5th Confederate Regiment

Luke Freet

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Part 1: Walker's 2nd Tennessee

The regiment first organized as the 2nd Tennessee under Colonel J. Knox Walker, from Memphis dockworkers, include a sizable number of Irishmen (as there was another regiment named the 2nd Tennessee, I shall refer to this formation as the 2nd Tennessee Irish, as many refer to it and the later 5th Confederate as Irish formations, though most of the men seemed to have actually have been "natives"). It initially served in State service as part of the River Brigade. July 31st, 1861, it was sent to Fort Wright in Randolph, where it was mustered in with 541 effectives, armed with flintlock muskets. General Polk assigned them to General Pillow's at Fort Pillow August 17th, and were then sent to take Columbus. They were then assigned to 1st Brigade, Pillow's (Later Cheatham's) Division, with Colonel Walker commanding the brigade. They took part in the Battle of Belmont, being ferried across the river to retake the Confederate camp, helping to turn the tide of battle and recapturing a battery.

The unit remained at Columbus with Polk's Corps until the fall of Forts Henry and Donelson, when Polk retreated to Corinth, Mississippi. 1st Brigade was reorganized, under the command of Colonel Preston Smith of the 154th, then Brigadier Bushrod Johnson (recently escaped from Fort Donelson), who led the brigade to Shiloh. Here, the regiment was used to reinforce A. P. Stewart's Brigade. The 2nd Tennessee Irish suffered heavily, so much so that, after the battle, on May 11 1862, it was reorganized into a battalion of 4 companies. By this time, Colonel Knox Walker was out of action, taking ill due to the strain of the campaigning around Corinth and Shiloh. Thus Lt. Colonel James Argyle Smith of Polk's staff was assigned to command the battalion.

This lasted until July 21st, 1862, when the unit was consolidated with the 21st Tennessee, becoming the 9th (but more commonly called 5th) Confederate Regiment, with Colonel Smith in command.

Organization

Field Officers
  • Colonels: J.Knox Walker, James A. Smith
  • Lt. Colonels: James A. Ashford, James A. Smith, William B. Ross
  • Majors: William B. Ross, F. A. Strocky
Company Commanders
  • F. A. Strocky, L. D. Greenlaw, Co. “A”.
  • James A. Ashford, William P. Triplett, Co. “B”.
  • Charles E. Cossitt, Co. “C”.
  • E. Marshall, Co. “D”.
  • Edward Ethel Porter, John Wilkerson, Co.
  • Samuel Vance, John Fitzgerald, Co. “F”.
  • J. Welby Armstrong, Co. “G”.
  • R. E. Chew,Co.”H”.
  • John L. Saffanans, Co. “I”.
  • Thomas Stokes, Co. “K”.
Source: https://tngenweb.org/civilwar/2nd-walkers-tennessee-infantry-regiment/
 
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Part 2: 21st Tennessee

The regiment was formed from men from Memphis, under the command of Colonel Edward Pickett Jr. After organizing, the 21st moved to Union City to the Camp of Instruction located there. They reported in July 1861 with 744 men, armed with flintlock muskets. As of August 12th, they were still listed in Union City. A report in September showed them at Columbus, as part of Colonel Robert Russell's brigade. Around the same time, Company K, recruited from Kentucky, was assigned to the 1st Kentucky Battalion (which became a cavalry formation) and later became Company A, 1st Confederate Cavalry.

The regiment was at the camp in Belmont when Grant attacked. The regiment suffered 78 casualties, including 4 captains and 5 lieutenants.

In March of 1862, it was reported in Stephen's brigade. On March 25, a letter from Assistant Adjutant General Thomas Jordan to Major General Polk stated: “I am directed to acquaint you that the general commanding has found it necessary to give orders directly to Colonel Pickett, to fall back no further at present than Kenton Station, behind the Obion River, should he find it judicious to retire from Union City. In that event he has been ordered to burn about half a mile of the railway trestle work in front of the Obion Bridge, which is to be saved.”

On March 31, a Federal report from Colonel N. B. Buford told of a surprise attack on a brigade at Union City commanded by Colonel Pickett, composed of the 21st Tennessee Infantry Regiment and Jackson’s Regiment of Cavalry (7th Tennessee). The attack caught the Confederates completely by surprise, and they fled in disorder without firing a shot, abandoning their camps, which were burned by the Federal troops.

