2nd Regiment, Mississippi Cavalry

Brief History
2nd Cavalry Regiment [also called 4th and 42nd Regiment] was organized during the spring of 1863. It was formerly the 47th Mississippi Infantry Regiment, which never completed its organization. Its members were from the counties of Adams, Choctaw, Newton, Lee, Lauderdale, Pontotoc, Kemper, and Hinds. Some of the men were captured in the fight at Selma, and only a remnant surrendered with the Department of Alabama, Mississippi, and East Louisiana. The field officers were Colonels Edward Dillon and J.L. McCarty, Lieutenant Colonel James Gordon, and Majors J.L. Harris and John J. Perry.


 * The 2nd Mississippi Cavalry Internet site has a longer history taken from Dunbar Rowland's Military History of Mississippi, 1803-1898.
 * A timeline of military assigments is found following a history on The American Civil War Internet 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 - (Choctaw Rangers) - raised in Choctaw County

Company B - (Newton Rangers) - raised in Newton County

Company C - (Lauderdale Cavalry) - raised in Lauderdale County

Company D - (Senatobia Opposers) - raised in Panola County

Company E - (Mooresville Blues) - raised in Itawamba County; also (Barefoot’s Company) - county of origin not specified

Company F - (East Mississippi Dragoons aka East Mississippi Guards) - raised in Clarke County

Company G - (Pontotoc Rangers) - raised in Pontotoc County; also (Peery’s Company) - county of origin not specified

Company H - (Kemper Dragoons) - raised in Kemper County

Company I - (Lula White Rebels) - raised in Monroe County

Company K - (Mississippi Body Guards) - raised in Scott County

2nd Mississippi Cavalry

(from Dunbar Rowland’s "Military History of Mississippi, 1803-1898"; company listing courtesy of H. Grady Howell’s "For Dixie Land, I’ll Take My Stand’)

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.


 * Edmiston, Fred W. A roster of the Lauderdale Cavalry, Company C, 2nd Mississippi Cavalry : extracted from the National Archives' microfilm files. (Meridian, Mississippi: Lauderdale County Department of Archives &amp; History (Mississippi), c2003),


 * 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),


 * Smyth, Cecil B. (Cecil Britton), 1929. A History of the first and second Mississippi Cavalry Regiments of the Confederate States Army. (Massanutten Village, Virginia : C.B. Smyth, 1997),