The Sixteenth Mississippi Infantry: Civil War Letters and Reminiscences

394 Pages·2002·2.566 MB·English

by  Robert G. Evans

he 16th
T
ississippi nfantry
M I
FlagoftheSixteenthMississippiInfantryRegiment,ArmyofNorthernVirginia.
Handwrittenintheupperquadrantistheinscription,‘‘ThroughGodweshalldo
valiantlyforHeisthatshalltreadonourenemies.’’PhotocourtesyofNormanB.
Gillis,Jr.
The 16th
Mississippi Infantry
Civil War Letters and Reminiscences
✩ ✩
Robert G. Evans
Compiled and Edited by
University Press of Mississippi /Jackson
www.upress.state.ms.us
Copyright(cid:2)2002byUniversityPressofMississippi
Allrightsreserved
ManufacturedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
10 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 4 3 2 1
(cid:3)(cid:2)
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
The16thMississippiInfantry:CivilWarlettersandreminiscences/compiledandeditedby
RobertG.Evans.
p. cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferences(p.)andindex.
ISBN1-57806-486-4(cloth:alk.paper)
1.ConfederateStatesofAmerica.Army.MississippiInfantryRegiment,16th. 2.
Mississippi—History—CivilWar,1861–1865—Personalnarratives. 3.United
States—History—CivilWar,1861–1865—Personalnarratives,Confederate. 4.
Mississippi—History—CivilWar,1861–1865—Regionalhistories. 5.United
States—History—CivilWar,1861–1865—Regimentalhistories. 6.
Soldiers—Mississippi—Correspondence.7.Soldiers—Mississippi—Diaries.8.
Soldiers—Mississippi—Biography.I.Title:SixteenthMississippiInfantry.II.Evans,RobertG.,
1949–.
E568.516th.A23 2002
973.7’462—dc21 2002001737
BritishLibraryCataloging-in-PublicationDataavailable
ForBret,Bethany,Zachary,andDylan
—sotheywillknow
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ontents
C
Preface xi
Acknowledgments xiii
Introduction xvii
TheWriters xxi
Chapter1
‘‘Acommonenthusiasmandeagernessforthefray...’’ 3
Chapter2
‘‘WhattheYankeesdon’tkillwilldieofdisease...’’ 12
Chapter3
‘‘We...fearnodanger’’ 32
Chapter4
‘‘...haveyouallwinkedout?’’ 52
Chapter5
‘‘...deludedvictimsofNorthernfanaticism...’’ 71
Chapter6
‘‘...aregularwarofextermination’’ 84
Chapter7
‘‘...weswepteverythingbeforeus’’ 100
viii Contents
Chapter8
‘‘...alittletowninMaryland’’ 111
Chapter9
‘‘Thevalleyisstrewedwithblue...’’ 121
Chapter10
‘‘Everythingwearssuchacheeringaspect...’’ 132
Chapter11
‘‘...enoughtomaketheOldMasterweep’’ 146
Chapter12
‘‘...ahardfightinPennsylvania...’’ 166
Chapter13
‘‘...notverypleasantwork,butithastobedone’’ 188
Chapter14
‘‘...wemusttakeitthebestwecan’’ 208
Chapter15
‘‘...themenwouldn’tcometotime’’ 221
Chapter16
‘‘...wewillhaveotherfishtofryinadayortwo’’ 231
Chapter17
‘‘...theplacereceivedtheappellationBloodyBend’’ 247
Chapter18
‘‘...amancannotbetoogoodtodieforhishome,hiscountry’’ 264
Chapter19
‘‘Miningandblowingupisallthetalk...’’ 272
Chapter20
‘‘...dailytherewasalistofcasualties’’ 283
Contents ix
Chapter21
‘‘...FortGreggwillneverbesurrendered’’ 293
Chapter22
‘‘...thelossofall—savehonor’’ 304
Postscripts 309
Notes 313
Bibliography 343
Index 353