Polk Brothers in the Civil War, part 1

   The Civil War was for the most part a young man's war. When Mississippi passed the ordinance of secession on January 9, 1861, many a young man left the family farm to join the ranks of the armed forces. In Lawrence County, Mississippi most of the farms were small operations and the owners had only one or two slaves, if any at all. One such young man was James Madison Polk, grandson of Luke Polk, a Revolutionary War soldier. James Madison was single, 20 -- 21 years of age and enlisted in the Covington Rangers at Mount Carmel, Mississippi in early 1861. James had three older brothers, John L., 36, Isaac, 24, and Joel R., 22. All three brothers remained on the farm and allowed the young James, to rush off to battle. The Covington Rangers became Company I of the 7th Regiment Mississippi Infantry and was stationed with the 3rd Regiment Mississippi Infantry in Shieldsboro on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. The 3rd Regiment included the company known as the Gainesville Volunteers.
   Company I of the 7th trained on the Gulf Coast, moved to New Orleans, boarded a train for Jackson, Tennessee, was delayed by a train wreck in Louisiana were several men were injured. Arriving in Tennessee they were ordered to Eastport/Iuka, Mississippi where they became part of Gen. James Chalmers brigade. Fighting gallantly at the battle of Shiloh, they pulled back to Corinth. Retreating from Corinth, the 7th joined Gen. Bragg forces and moved eastward, by way of Mobile, and participated in Bragg's Kentucky Campaign. They finally surrendered in North Carolina in 1865.
   And the three older brothers? They were what Kenneth W. Noe  called "Reluctant Rebels." [1]Company E, "White Rebels" (after James E. White, Capt.) were organized at Silver Creek, Lawrence County, Mississippi, on April 24, 1862, and mustered into Confederate service May 12, 1862, in Jackson, Mississippi as part of the 38th Regiment Mississippi Infantry. They spent most of their time fighting in Mississippi at Iuka/Corinth, and Harrisburg before surrendering in 1865.
   Another company being mustered into Confederate service at this time was Company C, "Hancock Rebels," of Hobolochitto, Mississippi, now known as Picayune, Mississippi.

(1)Noe, Kenneth. Reluctant Rebels: The Confederates Who Joined the Army after 1861, The University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, 2010.
  

Eastman R. Tate

   While researching an article on the Mayors of Picayune for the Pearl River County Historical Society, I found an entry in a book of biographical sketches of Mississippians on Eastman F. Tate, an early mayor of Picayune. According to the author, Eastman F. Tate's father, Eastman R. Tate, served the Confederacy in the Seventh Mississippi Infantry in a company commanded by Capt. A. E. Foxworth of Columbia, Mississippi. According to Dunbar's Military History of Mississippi, Company D, Jeff Davis Sharpshooters, Marion County, had two Second Lieutenants, Franklin W. Foxworth and Job M. Foxworth. The Captain of this company was Hamilton Mayson who was elected Lieutenant-Colonel and replaced by Henry Pope.
   Searching the military records of two well know archives I was unable to locate an Eastman R. Tate in any Confederate military unit. (I also searched under E. R. Tate and Eastman Tate.) A trip to MDAH may be in order to search the Confederate Service Records on file in the media room. However, that research trip will need to be postponed until after the Bicentennial Celebration and Grand Opening of the Museum of Mississippi History and the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum on December 9, 2017.
   Any information anyone has on Eastman R. Tate, Company D, or the Seventh Regiment Mississippi Infantry would be greatly appreciated.

Just returned from the Mississippi Historical Society 2017 Annual meeting.  A very interesting time. A number of very interesting presentations were given  and as usual the food was excellent.  What's a history meeting without good food.

A couple of ideas I had at the meeting for the blog was to create a 3rd, 7th, and 38th history minute.  These would provide information on the regiments that can be read in a minute or less. Also include more pictures from my battlefield travels.

Seventh Regiment Mississippi Infantry

Seventh Regiment -- Infantry

Confederate States Army

Colonels -- Enos J. Goode, Hamilton Mayson, William H. Bishop, killed at Franklin

 

Company A, Franklin Rifles, Franklin County, mustered into state service 29 April 1861 at Meadville

Captain -- William J. Proby

 

Company B, Bogue Chitto Guards, Pike County, mustered into state service at Bogue Chitto 1 May 1861

Captain -- R. S. Carter, elected Major; J. M. Brister

 

Company C, Amite Rifles, Amite County, mustered into state service at Liberty 29 April 1861

Captain -- Benjamin F. Johns

 

Company D, Jeff Davis Sharpshooters, Marion County, mustered into State service at Holmesville 4 May 1861

Captains -- Hamilton Mayson, elected Lieutenant-Colonel; Henry Pope

 

Company E, Franklin Beauregards, Franklin County, mustered into State service at Meadville 4 May 1861

Captains -- Daniel H. Parker, 1861; D. S. Burch, 1862 -- 1865

 

Company F, Marion's Men, Marion County, mustered into State service at Columbia 10 August, 1861

Captain -- William J. Rankin

 

Company G, Goode Rifles, Lawrence County (no muster in date or location)

Captain - Enos J. Goode, elected Colonel; James M. Cannon

 

Company H, Dahlgren Rifles, Pike County, mustered into State service 22 August 1861

Captain -- Parham B. Williams

 

Company I, Covington Rifles, Covington County, enlisted 11 September 1861

Captain -- John T. Fairley

 

Company K, Quitman Rifles, Franklin County, mustered in at Brunckley's Ferry 26 August 1861

Captain -- N. L. Hoff





Third Regiment Mississippi Infantry

 

Third Regiment -- Infantry

Confederate States Army

Colonels -- John B. Deason, until reorganization; Thomas A. Mellon, wounded at Peachtree Creek; James M. Stigler, Third Consolidated, April, 1865.

