. Miller, killed at Gettysburg, 1863.
• Col. William A. Feeney, killed at the Battle of the Wilderness, 1864.
• Col. Andrew M. Nelson, wounded at the Battle of the Wilderness, 1864.
• Lt. Col. Hillary Moseley, wounded and disabled at Gettysburg, 1863.

Regimental order of battle

Units of the Forty-second Mississippi:^[3]

• Company A, "Carroll Fencibles"
• Company B, "Senatobia Invincibles"
• Company C, "Nelson's Avengers"
• Company D
• Company E, "Davenport Rifles"
• Company F, of Calhoun County
• Company G, "Gaston Rifles"
• Company H
• Company I, "Mississippi Reds"
• Company K

See also

• List of Mississippi Civil War Confederate units

Bibliography

• News: . Brig. Gen. Davis... . . XV . 93 . April 26, 1864 . 1.
• Book: Brown, Kent Masterson . Gallagher . Gary W. . Gary W. Gallagher . 2005 . Retreat from Gettysburg: Lee, Logistics, and the Pennsylvania Campaign . Civil War in America . Chapel Hill . . 978-0-8078-2921-9 . 55488044.
• Book: Coddington, Edwin B. . 1979 . 1st pub. Morningside Bookshop:1979 . The Gettysburg Campaign: A Study in Command . 1st Touchstone . New York . . 978-0-684-84569-2 . 37565392.
• News: . From Weldon . North Carolina Standard . XIII . 34 . April 24, 1863 . 2.
• Book: Gottfried, Bradley M. . 2012 . 1st pub. 2002 . Brigades of Gettysburg: The Union and Confederate Brigades at the Battle of Gettysburg . New York . . 978-1-61608-401-1 . 738350721.
• Book: Heth, Henry . Henry Heth

. Henry Heth . 1974 . Morrison . James L. Jr. . The Memoirs of Henry Heth . Contributions in Military History, Number 6 . Westport, Connecticut . . 978-0-8371-6389-5 . 72000820 . 749406 . 5282600M.

• News: . The Pennsylvania Campaign . . XLVII . 2442 . March 21, 1864 . 4.
• News: . Prison Items . . XXIII . 104 . November 1, 1862 . 2.
• Book: Roberts . Bobby . Moneyhon . Carl. 1993 . A Photographic History of Mississippi in the Civil War . Portraits of Conflict . Fayetteville . . 978-1-55728-260-6 . 92021637 . 1718833M.
• Book: Stewart, George R. . George R. Stewart . 1959 . Pickett's Charge: A Microhistory of the Final Attack at Gettysburg, July 3, 1863 . registration . Boston . . 59-8864.
• Book: Wilson, LeGrand James . 1973 . 1st pub. 1902 . Silver . James W. . James Silver . The Confederate Soldier . Memphis, Tennessee . Memphis State University Press . 978-0-87870-016-5 . 72-95936.
• News: . Yankee Faithlessness . . XXV . 55 . September 3, 1863 . 1.

Notes and References

1. Book: Sifakis, Stewart . 1995 . Compendium of the Confederate Armies: Mississippi . New York . . 133–134 . 978-0-8160-2292-2 . 31712711.
2. Book: Allardice, Bruce S. . 2008 . Confederate Colonels: A Biographical Register . Columbia . . 274, 145, 289 . 978-0-8262-1809-4 . 2008018253 . 799725372 . 16839816M .
3. Book: Rowland, Dunbar . Dunbar Rowland

   . Dunbar Rowland . 1988 . 1st pub. MDAH:1908 . Military History of Mississippi, 1803-1898: Taken From the Official and Statistical Register of the State of Mississippi, 1908 . Spartanburg, South Carolina . The Reprint Company . 121–124 . 978-0-87152-266-5 . 78-2454 . 26822556.

4. Book: Williams, T. P. . 1999 . The Mississippi Brigade of Brig. Gen. Joseph R. Davis: A Geographical Account of Its Campaigns and a Biographical Account of Its Personalities, 1861-1865 . Dayton, Ohio . Morningside House . 41–42 . 978-0-89029-335-5 . 43558556.
5. News: . Grand Exodus of Three Thousand Yankees . . XXIII . 32 . August 6, 1862 . 1.
6. Book: Crute, Joseph H. Jr. . 1987 . Units of the Confederate States Army . 2nd . Gaithersburg, Maryland . Olde Soldier Books . 187–188 . 978-0-942211-53-5 . 660162619.