3RD Ms Cav Regt
(aka McGuirk's Cav)
from Dunbar Rowland's "Military History of Ms, 1803-1898"
The Co's were originally organized as Minute Men in 1862, & re-enlisted for 12 months in 1863, under the call of Gen J. E. Johnston, it being understood between the Governor & President Davis that the men should be exempt from conscription during their term of service. They were understood to be rationed & paid by the CS States but the pay was generally several months in arrears. It is 1st mentioned as Ms Cav, three Co's, Col. John McGuirk, with Gen Chalmers, Hqs Panola, April, 1863. April 8, at Holly Springs ordered to take post near Tchulahoma. April 29, detailed to defend Panola, time of Federal raid. May 30, assigned to Bgde of Gen {J.} Z. George, State troops. Col McGuirk was commissioned June 9, 1863; other officers June 11.
{J. Z. George was given command of 3rd Bgde of Ms State Troops for northern Ms & retained the rank of Gen He discovered he had few troops under his command. When he took command within of the 5th Ms Cav in the CS Army, his rank was Col. However, he was quite often referred to as Gen George.}
The Regt served under Gen George in the operations attending the raid of Col Mizner, June 15-25, 1863, who set out from LaGrange, Tenn., with orders to break the RR south of Panola, turn on Chalmers & sweep the country of horses, mules, Negroes & the new crop of wheat. Col McCulloch skirmished with Mizner after he had crossed the Tallahatchie at Wyatt, &, in view of the Federal strength, Gen George retreated from Panola across to Yockna, sending one Co to protect the RR bridge. The whole command moved to that point, but too late to prevent the destruction of the bridge. Col McGuirk with his Regt, then pursued the Federal column on its return to LaGrange, swimming the Tallahatchie at Belmont, overtaking Mizner at Tyro & pursuing 80 miles to Hudsonville, "where, on Sunday evening, he overtook & chastised him handsomely, killing & wounding several & capturing 27 prisoners with about the same number of horses & equipment, an extraordinary achievement," considering the arduous service of the command. George's Hqs were at Grenada, & Col McGuirk was in command of the Bgde in July, 1863.
July 21, Gen George reported that a detachment from Col. McGuirk's Regt had cut the RR & taken 15 prisoners near Germantown. In July Regt was ordered to Vaiden for enlistment in CS service. Gen George reported, "I fear half of McGuirk's Regt cannot be gotten to Vaiden." The enlistment was not made.
In the field during the Federal raid from the Big Black & LaGrange, Tenn., to Grenada, Aug, 1863, of which there are no reports. Regt then in Chalmers' Cav command, 200 in number, Col McGuirk cdg, but scattered between Panola & Grenada, arresting deserters & conscripts. Chalmers could not collect a command sufficient to hold Grenada, which the raiders occupied Aug 20, breaking the RR & burning the rolling stock. The Regt, with Chalmers' command, moved from Grenada to Abbeville Sept 12. Assigned to Slemon's Bgde Oct 18. "The Bn under the command of Lt-Col Barksdale" was in Chalmers' command, Sept, 1863.
{Gen Chalmers' West Tenn Raid, Oct 5 - 13, 1863}
This Regt, the 7th Tenn (Col Duckworth), A. H. Chalmers' 18th Bn, & one rifled gun of McLendon's Btry, in all about 850 men, constituted the immediate command of Gen Chalmers when he was collecting forces for the raid to Collierville, Tenn, in Oct, 1863. With this command Chalmers was about to move to Salem for a juncture with Richardson's Bgde, when a column of Ill Cav, under Col McCrillis, advanced from LaGrange, Tenn., against Holly Springs, whither Chalmers moved on the 5th. McCrillis, with 750 Cav, heard on his approach that Chalmers was ahead of him, & began to recross the Coldwater, when Chalmers attacked at Lockhart's Mill, Oct 6. There was a brisk skirmish, in which the four howitzers posted by McCrillis on the north bank of the river, played an important part. Chalmers then moved to Salem & on the morning of the 8th set out for Collierville, leaving Hooves' Regt to occupy Salem. Meanwhile McCrillis had returned from LaGrange to the vicinity of Salem with 1,250 Cav & mounted Infy & six guns. He attacked Hooves & drove him from the town, & Chalmers, learning of this, at a distance of ten miles, returned rapidly & attacked McCrillis, who occupied a strong position on a long ridge, with his skirmishers through the town. Chalmers had been reinforced & had 1,200 in the battle, but only one piece of Arty, which was useless after the third fire. After 3 hours' hard fighting, said Chalmers, the enemy was driven from every position. "In this affair the 2nd Mo Cav (Lt-Col McCulloch), 3rd Regt Ms State Cav (Col McGuirk), & the 18th Ms Bn (Major Chalmers) bore the brunt of the conflict, & although the last two were composed almost entirely of untried men, they behaved with a gallantry equal to that which has ever distinguished the veterans of the 2nd Mo Cav."
