26th Regiment, Mississippi Infantry

Brief History
26th Infantry Regiment was organized during the summer of 1861 at Iuka, Mississippi. Many of the men were from Prentiss, Itawamba, Tishomingo, Perry, and De Soto counties. The regiment moved to Tennessee and was one of the units captured at Fort Donelson. In this fight it lost 12 killed and 69 wounded of the 39 officers and 404 men engaged. After being exchanged, it was assigned to General Tilghman's and J. Adams' Brigade, Department of Mississippi and East Louisiana. The unit reported 7 casualties at Coffeeville, totalled 420 effectives in April, 1863, and lost 2 killed, 5 wounded, and 10 missing at Champion's Hill. In February, 1864, it was ordered to Virginia and placed in J.R. Davis' Brigade. It fought at Cold Harbor, endured the battles and hardships of the Petersburg trenches, and ended the war at Appomattox. Only 4 officers and 8 men surrendered with the Army of Northern Virginia. The field officers were Colonel Arthur E. Reynolds, Lieutenant Colonel F.M. Boone, and Major Tully F. Parker.

Regiment Companies with the County of Origin
Men often enlisted in a company recruited in the counties where they lived though not always. After many battles, companies might be combined because so many men were killed or wounded. However if you are unsure which company your ancestor was in, try the company recruited in his county first.

Other Sources

 * Beginning United States Civil War Research gives steps for finding information about a Civil War soldier. It covers the major records that should be used. Additional records are described in ‘Mississippi in the Civil War’ and ‘United States Civil War, 1861 to 1865’ (see below).


 * National Park Service, The Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System, is searchable by soldier's name and state. It contains basic facts about soldiers on both sides of the Civil War, a list of regiments, descriptions of significant battles, sources of the information, and suggestions for where to find additional information.


 * Mississippi in the Civil War describes many Confederate and Union sources, specifically for Mississippi, and how to find them.. These include compiled service records, pension records, rosters, cemetery records, Internet databases, published books, etc.


 * United States Civil War, 1861 to 1865 describes and explains United States and Confederate States records, rather than state records, and how to find them. These include veterans’ censuses, compiled service records, pension records, rosters, cemetery records, Internet databases, published books, etc.