Category Archives: The Minute Men of Attala

The “stillness” at Appomattox

Posted on April 9, 2013 by

The pittance that was the 13th Mississippi Regiment at Appomattox Courthouse played no recorded role in the events surrounding General Lee’s formal surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia on April 9, 1865. It was the Christian holy day of … Continue reading →

Posted in Captured at Saylor's Creek, H. Grady Howell Jr., Humpreys Mississippi Brigade, Jess N. McLean, Mississippi, Muster Rolls, Newton Rifles, The Minute Men of Attala, The Pettus Guards, The Spartan Band | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Desertions reached epidemic proportions

Posted on March 18, 2013 by

S.A. Gerald of Matagorda, Texas, wrote Confederate Veteran magazine after the war: “…for two or three months [in 1865]…I was on detail on the ‘dead line,’ on duty at night, the only object being to catch any who might desert to the Yankees.” … Continue reading →

Posted in Humpreys Mississippi Brigade, Muster Rolls, Newton Rifles, Siege of Petersburg, The Minute Men of Attala, The Pettus Guards, The Secessionists, The Spartan Band, The Winston Guards | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Visiting a 13th soldier’s Richmond grave

Posted on September 2, 2012 by

Texan Weldon Nash, Jr., whose ancestor Nimrod Newton Nash wrote so many of the good letters in this digital regimental until he was killed at Gettysburg, recently visited the Richmond grave of Henry T. Nash, another Minute Men private. Henry, … Continue reading →

Posted in Battles: Fredericksburg, Battles: Gettysburg, Battles: Leesburg, Battles: Malvern Hill, H. Grady Howell Jr., Jess N. McLean, Nimrod Newton Nash, The Minute Men of Attala | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Battles: Cold Harbor

Posted on August 23, 2012 by

On the night of May 31, 1864, the First Corps, including the 13th Mississippi Regiment, marched for Cold Harbor. Plans called for getting onto Grant’s left flank and rolling it up while the rest of Lee’s army attacked Grant’s front. … Continue reading →

Posted in Battles: Cold Harbor, Humpreys Mississippi Brigade, Jess N. McLean, Newton Rifles, The Alamutcha Infantry, The Kemper Legion, The Lauderdale Zouaves, The Minute Men of Attala, The Pettus Guards, The Secessionists, The Spartan Band, The Winston Guards, Wayne Rifles | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

One deserter and two patriots

Posted on June 15, 2012 by

The fortunes of the regiment and, indeed, the Confederacy, were declining in the spring of 1864, but the men were affected in different ways, according to records gathered by independent historian Jess N. McLean. Professor T. Dwight Nutting, leader of … Continue reading →

Posted in Jess N. McLean, The Kemper Legion, The Minute Men of Attala | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

The 13th’s POWs

Posted on April 28, 2012 by

Camp Chase Prison, then on the western outskirts of Columbus, Ohio, was not the worst Union prisoner of war camp. Some say that distinction goes to Point Lookout, in Maryland. But overcrowding and little food encouraged diseases such as smallpox … Continue reading →

Posted in Battles: Fort Sanders, Jess N. McLean, The Kemper Legion, The Minute Men of Attala, The Secessionists, The Spartan Band | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

The Bloody Thirteenth

Posted on April 1, 2012 by

A descendant of Private Thurman Early Hendricks, of the Minutemen of Attala, sent me a copy of his undated post-war memoir which is available at the Mississippi Department of Archives and History. In it, Hendricks said the men of the regiment … Continue reading →

Posted in Barksdale's Mississippi Brigade, The Minute Men of Attala | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

The Battle of Fort Sanders

Posted on March 14, 2012 by

By Nov. 28, 1863, the siege of Knoxville was entering its second week. Longstreet, who had been dithering on the question of where best to attack the Union defenses, had finally settled on one—the red-dirt Fort Sanders (above, looking west) … Continue reading →

Posted in Battles: Fort Sanders, Confederate Veteran Magazine, Gen. Benjamin G. Humphreys, Gen. James Longstreet, Gen. Lafayette McLaws, Humpreys Mississippi Brigade, Jess N. McLean, Nimrod Newton Nash, Siege of Knoxville, The Battle Flags, The Lauderdale Zouaves, The Minute Men of Attala, The Spartan Band, William H. Hill Diary | Tagged , | Leave a comment

The siege of Knoxville

Posted on March 7, 2012 by

“The enemy is in full retreat,” Spartan Band diarist William H. Hill recorded on Monday evening, Nov. 16, 1863. “The loss of the enemy in killed and wounded [at Campbell's Station] was large, our loss was small.” Indeed, “[m]any of … Continue reading →

Posted in Humpreys Mississippi Brigade, Siege of Knoxville, The Minute Men of Attala, The Spartan Band, William H. Hill Diary | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Gettysburg: The Third Day

Posted on September 28, 2011 by

Friday, July 3, 1863, dawned clear on the battlefield south of Gettysburg, according to Spartan Band diarist William H. Hill who added that it became very warm as the day progressed. Friends of Private Nimrod Newton Nash buried him, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Barksdale's Mississippi Brigade, Battles: Gettysburg, Confederate Veteran Magazine, Nimrod Newton Nash, The Minute Men of Attala, The Spartan Band, William H. Hill Diary | Tagged , | Leave a comment