8th Regiment, Mississippi Infantry

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Brief History
8th Infantry Regiment was organized at Enterprize, Mississippi, during the spring of 1861. Many of its members were from Jones, Wilkinson, and Clarke counties. The unit served in Florida and Mississippi, then was assigned to General J.K. Jackson's, Gist's, and Lowry's Brigade, Army of Tennessee. It participated in the campaigns of the army from Murfreesboro to Atlanta, was with Hood in Tennessee, and saw action in North Carolina. This regiment lost forty-seven percent of the 282 at Murfreesboro and twenty-three percent of the 375 at Chickamauga. In December, 1863, it totalled 287 men and 169 arms. Its casualties at the Battle of Atlanta were 13 killed, 71 wounded, and 3 missing, and few surrendered on April 26, 1865. The field officers were Colonels G.C. Chandler, Guilford G. Flynt, and John C. Wilkinson; Lieutenant Colonels James T. Gates, Aden McNeill, and John F. Smith; and Majors Andrew E. Moody, George F. Peek, and William Watkins.

The 8th Mississippi Infantry Internet site has a longer history taken from Dunbar Rowland's Military History of Mississippi, 1803-1898.

An additional history with links to company rosters is found on History of the 8th Mississippi Infantry RegimentInternet site.

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 - (Yankee Terrors) - raised in Smith County see Roster

Company B - (Pinckney Guards) - raised in Newton County [also listed as Co. I] see Roster

Company C - (True Confederates) - raised in Smith County [also listed as Co. D and E] see Roster

Company D - (Moody True Blues) - raised in Clarke County [also listed as Co. F and G] see Roster

Company E - (Tallahoma Hardshells) - raised in Jasper County and Lauderdale County [also listed as Co. H and I] see Roster

Company F - (Clarke County Rangers) - raised in Clarke County [also listed as Co. K] see Roster

Company G - (Tolson Guards) - raised in Jasper County [also listed as Co. E and F] see Roster, another Roster

Company H - (Southern Sentinels) - raised in Lauderdale County and Jones County [also listed as Co. B and C] see Roster

Company I - (Confederate Guards) - raised in Lauderdale County [also listed as Co. G and H] see Roster

Company K - (Elllisville Invincibles, aka Jones County Invincibles) - raised in Jones County [also listed as Co. C and D] see Roster

Information from Military Annals of Mississippi: Military Organizations which Entered the Service of the Confederate States of America from the State of Mississippi, by John C. Rietti, Spartanburg, South Carolina: reprint Company Publishers, 1976, p. 61,. includes rosters.

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.
 * Rowland, Dunbar, Military History of Mississippi, 1803-1898: taken from the Official and statistical register of the State of Mississippi, 1908 (Spartanburg, South Carolina: Reprint Company).


 * Howell, H. Grady, For Dixie Land, I’ll Take My Stand!: A Muster Listing of All Known Mississippi Confederate Soldiers, Sailors, and Marines (Chickasaw Bayou Press, 1998).