31st Regiment, Mississippi Infantry

Brief History
This Unit was organized in March, 1862, using the 6th (Orr's) Mississippi Infantry Battalion as its nucleus. The unit served in Rust's, L. Hebert's, and Featherston's Brigade, Department of Mississippi and East Louisiana. It was part of the garrison at Vicksburg, then fought at Baton Rouge and Jackson. Later it continued the fight under General Featherson in the Army of Tennessee. The 31st was active throughout the Atlanta Campaign, endured Hood's winter operations in Tennessee, and saw action in North Carolina. It lost 10 killed and 37 wounded at Baton Rouge, and of the 215 engaged at Peach Tree Creek, seventy-six percent were disabled. In December, 1864, there were 86 men present for duty, and only a handful surrendered in April, 1865. The field officers were Colonels J.A. Orr and Marcus D.L. Stephens, Lieutenant Colonels John W. Balfour and James W. Drane, and Majors Francis M. Gillespie and H.E. Topp.

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.