A Civil War Brigade

The Walking Dead

Corporal
Joined
May 19, 2021
During the Civil War a brigade could consist of anywhere from two to six regiments. For the sake of this question we will go with four regiments to a brigade.

Taking into consideration a unit's overall performance during the war, what four units would you assign to serve together to create your 'toughest brigade'? Union and Confederate.
 
Well, sticking with the tradition that most Confederate brigades contained regiments from the same state, I'd probably go with 2nd, 11th, 13th, and 17th Mississippi Infantry Regiments. The latter two come from Barksdale's brigade, so I could have just as easily gone with the 18th and 21st Mississippi also, but I'll stick with numerical order.

Having said that, I'm not necessarily persuaded that brigading regiments from the same state made for the toughest brigades. For instance, the "Old Third" Brigade under Bee, Whiting, and later Law, was comprised of the 2nd and 11th Mississippi, 6th North Carolina State Troops, and 4th Alabama. It was arguably one of Lee's toughest brigades before it was broken up following Sharpsburg. I think there have been incidents of healthy competition reported during a battle when regiments of different states were brigaded together. Just my "2-cents..."
 
Having said that, I'm not necessarily persuaded that brigading regiments from the same state made for the toughest brigades. For instance, the "Old Third" Brigade under Bee, Whiting, and later Law, was comprised of the 2nd and 11th Mississippi, 6th North Carolina State Troops, and 4th Alabama. It was arguably one of Lee's toughest brigades before it was broken up following Sharpsburg. I think there have been incidents of healthy competition reported during a battle when regiments of different states were brigaded together. Just my "2-cents..."

I agree.
 
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