On April 1, 1862, a letter from General P. T. Beauregard to General Polk stated: “I have ordered one of my staff officers to go this morning to Trenton to inquire into the surprise of Colonel Pickett’s command, and the loss of property resulting therefrom. We must make an example of officers who permit their commands to be thus surprised. Prompt and decisive action is necessary to prevent further disasters of that kind.”

When the army reorganized in May, the regiment was reduced to 6 companies, and still reported to Stephens' (now Maney's) Brigade. before being reassigned to Colonel Alexander Hawthorn's Brigade, Hardee's Corps. On July 21st, the regiment was consolidated with the 2nd Tennessee Irish, creating the 5th Confederate Regiment.

Organization

Field Officers
  • Colonels: Col. Edward Pickett
  • Lt. Colonels: Hiram Tilman
  • Majors: James C. Cole
Company Commanders
  • Edward Irby, Co. “A”. Men from Memphis.
  • Richard J. Person, Co. “B”. Men from Memphis.
  • J. P S. Whitemore, Co. “C”. Men from Pocahontas, Hardeman County.
  • J. D. Layton, Co. “D”. Men from Memphis.
  • J. H. Healy, Thomas R. Dashiell, Co. “E”. Men from Memphis.
  • A. L. Whitley, William A. Brown, Co. “F”. Men from Memphis.
  • S. H. Whitsitts, N. D. Cullen, Co. “G”. Men from Memphis. 24 men in this company were enrolled at Vicksburg, Mississippi, June, 1861, having formerly been in Gaines’ Company, 22nd Mississippi Infantry Regiment.
  • Nat C. Taylor, Co. “H”. Men from Memphis.
  • William Hutchinson, C. W. Frazer, Co. “I”. Men from Memphis.
  • H. C. King, Co. “K”. “The Pillow Guards No.2,” a Kentucky Company enlisted in Tennessee June 13, 1861.
 
Part 3: 5th Confederate Regiment

The regiment was formed on July 21st, from the 4 companies of Walker's 2nd Tennessee Regiment and the 4 companies of Pickett's 21st Tennessee Regiment. Lt. Colonel James Argyle Smith of the 2nd Tennessee became Colonel; and Major James C. Cole and Captain Richard J. Person of the 21st Tennessee became Lt. Colonel and Major respectively. The consolidated Memphis regiment was officially designated the 9th Confederate Infantry Regiment. However, the officers and soldiers always referred to the unit as the 5th Confederate, and this will be the designation I shall refer to throughout this thread.

The regiment was assigned to Bushrod Johnson's Tennessee Brigade of Hardee's Corps, later Buckner's Division of Hardee's Corps, and took part in the Kentucky Campaign. It took part in the Battle of Munfordville, and later at Perryville, where Colonel Smith was cited for his bravery. The unit remained in Johnson's Brigade when Cleburne took command of the division; the 5th Confederate would spend the rest of their service under Cleburne and his command. The unit was transferred to Lucius Polk's Brigade, and fought at the Battle of Murfreesboro, where its brave Colonel Smith was once again highlighted by Cleburne and Polk for his actions.

In July of 1863, the regiment was consolidated with the 3rd Confederate, under the command of Colonel Smith. It fought again at Chickamauga, after which Colonel Smith was promoted to Brigadier and assigned to command Deshler's Texas Brigade. The 3rd/5th Confederate next fought at Ringgold Gap, where Lt. Colonel James C. Cole was badly wounded; Richard J. Person would take command of the regiment. In a report on December 10th, 1863, the consolidated 3rd/5th Confederate numbered a total of 338 men present and effective for duty, out of 645 men present and absent. However, it seems the 5th Confederate only made up around 100 of those men. During the Winter and early Spring of 1864, the 3rd and 5th Confederate split again, permanently, with Captain William A. Brown in command. On June 30th, after Pickett's Mill, Maj. Richard J. Person returned to command. On June 16th, Brigadier Polk lost his leg to a Union shell at Gilgal Church; his depleted brigade disbanded, with 5th Confederate being assigned to Granbury's Texas Brigade, then under Brigadier James A. Smith, the regiment's old Colonel. According to Lundberg in his history of Granbury's Brigade, "The Texans soon became fond of the 5th Confederate and soon informally titled the Irishmen the '5th Texas'" (Lundberg 233).

