40th Regiment, Mississippi Infantry

Brief History
40th Infantry Regiment was formed during the early summer of 1862 after several attempts to organize a unit. Some of the men were from Attala County. It was active in the conflicts at Iuka and Corinth, then, assigned to J.C. Moore's and L. Hebert's Brigade, Department of Mississippi and East Louisiana, was captured at Vicksburg in July, 1863. After being exchanged the regiment served in the Army of Tennessee under the command of Generals Baldwin and Featherston. It participated in the Atlanta Campaign, Hood's winter operations in Tennessee, and the North Carolina Campaign. Its casualties at Iuka were 10 killed, 39 wounded, and 21 missing of the 314 engaged, and during the siege at Vicksburg there were 12 killed and 38 wounded. The unit reported 10 killed, 57 wounded, and 27 missing at Peach Tree Creek, totalled 64 effectives in December, 1864, and surrendered on April 26, 1865. The field officers were Colonels Wallace B. Colbert and George P. Wallace, Lieutenant Colonels Josiah A.P. Campbell and James R. Childress, and Majors W.M. Gibbons and Enoch McDonald.

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.

Company A: (Oak Bowery Invincibles) - raised in Jasper County

Company B: (Standing Pine Guards) - Leake County

Company C: (Confederate Rebels, aka Confederate Guards, Attala Rebels) - Attala County

Company D: (Attala Guards) - Attala County

Company E: (Steam Mill Rangers) - Neshoba County

Company F: (Mississippi Tigers, aka Nehoba Tigers) - Neshoba County

Company G: (Dixie Rangers) - Leake County and Winston County

Company H: (Parrott Rifles) - Leake County

Company I: (Captain Culbertson's Company) - Kemper County

Company K: (Campbell Guards) - Attala County

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.