1st and 4th Missouri Infantry Regiment (Consolidated)

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1st and 4th Missouri Infantry (Consolidated)
ActiveNovember 7, 1862 to April 9, 1865
Allegiance 
Battle of Franklin (1864)
Battle of Fort Blakeley

The 1st and 4th Missouri Infantry (Consolidated) was an

Battle of Franklin. On April 9, 1865, the regiment surrendered at the Battle of Fort Blakeley, and was paroled
in May when the war ended for all effective purposes.

Organization

On November 7, 1862, the

lieutenant colonel until Garland was promoted to that rank on May 1, 1863.[3] The regiment's company organization as of November 7, 1862, was:[1]

  • Company "A": Originally Company "A" of the 1st. Commanded by William C. P. Carrington.
  • Company "B": Originally Companies "A", "F", and "G" of the 4th. Commanded by Francis McShane.
  • Company "C": Originally Companies "B" and "C" of the 4th. Commanded by Daniel Hays.
  • Company "D": Originally Companies "B" and "D" of the 1st. Commanded by Robert J. Duffy.
  • Company "E": Originally Companies "E" and "H" of the 4th. Commanded by Norval Spangler.
  • Company "F": Originally Companies "E", "F", and "H" of the 1st. Commanded by Lewis H. Kennerly.
  • Company "G": Originally Companies "C" and "G" of the 1st. Commanded by James MacFarland.
  • Company "H": Originally Company "K" of the 4th. Commanded by Jeptha D. Feagan.
  • Company "I": Originally Companies "D" and "I" of the 4th. Commanded by Matthew G. Norman.
  • Company "K": Originally Companies "I" and "K" of the 1st. Commanded by Charles L. Edmondson.

Service history

1863

Grand Gulf and Champion Hill

After organization, the new regiment was assigned to the

2nd Missouri Infantry, 3rd Missouri Infantry, and Henry Guibor's artillery battery, crossed the Mississippi River to Louisiana to observe Union movements. On April 15, the Missourians were ordered back to Grand Gulf, and the regiment participated in artillery fire with Union naval ships at the Battle of Grand Gulf. After Union Major General Ulysses S. Grant landed in Mississippi in order to move against Vicksburg, Bowen sent many of his men from Grand Gulf to Port Gibson, Mississippi to try to stop Grant. However, the 1st and 4th Missouri (Consolidated) was on detached duty guarding a bridge, and missed the ensuing Battle of Port Gibson on May 1.[2]

Battle of Champion Hill

After Bowen withdrew from the Port Gibson area, the 1st and 4th Missouri (Consolidated) was next engaged at the

Alvin P. Hovey's Union division was broken by the Confederate charge, and the Confederates kept pressing forward.[5] However, Union reinforcements and a strong line of artillery blunted the charge, and Bowen's men were forced to give up the ground they had gained.[6] The 1st and 4th Missouri (Consolidated) lost six flagbearers at Champion Hill.[7] In total, the regiment lost 46 men killed, 80 wounded, and 52 missing in the fight, for a total of 178.[2]

Vicksburg

After the retreat from Champion Hill, the 1st and 4th Missouri (Consolidated) was next engaged on May 17, at the

mine exploded a portion of the Confederate line. During the siege, the regiment lost 34 men killed and 59 wounded; the remaining 344 men of the regiment were captured by Union forces when the Confederate garrison surrendered on July 4. After the surrender, the men of the regiment were paroled, and were ordered to wait at Demopolis, Alabama until officially exchanged. Many of the Missourians did not report to Demopolis. The prisoner exchange process was completed on September 12, allowing the unit to rejoin Confederate service. In October, the regiment became part of the division of Major General Samuel French at Meridian, Mississippi. The regiment was later transferred to Mobile, Alabama, and then served patrol duty for a time in northern Alabama.[9]

1864

Atlanta campaign

The 1st and 4th Missouri (Consolidated) and Cockrell's Missouri Brigade fought as a unit of the Confederate

Atlanta Campaign from May to September 1864. During the campaign, the regiment was part of French's division of Major General Leonidas Polk's corps. Cockrell, now promoted to brigadier general, still commanded the brigade the regiment was in. Besides the 1st and 4th Missouri (Consolidated), Cockrell's brigade contained the 2nd and 6th Missouri (Consolidated), the 3rd and 5th Missouri (Consolidated), and the 1st and 3rd Missouri Cavalry (Consolidated).[10] The regiment was engaged at the Battle of New Hope Church on May 25 and 26, where Colonel Riley was killed in action. Regimental command then passed to Hugh Garland, who was promoted to colonel on May 30.[11]