On July 21st, Cleburne's division was assigned to guard the Eastern defenses of the city. In a forward position from the main line, Smith's Brigade held near Bald Hill, with the 5th Confederate in the dead center of the position. Francis DeGress' Union battery fired down into the exposed Confederate position. They briefly repulsed a Union assault, before being force to abandon the position. In the process, out of 100 men under Major Person's command, losses amount to 1 killed and 3 wounded, with 1 officer and 3 enlisted men captured.

The next day, the 92 men of the 5th Confederate take part in Smith's assault on the union lines near Bald Hill. On the far right of the line with the 17th/18th Texas, the unit takes part in Cleburne's assault against the lines, meeting little resistance as they move through an open flank.

Around the same time, the right flank of the brigade, primarily the 5th Confederate and 17th&18th Texas, pushed across the Union’s exposed left flank. At around 2pm, General McPherson rode forward to inspect the commotion on his flank. He ran into the 92 strong 5th Confederate Regiment. Captain Richard Beard ordered McPherson to surrender, but the General merely turned to escape on his horse. He was then cut down by a volley of skirmishers; according to the smashed watch of one of his staffers, he was killed at 2:02pm. Though some dispute who fired the fatal shot, it is without certainty Smith’s Texans were responsible for killing McPherson, the highest ranked Union officer killed in the war.

Men from the 5th Confederate and 24th/25th Texas to their left take Colonel Robert Scott, commanding Leggett's Brigade on Bald Hill. However, as they overran the Union second line, the hitting power of the 5th Confederate and 17th/18th Texas began to break down, becoming little more than a skirmish line. As the rest of the brigade assaulted Bald Hill, Union reinforcements under Colonel John Oliver counterattack, overrunning the isolated 17th/18th Texas and 5th Confederate. Maj. Person, Captain Beard, the regiment's flag, 10 officers and 36 enlisted men were captured; 71 men from the regiment were casualties. Sgt. Major Andrew La Forge of the 15th Michigan captured the flags of both regiments.

After the battle, the 21 remaining men under Captain Aaron A. Cox continued to operate as an independent unit, though its history from hence forward is quite confusing and questionable. The remnant of the regiment fought at Jonesboro, Franklin, and Nashville, before being reorganized as Company I, 3rd Tennessee Consolidated Regiment. The unit had only 10 men remaining of around 1285 who had reported to the 2nd and 21st Tennessee back in mid-1861.

Sources
https://tngenweb.org/civilwar/2nd-walkers-tennessee-infantry-regiment/
http://irishamericancivilwar.com/af...h-confederate-operations-20th-22nd-july-1864/
Lundberg, John R. "Granbury's Texas Brigade: Diehard Western Confederates", 233, 246, 254, 256.
 
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I wish I could get details on the organization of the regiment when it became the 5th Confederate, as while tngenweb provides details for the organization of the Tennessee regiments, it merges in the history of the 5th Confederate with that of the 2nd Tennessee, but does not show the change in the company organizations there of.
If anyone knows the organization of the 5th Confederate Regiment's companies, I'd love to know.
 
J. Knox Walker (1818-1863), a Bio:
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Joseph Knox Walker was born in Columbia Tennessee, a relative of James K. Polk and brother of Lucius M. Walker. He went to Yale, graduating in 1838, and from March 1845 served as President Polk's Personal secretary. In 1858 he became a member of the Tennessee Senate. At the start of the war, he raised the 2nd Tennessee in Memphis. He would fight at Belmont and Shiloh. However, his health deteriorated in camp at Columbus, as well as the fatigues of combat experienced at Shiloh and Corinth. He was forced to turn over his command to Lt. Colonel James Smith, and retired from the service, returning to Memphis. He would die of Chronic Diarrhea in Memphis, August 21st, 1863, being buried in Elmwood Cemetery.
 
(This next part comes from my thread on Granbury's Brigade. There are some specifics regarding that unit mentioned here, but most of it is pertinent to Smith).
James Argyle Smith (1831-1901)
1625254746109.png

He may be the most forgotten of Cleburne's commanders, mostly due to how brief his stint in command was; his longest posting with the command seems to be as commander of the remnant of the division following Cleburne's death. That said, he is not an officer to be forgotten.

