37th Regiment, Mississippi Infantry

Brief History
37th Infantry Regiment was organized during the spring of 1862 with men recruited in the counties of Clarke, Lowndes, Greene, De Soto, Jasper, and Claiborne. After participating in numerous battles in Mississippi the unit was assigned to General Hebert's Brigade in the Department of Mississippi and East Louisiana. It was captured when Vicksburg fell and during the siege it lost 17 killed, 56 wounded, and 7 missing. Exchanged, the regiment contained 26 officers and 442 men in December, 1863. It then served under Generals Mackall, Cantey, and Featherston in the Army of Tennessee. The 37th fought in the Atlanta Campaign, endured Hood's winter operations in Tennessee, and ended the war in North Carolina. It reported 5 killed and 27 wounded of the 453 engaged at Iuka, had 19 killed and 62 wounded at Corinth, and sustained 81 casualties at Hatchie's Bridge. Many were disabled in Tennessee, and early in 1865 its ten companies were reduced to three and the unit was redesignated the 37th Battalion. It surrendered in April. The field officers were Colonels Orlando S. Holland and Robert McLain; Lieutenant Colonels William S. Patton, Samuel H. Terral, and William W. Wier; and Major John McGee.

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.


 * Banks, Robert Webb. The battle of Franklin, November 30, 1864 : the bloodiest engagement of the war between the states. (Bethesda, Maryland : University Publications of America, c1990)