Mississippians killed at Gettysburg

RobertP

Lt. Colonel
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I posted this list in 2013 so some interested may not have seen it before.

http://msgw.org/desoto/military/MsGburgDead.html

We have a current thread on the 11th Miss. at Gettysburg and the severe losses taken on the 3rd day. Also in that thread I posted some information about Albert Peel of the 19th Mississippi wherein his diary he confirms that Elie and William (Billie) Peel of the 11th were his cousins.

After the battle Albert says this:

"Friday, July 3, 1863 - We were under heavy cannonading from 8 till 9 am Davises Brigade came up at 12 o’clock we were shelled severely until 3pm. Pedegrews Davise's Brigade & Lanes Brigade charged the enemy & were badly cut to pieces, had to fall back in great confusion, they suffered greatly I’ve looked for Billie & Elie Peel, they are missing only 3 of the company are found, the battle has raged all day & is raging now, its getting dark."

As we know Billie Peel was captured and died a prisoner in January 1865. Unfortunately his brother Elie’s name is found on the list of Mississippians killed in the battle.
 
The grim reaper was certainly busy collecting these young men who hailed from Mississippi. So many bright futures, so sad so very sad. Having the names listed brings out the horror of the loses as compared to just numbers.
I am still trying to nail down a bit more accurately the total losses for the 2nd Mississippi for the Gettysburg Campaign...from July 1st through July 14th at Falling Waters. My examination of the service records, given the guesswork involved in some records, shows that of the 492 men they brought into action on July 1st (Busey & Martin), they had lost something between 388 and 411 men (k/w/c/m) by the time they recrossed the Potomac. Grim Reaper indeed...
 
If your figures for casualties are correct, the 2nd suffered as high a casualty rate as any regiment during the War. Truly looking forward to reading your book and research! Hurry up and finish as I am not getting any younger.:smile coffee:
Regards
David
 
Albert Peel served as adjutant of the 19th Mississippi. He was killed at the Bloody Angle during the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House on May 12, 1864, alongside his commander (Colonel Thomas Hardin) and lies in an unknown grave at the Spotsylvania Confederate Cemetery. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/11732739
 
If your figures for casualties are correct, the 2nd suffered as high a casualty rate as any regiment during the War.
Here are my actual notes on the Gettysburg numbers. I think you can see why they are so hard to figure out exactly. It comes to trying to trace down particular individuals from materials not part of their CMSRs. One obvious problem for instance, the three casualties at Williamsport...since they were part of the wounded wagon train, had they already been counted once as casualties prior to the Williamsport fight? The Federal and hospital records are anybody's guess as to what percentage might be misidentified. The assumptions based on these are simply educated guesses unless additional evidence is found.

"The 2nd Mississippi entered the battle at Gettysburg with an estimated strength of 492 [Busey and Martin]. It reported 232 killed and wounded, but did not separately report any numbers for those captured or missing. At least 88 officers and men of the regiment were taken prisoner at the Railroad Cut on July 1st [this number is undoubtedly low, only indicating those taken directly by the 6th Wisconsin]. The compiled service records show for the period of July 1-5, that 49 men were killed, 114 wounded and not captured, 110 wounded and captured, and 138 captured and apparently unwounded. Thus, the total casualty count comes to 411 of the 492 men present at the start of the battle. Some uncertainty exists in these numbers, however, because 28 records only exist as Federal prisoner of war documents [CMSRs}. An additional 43 records [CMSRs} confirm only that an individual was admitted to a Confederate hospital in Virginia with a battle wound during the period immediately after the Gettysburg campaign and corroborating information is not provided in the company muster records. If we assume that 1/3 of each of these two groups are misidentified, the number of total Gettysburg casualties comes down to 388. Thus based on these assumptions, if Busey’s and Martin’s strength estimate is correct, the 2nd Mississippi suffered losses of in the range of 79%-84% (killed, wounded and captured) during the period July 1-5.

At Williamsport, where the wounded Colonel Stone helped lead the "Waggonner's Fight," already wounded members of the regiment with the wagon train suffered an additional three casualties (one mortally wounded and captured, one wounded and captured, one wounded).

