46th Regiment, Mississippi Infantry

Brief History
46th Infantry Regiment was organized during the fall of 1862 by adding four companies to the six-company 6th (Balfour's) Mississippi Infantry Battalion. In February, 1863, it totalled 407 effectives and served in S.D. Lee's and Baldwin's Brigade in the Department of Mississippi and East Louisiana. The unit participated in the long Vicksburg siege and was captured on July 4, 1863. After the exchange it was assigned to General Baldwin's, Tucker's, and Sears' Brigade. It fought in the Atlanta Campaign, endured Hood's winter operations in Tennessee, and shared in the defense of Mobile. The regiment had 1 wounded at Chickasaw Bayou and during the Atlanta operations, May 18 to September 5, reported 23 killed, 68 wounded, and 37 missing. It lost 1 killed, 13 wounded, and 16 missing at Allatoona and had many disabled at Franklin. Only a remnant surrendered in May, 1865. The field officers were Colonels William H. Clark and Claudius W. Sears, Lieutenant Colonel William K. Easterling, and Major Constantine Rea.

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.


 * Calhoun, S. W. Constantine Rea and the 46th Regiment, Mississippi Volunteers in the War for Southern Independence. (Meridian, Mississippi : Lauderdale County Department of Archives &amp; History (Mississippi), 2001),


 * Chambers, W. P. Chamber's Confederate journal. (Carrollton, Mississippi : Pioneer, 2002),


 * 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),


 * 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),


 * Wilkes, Abner James. A short history of my life in the late war between the North and South. (Bethesda, Maryland : University Publications of America, c1990),