Col McGuirk, who moved from his camp at Wyatt, was the 1st to reinforce Hooves, & was ordered to take the two Regts & command the front attack, but Chalmers decided to also attack in front. The Regt, under Lt-Col Barksdale, charged the Federal position at Hamer's house, drove the skirmish line from the village, & compelled the retreat of the Arty from a hill. Capt Hartin & Lt Kennedy were wounded in the fight. Capt's Logan, Farris, Griffin, {H. H.} Barksdale, McKie, Webb & Lt's Thornton & Towns gallantly commanded the Co's. The casualties of McGuirk's Regt were 1 killed, 22 wounded; of the rest of Chalmers' troops 5 wounded. Gen Sweeney, cdg LaGrange, reported that on Oct 8, "our Cav, under Color McCrillis, with the mounted Infy & a section of Capt Tannrath's Btry, under Col Phillips, were attacked by the enemy at Salem & driven back on the RR with considerable loss."
In the night following, Chalmers was reinforced by Richardson's Bgde, about 850 men. Col Hatch on the other side came up from LaGrange with 750 Union Cav, & no Arty, expecting to join McCrillis & Phillips, but finding them gone, he sent for reinforcements from Davis' Mills. Chalmers remained most of Oct 9 in line of battle at Hamar's house, with his force of over 2,000 men & 6 guns, believing that Hatch had against him "9 Regts & 9 pieces of Arty." He reported that "there was some slight skirmishing, but the enemy did not make his appearance in force." Hatch received orders to fall back to LaGrange, which made it possible for Chalmers to carry out his plan of a raid on Collierville, while Hatch, with a force of 2,200, returned again to hunt for him at Salem & Holly Springs.
Chalmers moved to Holly Springs on the 10th for food & ammunition, & approached Collierville early on the 11th. {Chalmers' Cav Div crossed the Coldwater River on the morning of the 11th. Col. R. V. Richardson was in the lead Bgde that formed up on the ridge south of town & the Union earthworks. He sent McGuirk around the right flank & Duckworth to the left flank.} In the disposition for attack, Col McGuirk, with his own Regt & 1st Ms Partisans, was sent to gain possession of the town & attack the fort from the rear. The movements on the left & right drove the garrison to the rifle pits & part of them into the fort, & possession was taken of the train of cars on which Gen Sherman was traveling with a Bn of regulars as an escort, but the movement on the rear was not so successful. Gen Chalmers ascribed this to Col McGuirk's delay at the Cav camp northwest of town. {camp of the 7th Ill Cav} In the attack upon the Cav camp, 1st {sic} Lt-Col Barksdale commanded the Regt, about 175 men. He reported that after the 1st Partisans were repulsed, his Regt advanced upon the camp, firing steadily, & drove the enemy to shelter in the woods & swamp, & that he never saw men, even in the Army of Northern Va, deport themselves with more gallantry. He gave special mention to the conduct of Maj B. M. Kilgore, who fell wounded while leading a charge, & to Capt's Logan, {H. H.} Barksdale, Griffin, Gwartney, & Lt's Towns & Thornton, Co Cdrs, Lt Turner, Co H, & Lt's Thornton & Tyler, Co K, collected the prisoners, 89 in number. Lt J. H. Alexander brought off 18 wagons with mule teams. Sgt Grizelle color bearer, distinguished on this as on former fields for gallantry, fell with a severe wound as he was carrying the flag, with a captured flag in his other hand. Lt White, Co D, carried the colors forward. The casualties of the Regt were 1 killed, 6 wounded.
