42d Mississippi Infantry Regiment


The 42d Mississippi Infantry Regiment, also known as the "Forty-second Mississippi", was an infantry formation of the Confederate States Army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. It was successively commanded by Colonels Hugh R. Miller, William A. Feeney, and Andrew M. Nelson.

History

The Forty-second was organized on May 14, 1862, in the Mississippi Volunteers at Oxford from the counties of Carroll, DeSoto, Tishomingo, Calhoun, Yalobusha, Panola, and Itawamba. For a time, it served on provost duty in Richmond, Virginia, then was assigned to Davis' Brigade, Heth's Division, Third Corps, Army of Northern Virginia.
The 42nd Regiment was engaged in fierce fighting during the Gettysburg, taking heavy casualties, with the brigade commander Col. Hugh R. Miller killed in action. In the aftermath of the Gettysburg campaign, the Regiment fought at the Battle of Bristoe Station after retreating into Virginia. It lost 46 percent of the 575 engaged at Gettysburg, had eight disabled en route from Pennsylvania, and had six killed and 25 wounded during the Bristoe Campaign.
In 1864, the 42nd took part in the Battle of the Wilderness, the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, and the Battle of Cold Harbor, before joining the defense of Petersburg, Virginia. When the Union forces broke through the Confederate lines at Petersburg in early April, 1865, the remnants of the 42nd Regiment were captured and surrendered. The Regiment surrendered one lieutenant, one chaplain, and five enlisted men on April 9, 1865.

Regimental order of battle

Units of the Forty-second Mississippi:

Commanding officers

Commanding officers of the Forty-second Mississippi: