Gainesville Volunteers -- Expanded Information

Brief History of the Third Regiment Mississippi Infantry
Jerry Stough

   The nucleus of the Third Regiment was the Shieldsboro Rifles and the Gainesville Volunteers.  These two units reported in camp Clark at Shieldsboro in August, 1861.  The Third was mustered into Confederate service in October, 1861 and sent to reinforce General Leonidas Polk in Columbus, KY in November of 1861. Governor Pettus and others complained so strongly, that in January 1862 the Third was returned to the Coast.  The coast defenses at this time consisted of The Third Regiment, the Seventh Regiment, two batteries, and Captain Norman’s Cavalry.

   In late February, the Seventh Regiment was sent to Jackson, Tennessee to reinforce General P. T. G. Beauregard’s Army of Mississippi.  A grave mistake was made in coastal defense when the Third was split into two camps.  One camp was at Pass Christian with three companies and the other camp was at Handsboro with seven companies.  When General Butler landed about 1200 troops at Pass Christian on April 4, 1862, the three companies were easily over powered and retreated to Gainesville.  The seven companies at Handsboro also pulled back and marched overland to Gainesville.  I have been unable to determine if Company G was in camp at Handsboro or Pass Christian.

   Following the retreat to Gainesville, the Third returned to Pass Christian, then to New Orleans and by May 1862 were in Camp Moore in Tangipahoa, LA.  On May 29, 1862 the regiment was ordered to Vicksburg to reinforce Gen. M. L. Smith.  They were on picket duty during Admiral Farragut’s bombardment in May, June and July 1862.  They served in fortifying Sugar Loaf Hill and picket duty along the river front until ordered to Snyder’s Mill in December, 1862.

   The regiment operated on the Rolling Fork and Sunflower against Federal expeditions in March and on March 28 the Third went to Fort Pemberton, at the junction of the Tallahatchie and Yazoo.  The Federals were attempting to open a pathway through the Yazoo Pass into the Tallahatchie and then the Yazoo in an attempt to reach Vicksburg from the Yazoo River.  They were stopped at Fort Pemberton.  For more information on this expedition see Michael B. Ballard’s Civil War In Mississippi.

   At the Battle of Baker’s Creek (also known as Champion Hill) the Third did a lot of marching in an attempt to get in position until they were ordered in the afternoon to cover the retreat to Edwards.  In their attempt to find a crossing of Baker Creek the regiment was again divided.  Some of the men retreated to the fortifications of Vicksburg (about 72 men) and the larger portion of the regiment not finding a guide to the crossing turned back toward Crystal Springs and Jackson.  This group joined Joseph E. Johnston’s troops who were in Jackson rather than Vicksburg.  As part of General Johnston’s troops they confronted General Sherman’s Meridian Campaign.

   Transferring in the spring of 1864 to Alabama, the Third took part in the Atlanta Campaign against William T. Sherman’s army.  They were engaged at Resaca, New Hope Church, Kenesaw Mountain, and Peachtree Creek.  Following the fall of Atlanta, Hood’s army pulled back to Dalton, GA and to Gadsden, Alabama.  In November, 1864 the Third marched to Columbia, on to Spring Hill and then to Franklin, Tennessee where the Confederates were soundly defeated.  Defeated at Nashville, the entire army pulled back to Brentwood, then crossed the Duck River and the Tennessee River reaching Tupelo January 8, 1865.

   Ordered to the Carolinas to reinforce General Johnston, they participated in the battles of Kinston and Bentonville in March. Hostilities were suspended April 18, and the army was surrendered, near Durham Station, April 26.  

David Warden Stockstill (4 Oct 1830-21 Aug 1913) was the son of Thomas Jeremiah Stockstill and Harriet Virginia Warden and the husband of Talitha Margaret Mitchell, a daughter of Lavina West and John M. Mitchell Jr. He was a 1st Lt in the 3rd Mississippi Infantry Regiment Co. G (Gainesville Volunteers) and he is buried in the New Palestine Baptist Church Cemetery, Picayune. David Stockstill resigned his commission in October 1862 citing ill health. (Photo courtesy Mark Clinton Davis)

Rutilius Calvert Mitchell, born 30 October 1830, died 1906, buried in Red Hill Cemetery, Nicholson, MS.  Enlisted in the Gainesville Volunteers, July 17, 1861 and remained with Third Regiment Mississippi Infantry throughout the war.  Surrendered with General Taylor at Citronelle, Alabama on 4 May 1865 and paroled 18 May 1865 at Grenada, MS.  Following the war he returned to Hancock County Mississippi and lived in the surrounding area, including for a time in "Honey Island Swamp," until his death in 1906.

I learned a bit of trivia today from the Gainesville Volunteers Chapter of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. You will notice that the top of the tombstone is pointed.  The reason, I was told, is to keep Yankees from sitting on the tombstone. 

Pvt. Ben F. "Babe" Bennett, CSA

Benjamin Franklin (Babe) Bennett, PVT Co. G 3rd MS Infantry CSA 1835-1897. Bennett was the son of Pryor Bennett and Nancy Evans and the husband of Mary Jane Mitchell, a daughter of Lavina West and John M. Mitchell Jr. After her death he second married Rachel Alice Mayfield. His grave is in Cedar Grove Baptist Church Cemetery in Nicholson. (Photo courtesy of Mark Clinton Davis)

1862 Train Wreck

   On February 27, 1862 a southbound lumber train collided with a northbound troop train carrying men of Col. Edmond J. Goode’s 7^th Mississippi Infantry on their way to Jackson, Tennessee to join Braxton Bragg and the Confederate Army in Tennessee.  The 7^th Mississippi had been serving with the 3^rd Mississippi* in the defense of the coast at Bay St. Louis and Pass Christian before being sent north. The lumber train was to move onto a siding as the northbound troop train approached. However, in the early morning fog, while most of the men were sleeping the wreck occurred. The first two wooden passenger cars were completely torn apart with the wooden splinters causing death to 22 members of the 7^th and wounding many others.  Another 6 men were mortally wounded and died in the hospitals where they were treated. Ten others were seriously wounded.

   Most of the dead and many of the wounded were members of the Dahlgren Rifles of Pike Co. and the Quitman Rifles of Franklin and Amite counties. A medical team from New Orleans along with volunteers from nearby Ponchatoula

provided assistance to the injured.
   After the tracks were cleared, the 7^th continued on to Tennessee where they were engaged at Shiloh, Stones River, Chickamauga, and other battles of the Civil War as part of the Army of Tennessee.
  
   Sgt. John L. Beavers of Company I was also injured in the wreck.  Sgt. Beavers suffered a compound fracture of the right leg and was transferred to a hospital in New Orleans.  Showing his commitment to the Confederacy, Sgt. Beavers rejoined his unit in January 1863.  The Seventh Mississippi was then a part of the Army of Tennessee under General Braxton Bragg.
   However, Sgt. John L. Beavers was judged to be unable to serve in any capacity in the army and was discharged “by command of Genl. Bragg” in March 1863 as shown on the certificate of discharge.

   The fine print (actually the surgeon’s report) states that Sgt. Beavers was unable to stand for any length of time and it would be impossible for him to keep up with his infantry unit on a march.  Following his discharge, Sgt. Beavers returned to south Mississippi where he studied medicine and became a practicing physician in Wesson, Copiah County, Mississippi.  Dr. John L. Beavers died in 1916 and is buried in Wesson Cemetery, Copiah County, Mississippi.

Sources:
1.  Ponchatoula Newspaper reprint
2. Compiled Civil War Records
3. Mississippi Census and Burial records