17th Regiment, Mississippi Infantry

Brief History
17th Infantry Regiment was organized at Corinth, Mississippi, in June, 1861 and soon movd to Virginia. The men were drawn from the counties of Pike, Chickasaw, Marshall, Quitman, Alcorn, Tishomingo, Panola, Grenada, and Benton. It fought under D.R. Jones at First Manassas and in April, 1862 contained 692 effectives. During the remainder of the war it served under Generals H. Cobb, Griffith, Barksdale, and Humphreys. After fighting at Leesburg, the 17th was active in the difficult campaigns of the Army of Northern Virginia from Seven Pines to Cold Harbor, except when detached to Chickamauga and Knoxville. It was involved in Early's Shenandoah Valley operations and later the Appomattox Campaign. This regiment took 600 men to Leesburg and lost 2 killed and 9 wounded. It reported 15 killed and 92 wounded during the Seven Days' Battles, 9 killed and 77 wounded of the 270 at Sharpsburg, 13 wounded at Fredericksburg, and 10 killed and 70 wounded at Chancellorsville. Of the 469 engaged at Gettysburg, forty-three percent were disabled. Many were lost at Sayler's Creek, and only 3 officers and 62 men surrendered. The field officers were Colonels Winfield S. Featherston, John C. Fixer, and William D. Holder; Lieutenant Colonel John McGuirk; and Majors William L. Duff, John M. Lyles, and Edward W. Upshaw.

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.


 * Howell, H. Grady. Griffith's/Barksdale's/Humphey's Mississippi Brigade : Army of Northern Virginia ; a muster listing. (Carrollton, Mississippi : Pioneer Pub. Co., c2004),