41st Infantry |
The
officers and men of Company H, 41st Tennessee Infantry
were from Brick Church and other Giles County communities
and from Cornersville. Cornersville was in Giles County
until the northeast section of Giles County was ceded to
Marshall County in 1870. Thus, the men and officers of
this company were all Giles Countians in 1861.
One thousand men in ten companies formed the 41st Tennessee Infantry at its organization at Camp Trousdale, Tennessee, in November, 1861. All were volunteers. Robert Farquarson was elected Colonel of the regiment. The Giles County company was headed by Captain Robert G. McClure, who was elected Lieutenant Colonel of the regiment and replaced by Captain John Osborne. The regiment was ordered first to Bowling Green, Kentucky, where it became part of General Simon B. Buckner's Division of The Central Army of Kentucky. Ordered to Fort Donelson on the Cumberland River on February 12, 1862, the 41st Tennessee Infantry was attached to Colonel John C. Brown's Brigade of Buckner's Division. During the Battle of Fort Donelson the 41st Tennessee took an active part in the fighting and reported 575 engaged, 2 killed, 6 wounded, and 26 missing. The 41st Tennessee was surrendered with the rest of Buckner's Division on February 16, 1862, and sent to various northern prisons. After seven months in prison, the men of the 41st Tennessee were released on parole at Vicksburg, Mississippi, September 18, 1862, and the regiment was reorganized at Clinton, Mississippi, on the 29th of September. The regiment was officially declared exchanged on November 10, 1862. Some members of the 41st Tennessee had not been captured at Fort Donelson, had served in other regiments, and now returned to the 41st Tennessee. On December 27, 1862, the 41st Tennessee was placed in Brigadier General John Gregg's Brigade along with the 3rd Tennessee Infantry and other infantry regiments. The 41st Tennessee reported 526 effectives at that time. Early in January, 1863, Gregg's Brigade moved to Port Hudson, Louisiana, and remained there as a silent spectator during the bombardment until May 2, 1863, when they left for Jackson, Mississippi. On May 12th, 1863, The 41st Tennessee was heavily engaged in the Battle of Raymond, Mississippi. After some severe skirmishing near Jackson, the 41st Tennessee was stationed near Vernon, Mississippi, on June 30th, and was at Yazoo City when Vicksburg fell of the 4th of July, 1863. "At Yazoo City the men and officers disposed of a large portion of their jewelry, consisting of watches, rings, and chains, to the ever-vigilant and far-sighted Jews. They seemed to know that the surrender of Vicksburg could be delayed only a few days, and then that a ring of the value of two or three dollars would be worth more than two or three hundred dollars of Confederate money." The 41st Tennessee "was encamped during the month of August at Enterprise, Mississippi, where it feasted on peaches done in every style, and played poker for the money it had received for its jewelry at YazooCity." In September, 1863, the 41st Tennessee was transferred to the Army of Tennessee and ordered to north Georgia, where they were soon heavily engaged in the Battle of Chickamauga on the 19th and 20th of September. The regiment reported 325 men engaged in the battle and suffered severely in killed and wounded. Following the Battle of Chickamauga, Gregg's Brigade was broken up and the 41st Tennessee was placed in General George Maney's Brigade. They fought in the Battle of Missionary Ridge on November 25th, 1863. Retreating to the vicinity of Dalton, Georgia, the 41st Tennessee and the rest of the Army of Tennessee went into winter quarters. On December 14, 1863, the 41st Tennessee reported 201 effectives, 226 present, with 151 arms. From there the history of the Army of Tennessee is the history of the 41st Tennessee Infantry. They fought daily under the command of General Joe Johnston during the retreat to Atlanta and fought in the Battle of Jonesboro, Georgia, on August 31, 1863. In June, the 41st Tennessee had been transferred to Brigadier General Otho Strahl's Brigade. General John Bell Hood led the Army of Tennessee across Alabama and home to Tennessee in the latter part of 1864. Hood's ill-fated plans to recapture Nashville resulted in the disasterous battles of Franklin and Nashville. The defeated Army of Tennessee retreated southward from Nashville toward the safety of the Tennessee River, passing through Giles County during the Christmas holidays of 1864. The remnants of the 41st Tennessee Infantry surrendered with the Army of Tennessee on April 26, 1865, at Salisbury, North Carolina, and was paroled at Greensboro, North Carolina, on May 1, 1865. "The 41st Tennessee was ever ready to do, or to attempt to do, whatever was ordered, whether to dig a ditch or cross one in the face of the enemy, to charge a battery or go on picket. It lost more men on picket than in the charge. Its dead are laid away in unmarked graves in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee, and in the prison cemeteries of Camp Douglas, Camp Morton, Rock Island, and Camp Chase." A roster of Company H, 41st Tennessee Infantry published in the PULASKI CITIZEN (date unknown):
This roster must have been compiled in early 1865 since Hood's retreat was mentioned (Hood's retreat took place in December, 1864) and 3 members of the company were present at the time the roster was compiled. Numerous members of this company were listed as prisoners of war, further indication that the war was still in progress. Of the 94 men listed on this roster, 35 were listed as dead. |
Submitted by Bob Wamble