Smith was born in Maury County in 1831, and graduated from West Point in 1853 (he, Deshler, and Bushrod Johnson were the only West Pointers to achieve brigade command in Cleburne's Division), serving as a 2nd Lieutenant of Infantry. He would be posted to Jefferson Barracks before going West, taking part in the Battle of Ash Hollow (aka Harney's Massacre) and the Utah War, the latter in which he earned a promotion to 1st Lieutenant for. He resigned his commission in May of 1861 to go south.

He started as a 1st Lieutenant before being promoted to Major in March of 1862, being assigned to the staff of Leonidas Polk at Shiloh. After the battle, he was promoted to Lt. Colonel and assigned command of J. K. Walker's 2nd Tennessee Irish Regiment, much reduced in numbers to 4 companies. Later, it would merge with the 21st Tennessee to create the 9th (more commonly 5th) Confederate Regiment, with Smith being made Colonel. He was commended for bravery at Perryville and Murfreesboro, at the latter by Cleburne himself. His actions at Chickamauga seemed to have impressed Cleburne enough to have Smith promoted to command Deshler's Old Brigade after Deshler's death. Smith would lead the brigade through the Chattanooga Campaign, but wouldn't see action until Missionary Ridge. Here, his bad luck with bullets began, as he was wounded leading a counterattack against Sherman, leading to the elevation of Hiram Granbury to brigade command.

Smith would return to the brigade in June, taking over from the sick Granbury. He led the brigade in their secondary role at Kennesaw Mountain. At Atlanta, his men held the right flank of Cleburne's line near Bald Hill on July 21st, when they were attacked by troops of the Army of the Tennessee. Exposed to artillery fire, Smith and Cleburne fell back to the main line, surrendering control of Bald Hill to the Union.

The next day saw the high point of Smith's career, the Battle of Bald Hill. Here, he and his men turned the flank of the Union line, pushing through a gap, overrunning two regiments, killing General McPherson, and capturing many prisoners and much equipment. In their third charge, they attempted to strike at Bald Hill itself from the rear, only for Leggett's men to hop over to the opposite side of their breastworks (the ones formerly held by Smith's men the day prior), and firing down on the assaulting Confederates. Smith was wounded here, and a federal counterattack overran his old 5th Confederate Regiment as well as most of the 17th&18th Texas. Lt. Colonel Robert Young ordered his men to fall back. Smith's Brigade had performed well that day, possibly the most achieve by any unit on the field that day.

Smith would eventually recover, being assigned to command Olmstead's Georgia Brigade, as Cleburne desired a more competent officer to command the brigade. Smith's new brigade would see little action, being detached during the Franklin-Nashville campaign. However, after Cleburne's death at Franklin, Smith, the ranking officer of the division, was assigned to command of the 1500 remaining veterans. At Nashville, his men performed spectacularly the first day, only to collapse and join the retreat of the army the next day. At Bentonville, he led his Georgians and Govan's Arkansans in Stewart's assault on the first day, being repulsed by the Union troops. His men played little further role in the battle. Afterwards, with the consolidation of the army, Smith commanded a consolidated brigade of Georgians and Floridians, numbering some 1241 men under his command at the surrender of Johnston's force.

After the war, he moved to Mississippi, starting a farm and getting elected State Superintendent of Public Education from 1878 to 1886. He served as an agent of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and later Marshall of the Mississippi Supreme Court. He died in Jackson, Mississippi, in 1901, and is buried in Greenwood Cemetery.

Smith has a rather mixed reputation. He only led the brigade in a few battles, though they performed well under his command. It seems his ignominy in the historiography of the brigade is due to his lack of popularity. One telling account comes from Private F. E. Blossom, writing July 8th, '64, during a visit by the still ailing Granbury to the brigade, then under Smith's command; he wrote, "None of us like Gen. Smith... he is brave as a lion but mean as a hyena... We will be glad to be rid of him" (Lundberg 237). His "meanness" may have been due to his status as a West Pointer among citizen soldiers, who preferred their own local commanders like Granbury over a Tennessee army man like Smith.
 
