Confederate Units from Gibson County,Tennessee

Organized May 15,1861 in Provisional Army of Tennessee: transferred to Confederate service August,1861; reorganized April 25,1862; consolidated with the 5th Tennessee Infantry Regiment in December,1862; formed part of Company D,3rd Consolidated Tennessee Infantry Regiment April 9,1865;paroled in Greensboro,North Carolina May 1,1865.

Of the field officers,Colonel Neely died in May,1862,Colonel Strahl was promoted to brigadier general in July 1863 and Major Henry was killed at Shiloh in April of 1862.

The regiment was organized at Germantown,Shelby County,and immediately after organization moved to Randolph,Tennessee,where it served in the River Brigade,under Brigadier General John Sneed,Provisional Army of Tennessee.On July 18, it moved to Fort Pillow,where it was accepted into Confederate service on August 16,1861.

The regiment was placed in a brigade commanded by Colonel Neely along with the 12th Louisiana Infantry.The brigade moved to Columbus,Kentucky on September 5,1861,where it was in Major General John McCowan's Division.It spent the fall and winter in the area around Columbus,Kentucky,New Madrid, Missouri and Island No.10,but after the fall of Fort Donelson was ordered to Corinth,Mississippi,arrving April 2,1862,with 512 men present for action.

In the Battle of Shiloh,April 6-7 1862,the regiment was in Brigadier General Charles Clark's Division,Brigadier General Alexander P.Stewart's Brigade,composed of the 13th Arkansas,the 4th,5th and 33rd Tennessee Infantry Regiment's,and a Mississippi battery.The regiment was on the extreme right of the brigade,and was commended for valiant action in storming and capturing a Federal battery.Colonel Neely and Lieutenant Colonel Strahl also recieved individual commendation.In this charge the regiment lost 191 men killed and wounded.Its total loss for the two days in killed and wounded amounted to almost half its effective force.

The regiment was reorganized after the Battle of Shiloh,with Otho French Strahl as colonel.With the army,it went through the seige of Corinth,the withdrawl to Tueplo,and the subsequent move to Chattanooga, via Mobile and Montgomery,Alabama.On August 17,1862,the march to Kentucky was begun,the route being through Sparta,Pikeville,and Gainesboro,Tennessee,to Munfordville,Kentucky,which was captured September 19,1862.In this campaign the brigade had been increased by the addition of the 24th and 31st Tennessee Infantry Regiments.

There followed the Battle of Perryville,Kentucky on October 8,1862, in which the regiment had 85 casualties,nearly half the total engaged. The retreat from Kentucky led through Knoxville,Tennessee,Bridgeport, Alabama,Tullahoma,Tennessee,to Murfreesboro,Tennessee.

At Murfreesboro,both the 4th and 5th Tennessee Regiments had become greatly reduced in numbers that they were consolidated for field purposes to form the 4th/5th Consolidated Tennessee Infantry Regiment. Separate muster rolls were maintained through April 1864,after which the combined units were mustered as one unit.From the Fourth,Companies A and F formed Captain Gilchrist's Company;B and K,Captain J.W. Lauderdale's Company;C and H,Captain W.T.Cargil's Company;D and E, Captain Onley's Company;and G and I,Captain John T.Barrett's Company. Colonel Strahl of the 4th,and later Colonel Jonathan Lamb of the 5th commanded the regiment.

In the Battle of Murfreesboro,beginning December 31,1862,the 4th/5th again formed the right wing of Stewart's Brigade,and played their part in the capture of the Federal artillery captured by the brigade.

On January 3,1863,it withdrew to Shelbyville,where it did outpost duty at Guy's Gap until June 28,1863,when the retreat to Chattanooga began. On July 28,1863 Colonel Strahl was promoted to brigadier general,and took command of the brigade that was henceforth known as Strahl's Brigade.The brigade at this time was composed of the 4th/5th,19th 24th,31st and 33rd Tennessee Infantry Regiments.

In the Battle of Chickamauga,September 19 and 20 1863,the brigade was in Cheatham's Division of Polk's Corps.At Missionary Ridge,November 26,1863,the brigade was in Stewart's Division,Major General John C. Breckinridge's Corps.By this time the 24th was no longer in the brigade. The 4th/5th was posted in the rifle pits,in rear of the 31st and 33rd, who were deployed as skirmishers.Driven back to the summit of the ridge, Strahl's Brigade held the line until both flanks were turned,and it was forced to retreat.

The brigade helped cover the retreat to Dalton,Georgia,where it went into winterquaters until May 7,1864.From then on,the 4th/5th was under fire for 60 of the next 71 days,almost constantly fighting in the campaign from Dalton to Atlanta,to Jonesboro,Georgia.Engagements mentioned were Dug Gap,Mill Creek Gap,Resaca,Ellsbury Mountain,Kennesaw Mountain, where they were in the famous "Dead Angle",the seige of Atlanta,and the Battle of Jonesboro.

From Jonesboro,the regiment marched back to Tennessee with General John Bell Hood.In October,it had reached the Tennessee River;it was at Spring Hill,November 29,and at Franklin November 31.In this battle the regiment planted its colors upon the main Federal works,but at a terrible cost.In this charge,brigade commander General Otho F. Strahl was killed.

At Nashville,Decenber 15,1864 the regiment was in the Granny White Pike area.When the lines were broken it retreated via the Franklin Pike to Brentwood.As part of the brigade ,they were in the force under Major General Edward Walthall,which cooperated with General Nathan Forrest's Cavalry Corps in covering the retreat of the army to the Tennessee River.

Once across the river,the army moved to Corinth,Mississippi,where on January 5,1865 the regiment was furloughed for 30 days with orders to assemble at West Point,Mississippi,which almost to a man they did. The regiment reached General Joseph Johnston on the field at Bentonville, North Carolina on March 19,1865.

In the final reorganization of Johnston's Army on April 9,1865,the 4th,5th,19th,24th,31st,33rd,35th,38th,41st Tennessee Infantry Regiments, and a few men from Murray's 22nd Tennessee Infantry Battalion formed the 3rd Consolidated Tennessee Infantry Regiment.Its field officers were Colonel James D.Tillman,Lieutenant Colonel Luke Finlay,and Major G.S.Deakin.The 4th/5th formed Company D of the consolidated regiment under Captain John Chapman.As such they were surrendered April 26,1865 at Greensboro,North Carolina,paroled May 1,and started their long journey home,by way of Ashville,North Carolina,Greenville,Chattanooga, and Nashville,thence by boat down the Cumberland and Ohio Rivers,and up the Tennessee River to their homes in West Tennessee.