The attack on Collierville failed, & Gen Chalmers retreated. At the crossing of the Tallahatchie, near Wyatt, Oct 13, the CS command, under Col R. V. Richardson, was attacked by Hatch. McGuirk recrossed the river with his two Regts, about 300 men, dismtd, & two guns of the Buckner Btry, & took position to check the pursuit. A body of Federals under the famous Capt Hodgman, 7th Kansas Jayhawkers, occupied a log house, which Barksdale & his men charged in the face of a heavy Arty fire from two Btrys. The house was taken & Hodgman wounded & captured. About dark the Regt was again in action with Hooves' Regt, repelling twice the Federal attack. It came up with a charge & a yell, said McGuirk. About 9 o'clock the rear guard, volunteers from this Regt, crossed the river. The casualties were 1 killed, 6 wounded, 3 missing. Capt Logan, Acting Major; Capt Barksdale, Lt Hurt (cdg Co G), were mentioned for gallantry. For their service in this expedition, including the engagements at Salem, Collierville & Wyatt, honorable mention was given to LtCol. James A. Barksdale, Major; B. M. Kilgore, Adjt; (Capt) W. Joseph Walker, Sgt-Maj E. L. Richmond, Orderly C. C. Harris, Capt H. E. Williamson, QM; Lt P. M. Morgan, Commissary; W. F. Baker, ACS. Buckner's Btry was led by Lt. H. C. Holt & was armed with four (4) 1.56-inch smooth-bore, breech-loading Williams Guns.}
The Regt, under the command of Col Barksdale, participated with George's Regt in the gallant Cav charge at Collierville, Tenn, Nov 3, 1863, which was repulsed by the unexpected volleys from revolving rifles of the 2nd Iowa, at the RR. The advance of this Regt was on the Quinn's Mill road, & the attack was gallantly made, as was testified to both by Chalmers & Hatch, the officers cdg on each side. On the retreat, after crossing the Coldwater near Quinn's Mill, the Regt joined in the stubborn resistance which prevented their pursuers from crossing until the next day. The casualties of this Regt were the heaviest in Gen Chalmers' command -- 1 killed, 3 officers & 19 men wounded
Nov 30, the same two Regts, crossing the Coldwater at very high water, moved into Tenn with Chalmers' expedition in support of S. D. Lee & Forrest, reaching Moscow Dec 4. Slemons' Bgde burned the RR trestle over Grisson's Creek, between Moscow & Lafayette.
Col Meek, 11th Ill, reported that his command, which had gathered up horses & mules & burned grain & cotton & shops on the Holly Springs road by way of Tchulahoma, passed through Holly Springs on the evening of the 21st, stopped to feed on the Hernando road 2 miles from Hudsonville, & left that road for the LaGrange road when one of his pickets was shot, leaving two Co's to bring in the wounded man. Later he sent back Major Funke with one Co, hearing that a fight was on. McGuirk had come in by a by-road, & cut off the 3 Co's, which extricated themselves with difficulty, losing 1 killed, 2 wounded & 26 prisoners.
Regt assigned to Slemons' Bgde in the organization of the Cav under S. D. Lee, Jan, 1864.
Feb 2, 1864, McGuirk skirmished near LaGrange, Tenn. The Regt participated in Gen Forrest's defeat of Sooy Smith's expedition near Okolona, Feb 20-22, 1864, & had 3 wounded (see 2nd Cav). At the outset of the famous raid of Forest & Chalmers through Tenn in April, 1864, Col McGuirk with his Regt & the 1st Partisans made a demonstration from Holly Springs toward Memphis, which was so effective as to make practicable the capture of Fort Pillow April 12.
{Lt-Col James A. Barksdale was temporarily assigned or transferred to command the 5th Ms Cav. He was killed north of Okolona on Feb 22, 1864. In May, 1864, H. H. Barksdale was promoted to Lt-Col & commanded the 3rd Ms Cav}
In criticizing the enlistment in State Regts to avoid conscription in the CS service, Gen Chalmers wrote, Jan 6, 1864; "These State Co's have done more harm than good. I do not include in this remark Col McGuirk's Regt -- that has done good service -- but both he & his officers have long since been convinced that the Regt would be more effective if it were regularly in CS service."