Looking at Colonel Robert A. Hart (2nd Lt., later Captain, Company G, 2nd Tennessee Irish):

Robert A. Hart was born in 1837, somewhere in Ireland, eventually moving to Memphis, where he was the bookkepper for Gayoso Bank. He joined the Confederate army, becoming 2nd and later 1st Lieutenant in Company G, 2nd Tennessee Irish, and fought at Belmont and Shiloh. After Shiloh (presumably when the unit merged into the 5th Confederate) Hart joined the staff of Major General Thomas Hindman as an AAG, moving with him to Arkansas. After Colonel Archibald McNeill of the 30th Arkansas resigned November 12 1862, Hart was assigned as the regiment's new Colonel. He led his men at the Battle of Helena, July 4th 1863, where he was mortally wounded and captured. He'd die in a Federal hospital in his hometown of Memphis, August 6th.
1625266663150.png


I wish I knew more about the other officers of the 2nd Tennessee, but I can find very little if anything. This may be the most prominent Irishman from the regiment.
 
I have been unable to find any info on:

-Colonel Edward Pickett Jr, 21st Tennessee
-Lt. Colonels James A. Ashford and William B. Ross, 2nd Tennessee; Hiram Tilman, 21st Tennessee; or James C. Cole, 5th Confederate
-Majors F. A. Strocky, 2nd Tennessee; and Richard J. Person, 5th Confederate
-All of the listed company commanders

Almost none of these guys have even a Findagrave entry. Captain Beard has an entry with no details on his life or service.

If anyone has any information on these guys, or any other soldier in the ranks, please post and let me know. This is an open thread.
 
For now, I'll pull up Albert Castel's account of the death of General McPherson:

"McPherson has watched the attack on Dodge from a knoll to the right of Fuller's Brigade. After its repulse he sends Lieutenant Colonel Strong to check on Blair's situation. Strong soon returns with word that Blair fears that the enemy is "feeling" for the gap between Fuller and Giles Smith. McPherson thereupon sets out on the same road that Strong has just traveled to see Blair himself. Along the way he orders Strong to go to Logan and have him send Colonel Hugo Wangelin's brigade to plug the gap. This leaves McPherson with only his orderly and a signal officer.

Suddenly, only a few yards away, a band of rebels emerges from the underbrush of the south side of the road. Several of them yell "Halt!" and an officer raises his sword, signaling McPherson to surrender. He draws reins, doffs his hat as if in salute, then wheels his horse about and gallops into the woods on the other side of the road. The Confederates fire. One of their bullets rips through McPherson's lungs near his heart. His horse carries him a short distance, then he falls heavily to the ground, face down. He is dead, or soon will be. Both the orderly and the signal officer lie nearby, knocked senseless from their saddles by low-hanging tree limbs. When the latter recovers consciousness, he notices that his watch has been smashed and that it reads two minutes past 2 P.M.

The officer with the lifted sword is Captain Richard Beard of the 5th Confederate, a ninety-one man "regiment" of Tennesseans that has been recently transferred from Polk's defunct Brigade to Granbury's. According to Beard's subsequent testimony, Corporal Robert Coleman of that regiment has fired the fatal bullet at McPherson; probably this is the truth, for what it may be worth. In any case, several of the Tennesseans stop to remove McPherson's watch, sword belt, field glasses, and dispatch book; they then hurry on, leaving behind a diamond ring and a wallet stuffed with large-denomination dollars. They are more concerned with the live Yankees than with a dead one, even if he is a general. Cleburne's Division, spearheaded by Govan's and Smith's Brigades, is about to penetrate the gap between Blair and Dodge" (Castel, Albert. "Decision in the West: The Atlanta Campaign of 1864", 399).

Irish Corporal Robert Coleman
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(Image accessed from https://irishamericancivilwar.com/2...shmen-at-chickamauga/corporal-robert-coleman/)
 
I wish I could get details on the organization of the regiment when it became the 5th Confederate, as while tngenweb provides details for the organization of the Tennessee regiments, it merges in the history of the 5th Confederate with that of the 2nd Tennessee, but does not show the change in the company organizations there of.
If anyone knows the organization of the 5th Confederate Regiment's companies, I'd love to know.
5th Confederate Infantry.jpg
 
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