Stanford's Company, Mississippi Light Artillery

Brief History
Stanford's Battery was organized during the fall of 1861 and soon moved to Tennessee. After fighting at Shiloh, the unit was involved in the Kentucky Campaign, then joined the Army of Tennessee. It was assigned to M. Smith's and Eldridge's Battalion of Artillery, fought with the army from Murfreesboro to Atlanta, and was part of Hood's operations in Tennessee. The battery lost 4 killed and 13 wounded of the 131 engaged at Shiloh and sustained 3 casualties at Perryville, 10 at Murfreesboro, and 4 at Chickamauga. In December, 1863, it totalled 93 officers and men, and in April, 1864, there were 72 present for duty. However, the company was captured in the Battle of Nashville. Captain Thomas J. Sanford was in command.

Note that a Chicago-area re-enactors group (see http://stanfordsbattery.webs.com/) states that this unit was organized in Yalobusha County, Mississippi.

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.