Regt ordered to report at Macon to the Governor for special & important service, March 3, 1864. Aggregate of Regt; 325. Governor Clark appointed April 30, 1864, as the day for State Cav to assemble at Tupelo for transfer to the CS service. "As the Regt of Col McGuirk is one of those to be transferred, it is very desirable that they should be paid the amount due them for the time they were in CS service, some five or six months are due them, also pay for horses killed in battle." The Governor declared they were in as good a state of discipline & as effective as any troops, & he consented to their transfer to the CS service. The Regt was reorganized at Oxford in the latter part of April, 1864, & the Col commissioned April 25, 1864. May 1, 1864, the Gholson Bgde was turned over to the CS States, Col McGuirk cdg Bgde. May 22, Gen Forrest ordered Brig-Gen Gholson to take command of his Bgde. The Bgde was attached for a time to Forrest's command, & then transferred to the command of Wirt Adams before Vicksburg, being ordered to Canton, May 26. {My ancestors Pvt M. L. Tilghman & Pvt Joel P. Hill enlisted on April 28.}
Gholson's Bgde was withdrawn from Adams by Gen Forrest before Slocum's raid to Jackson, July, 1864, but rejoined Gen Adams near Jackson, in time to participate in the attack upon Slocum's column about four miles west of Jackson on the evening of July 6, when McGuirk's Regt charged & attempted to cut off the wagon train. Another attack was made in the morning of the 7th & a third, near Clinton, by Lowry's Regt. McGuirk's Regt, commanded by Lt Col {H. H.} Barksdale, had 8 wounded, 1 missing. Gen Gholson was severely wounded & Col McGuirk took command of the Bgde.
Later in July the Bgde was transferred to Ga & was temporarily assigned to Walthall's Div on the Atlanta lines, July 25, & put with Reynold's Bgde. Gen Reynolds reported that McGuirk's command joined him just before he marched out to the battle on the Lickskillet road, July 28, & they marched out on the left of his line. Reynolds charged the Federal line, behind log works, & was repulsed after a bloody fight. He reported that Col McGuirk, under orders from some field officer, charged the works a second time, but was compelled to fall back with considerable loss. "The loss in Gen Gholson's Bgde, some 450 strong, was 144 killed, wounded & missing." The casualties of McGuirk's Regt were 8 killed, including Major T. W. Webb & Lt S. H. White, cdg Co C. Capt E. L. Richmond was dangerously wounded, Capt's Daniel & Orr wounded & missing. Total wounded 43, including Lt's James Miller, R. A. Butler, W. O. Cockram, W. H. Thornton & John Griffin.
In the battle of Jonesboro, Ga, Aug 31, Col McGuirk, of Gholson's Bgde, reported to Gen Granbury with his Regt, dismtd, & a Bn of engineer troops (Major Presstman), & aided in the rout of the enemy in their front. Granbury wrote: "Seeing them endeavoring to rally at a crossing opposite my left flank, I ordered Col McGuirk to advance his two Bns in double-quick time, which was executed by that officer promptly & gallantly, & in time for his command to deliver a few volleys before the enemy escaped beyond the river." Moving his whole Bgde up to Flint River, Granbury dressed his line on the position of Col McGuirk. Sept 19, Gen Hood, at Palmetto, ordered Gholson's Cav Bgde, then at Opelika, up the west side of the Chattahoochee River, opposite Newnan. Sept 28, with Ross' Bgde, formed Ross' Div of Jackson's Cav. Dec 12, 1864, McGuirk's Regt was en route through Montgomery to Mobile. Dec 16-17, it took part in the pursuit of the Federal expedition to Pollard. Jan 6, 1865, Regt had been ordered to Brandon. Jan 20, marching to concentrate with Mabry's Bgde at Canton. Feb, 1865, McGuirk's Regt ordered to report to Gen Wirt Adams.
Paroled under the capitulation of Lt Gen Richard Taylor made at Citronelle, May 4, 1865. {Lt-Col H. H. Barksdale was among those who surrendered.}
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