3rd Regiment, Mississippi Infantry

Brief History
3rd Infantry Regiment, organized in the spring of 1861 at Enterprise, Mississippi, contained men from Hancock, Newton, Hines, Yazoo, Harrison, Copiah, Jackson, and Sunflower counties. surrendered with the Army of Tennessee. The field officers were Colonels John B. Deason and Thomas A. Mellon; Lieutenant Colonels Samuel M. Dyer, Robert Eager, James B. McRae, and E.A. Peyton; and Major William H. Morgan.


 * The 3rd Regiment, Mississippi InfantryInternet site has a longer history taken from Dunbar Rowland's Military History of Mississippi, 1803-1898.

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 - (Live Oak Rifles) - raised in Jackson County [also listed as Company I]

Company B - (Sunflower Dispersers) - raised in Sunflower County - [also listed as Company E and K]

Company C - (Downing Rifles) - raised in Hinds County - [also listed as Company I and B]

Company D - (Chunkey Heroes) - raised in Newton County - [also listed as Company B and C]

Company E - (Biloxi Rifles, aka Biloxi Rifle Guards) - raised in Harrison County - [also listed as Company F and D]

Company F - (Shieldsboro Rifles) - raised in Hancock County - [also listed as Company H and B]

Company G - (Gainesville Volunteers) - raised in Hancock County - [also listed as Company K and A]

Company H - (Dahlgren Guards) - raised in Harrison County - [also listed as Company D]

Company I - (John M. Sharps, aka Yazoo Rebels) - raised in Yazoo County - [also listed as Company C and F]

Company K - (McWillie Blues) - raised in Copiah County - [also listed as Company A and G]

Information from Military Annals of Mississippi: Military Organizations which Entered the Service of the Confederate States of America from the State of Mississippi, by John C. Rietti, Spartanburg, South Carolina: Reprint Company Publishers, 1976, p.42, FHL book 976.2M2r

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)


 * 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),