The regiment was then in combat at the

Siege of Atlanta. The regiment lost 19 men killed, 57 wounded, and 4 missing over the course of the campaign, for a total of 80.[9]

Franklin-Nashville campaign

Battle of Franklin

Cockrell's Missouri troops were heavily engaged in the

Battle of Franklin on November 30, 1864. In Franklin, as at Allatoona, the 1st and 4th Missouri (Consolidated) was aligned as the second regiment from the left in Cockrell's brigade.[17] Cockrell's brigade reached the main Union line near a cotton gin, where the brigade ran into very heavy fire. Cockrell was wounded during the charge, and command of the brigade fell to Colonel Elijah Gates of the 1st and 3rd Missouri Cavalry (Consolidated), who was also wounded, but remained with the unit.[18]

The Confederates were able to break a hole in the Union line, but a strong counterattack drove the Confederates out of the main Union line.[19] The First Missouri Brigade was decimated at Franklin, suffering 419 losses out of the 696 engaged in a frontal assault on the fortified Union lines.[20] The 1st and 4th Missouri (Consolidated)'s commanding officer, Colonel Hugh A. Garland, was also killed in the charge. Garland had been carrying the regiment's flag when he fell; the flag was captured by Union troops. The regiment had entered the battle with around 100 men, and lost 35 of them killed, 25 wounded, and 2 missing, for a total of 62. The regiment, as well as the rest of the First Missouri Brigade, was on detached duty after Franklin, and missed the Battle of Nashville.[16]

1865

After the failure of the Nashville campaign, the 1st and 4th Missouri (Consolidated) was ordered to Mobile, Alabama, where it participated in the defense of

prisoners of war. The survivors of the regiment were paroled on May 13, while at Jackson, Mississippi; the war had ended for all effective purposes by that time.[16]

Commanders

The 1st and 4th Missouri (Consolidated) was commanded by Riley and Garland. Garland had served as lieutenant colonel for the regiment previously, and the consolidated regiment's majors were Garland and Bradford Keith.[3]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b McGhee 2008, p. 181.
  2. ^ a b c d McGhee 2008, p. 182.
  3. ^ a b McGhee 2008, pp. 180–181.
  4. ^ Tucker 1993, pp. 160–163.
  5. ^ Tucker 1993, pp. 165–170.
  6. ^ Tucker 1993, pp. 172–175.
  7. ^ Tucker 1993, p. 168.
  8. ^ Tucker 1993, pp. 178–182.
  9. ^ a b c McGhee 2008, p. 183.
  10. ^ Luvaas & Nelson 2008, pp. 370–371.
  11. ^ McGhee 2008, p. 180.
  12. ^ Luvaas & Nelson 2008, p. 267.
  13. ^ Luvaas & Nelson 2008, pp. 277–279.
  14. ^ Gottschalk 1991, pp. 415–416.
  15. ^ Gottschalk 1991, pp. 419–426.
  16. ^ a b c McGhee 2008, p. 184.
  17. ^ Gottschalk 1991, p. 463.
  18. ^ Gottschalk 1991, pp. 469–470.
  19. ^ Gottschalk 1991, pp. 475–785.
  20. ^ Gottschalk 1991, p. 491.

Sources

  • Gottschalk, Phil (1991). In Deadly Earnest: The Missouri Brigade. Columbia, Missouri: Missouri River Press.
    ISBN 0-9631136-1-5
    .
  • Luvaas, Jay; Nelson, Harold W. (2008). Guide to the Atlanta Campaign: Rocky Face Ridge to Kennesaw Mountain. Lawrence, Kansas: University Press of Kansas.
    ISBN 978-0-7006-1570-4
    .
  • McGhee, James E. (2008). Guide to Missouri Confederate Regiments, 1861–1865. Fayetteville, Arkansas: University of Arkansas Press.
    ISBN 978-1-55728-870-7
    .
  • Tucker, Phillip Thomas (1993). The South's Finest: The First Missouri Confederate Brigade From Pea Ridge to Vicksburg. Shippensburg, Pennsylvania: White Mane Publishing Co.
    ISBN 0-942597-31-1
    .
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