At Falling Waters where the 2nd Mississippi anchored the extreme right flank of the rear guard perimeter on July 14th, another 20 casualties were inflicted on what remained of the regiment. Two men were killed, six wounded (two of these were also captured), and fourteen, including two of the wounded, were taken prisoner. If the casualties from July 1-5 are added to those from July 6-14, the 2nd Mississippi lost between 411-434 men of an estimated 492 (between 84%-88% of its strength on July 1st)."
 
Unfortunately his brother Elie’s name is found on the list of Mississippians killed in the battle.


Do you know if he was among the men brought home ( or at least South ) in The Gettysburg Dead project, early 1870's? I'm unclear how many names were able to be preserved, seems to have been a surprising number given the number of years elapsing between battlefield burials and bringing them home.
 
Do you know if he was among the men brought home ( or at least South ) in The Gettysburg Dead project, early 1870's? I'm unclear how many names were able to be preserved, seems to have been a surprising number given the number of years elapsing between battlefield burials and bringing them home.
Hi JPK. I don’t know the answer.

I do know that cousin Albert Peel was killed in the Muleshoe at Spottsylvania less than a year later. He was buried in an unmarked grave at that place.
 
Hi JPK. I don’t know the answer.

I do know that cousin Albert Peel was killed in the Muleshoe at Spottsylvania less than a year later. He was buried in an unmarked grave at that place.


Whoa. Our ancestors were awfully inclined to be in the same place at the same time. Grgrgrandfather somehow survived the Muleshoe. That fight always gives me chills.

You know, two documents have so far eluded me although a far better researcher could probably find them. One is the list Gettysburg civilian Dr. O'Neil made- he was Southern and had just moved to Gettysburg in time for the battle. He noted every, single Confederate grave he could find. The other is Weaver's list, or maybe lists ( father and son ), where graves were and and notes on whose, if possible. Anyway, since O'Neil made his notes during those 3 and 4 days and for weeks afterwards, he'd have noted what was written on whatever marker could have been erected hastily. If any, I know.
 
Adjutant Albert L. Peel of the 19th Mississippi also had two brothers in the battle:
Robert H. Peel, Surgeon, 19th Mississippi, present.
Addison “Add” Peel, 5th Sergeant, Company I, 19th Mississippi, present.
(Diary of A. L. Peel; Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Mississippi, vol. 2, p. 578)

Cousin Billie (William H.) Peel, Lieutenant, Company C, 11th Mississippi had a sister named Molly, who married Radfird Greene Gunn. Private Gunn was also present at Gettysburg in Company A, 17th Mississippi. As was Gunn's brother, Lieutenant Lundy Reid Gunn of Company A, 17th Mississippi. Billie spoke briefly with the Gunn brothers on the early evening of July 1 on the Chambersburg Pike.
 
Adjutant Albert L. Peel of the 19th Mississippi also had two brothers in the battle:
Robert H. Peel, Surgeon, 19th Mississippi, present.
Addison “Add” Peel, 5th Sergeant, Company I, 19th Mississippi, present.
(Diary of A. L. Peel; Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Mississippi, vol. 2, p. 578)

Cousin Billie (William H.) Peel, Lieutenant, Company C, 11th Mississippi had a sister named Molly, who married Radfird Greene Gunn. Private Gunn was also present at Gettysburg in Company A, 17th Mississippi. As was Gunn's brother, Lieutenant Lundy Reid Gunn of Company A, 17th Mississippi. Billie spoke briefly with the Gunn brothers on the early evening of July 1 on the Chambersburg Pike.
Some companies from those regiments, the 11th, 17th and 19th were from the same area of north Mississippi (Holly Springs - Marshall County and Oxford - Lafayette County) and they all knew each other. In Peel’s diary (19th) he mentions visiting with members of the other units numerous times. I found entries with both my g-grandmother’s brothers names, also in the 19th, and my g-grandfather who was in the 17th.
 
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total losses for the 2nd Mississippi for the Gettysburg Campaign...from July 1st through July 14th at Falling Waters. My examination of the service records, given the guesswork involved in some records, shows that of the 492 men they brought into action on July 1st (Busey & Martin), they had lost something between 388 and 411 men


This. Too easy to forget how many men never came home. It doesn't matter which side- these numbers from just one regiment are hard to fathom.
 
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