 

Company A, Live Oak Rifles, Jackson County,mustered in at Ocean Springs, 18 September 1861

Captains -- James B. McRae, promoted Lieutenant-Colonel; E. A. Lewis, A. F. Ramsay, killed at Peachtree Creek; E. N. Ramsey.

 

Company B, Sunflower Dispersers, Sunflower County, mustered into State service 31 August 1861

Captain -- William H. Morgan

 

Company C, Downing Rifles, Hinds County, mustered into State service at Bolton, 9 August 1861

Captains -- Thomas A. Mellon, elected Major; William E. Ratliff

 

Company D, Chunkey Heroes, Newton County, mustered into State service at Pass Christian, 5 September 1861

Captain -- W. B. Johnson

 

Company E, Biloxi Rifles, Harrison County, mustered into State service at Biloxi 21 May 1861

Captains -- John D. Howard, John P. Elmer, Harry Knapp

 

Company G, Gainesville Volunteers, Hancock County, mustered into State service at Gainesville 13 July 1861

Captain -- John B. Deason, elected Colonel; Enoch E. McFadden

 

Company H, Shieldsboro Rifles, Hancock County, mustered into State service at Shieldsboro 29 June 1861

Captains -- Robert Eager, promoted; John V. Toulmi

 

Company I, John M. Sharp's Company, Yazoo County, mustered into State service at Benton, 30 August, 1861

Captains -- Samuel M. Dyer, elected Major at reorganization; Albert H. Johnson

 

Company ___, McWillie Blues, Copiah County, mustered into State service at Hazelhurst 17 August, 1861

Captain -- E. A. Peyton, elected Major

 

Company ___, Dahlgren Guards, Harrison County, mustered into State service at Pass Christian 4 September, 1861

Captain -- Ashbel Green

 

The nucleus of the regiment was the Shieldsboro Rifles and the Gainesbille Volunteers, which Captain Deason reported in camp at Shieldsboro under his command August 1, 1861.  The regimental field officers were elected September 15, 1861. Company I was assigned to the regiment October 14, 1861 at Pass Christian.

Thirty-Eighth Regiment Mississippi Infantry

Thirty-Eighth Regiment

Confederate States Army

Mounted in 1864 by Order of General Polk

Company A, Holmes County Volunteers, organized 15 March 1862
Captains -- Walter L. Keirn, John S. Hoskins

Company B, Van Dorn Guards, of Claiborne County, organized 19 March 1862
Captain -- R. C. McCay

Company C, Hancock Rebels, of Hancock County, organized 8 March 1862
Captain -- D. B. Seal

Company D, Wilkinson Guards, of Wilkinson County, organized 1 April 1862
Captain -- James H. Jones, promoted Lieutenant-Colonel 14 July 1864

Company E, White Rebels, raised in Lawrence County (Silver Creek), organized 1 May 1862
Captain -- James F. White

Company F, Johnston Avengers, raised in Copiah County, organized 3 May 1862
Captain -- Leander M. Graves

Company G, Wolf Creek Marksmen, raised in Attala County, organized 1 May 1862
Captain -- J. M. Dishman

Company H, Price Relief, raised in Hinds, Madison, & Newton Counties, organized 12 May 1862
Captain -- William M. Estelle

Company I, Columbia Guards, of Claiborne County, organized 20 March 1862
Captain -- F. W. Foxworth

Company K, Brent Rifles, of Pike County, organized 26 April 1862
Captain -- Preston Brent, promoted Lieutenant-Colonel

   The companies had their rendezvous at Jackson, MS and Fleming W. Adams was elected Colonel.  Ordered to Corinth, arriving a few days before the evacuation, May 29, when they joined in the retreat toward Tupelo.

James Madison Polk

James Madison Polk and his wife, Icy Jane Stewart

 

   James Madison Polk, 05 May, 1849 -- 29 September,1914, born in Lawrence County Mississippi. James was the son of Joel Luke Polk, born in South Carolina, and grandson of Luke Polk, also born in South Carolina. His great grandfather, Luke Polk, Sr. was a Revolutionary  War soldier.  James Madison served as a private in Company I, "Covington Rangers", Seventh Mississippi Infantry Regiment in the Civil War.  His first taste of battle was with James Chalmers at the Battle of Shiloh and his final engagement was the Battle of Franklin, where he was captured and ended the war in a Union prison camp.

   Following the Civil War, he married Icy Jane Stewart, (in 1867) and they had five children, four boys and a daughter. He went into farming and became a relative large landowner in the Mt. Carmel area of Mississippi.  Active in community affairs he was instrumental in helping organize Jefferson Davis County in 1904 and served as one of its first county supervisors.

   James had three older brothers who also served in the Civil Was.  They served with the "White Rebels", organized at Silver Creek, Mississippi, and became part of the 38th Mississippi Infantry Regiment and fought at Iuka, Vicksburg, Harrisburg, among other sites.