Publisher's Synopsis
The Mississippi 48th Infantry Regiment was organized in November, 1862, at Fredericksburg, Virginia, using the 2nd Mississippi Infantry Battalion as its nucleus. Many of the men were from Jackson, Yalobusha, Warren, and Claiborne counties. It served in Featherston's, Posey's, and Harris' Brigade and fought with the Army of Northern Virginia from Fredericksburg to Cold Harbor. The 48th was then active in the Petersburg siege south of the James River and the Appomattox Campaign. It sustained 4 casualties at Fredericksburg, had 10 killed and 44 wounded at Chancellorsville, and twelve percent of the 256 engaged at Gettysburg were disabled. The regiment surrendered 11 officers and 87 men.This book shows what the war was really like for the men who fought and the families who waited and prayed in Mississippi. While the fictionalized accounts of The Help by Katherine Stockett and The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson provide a romantic view of the war, Frank H. Foote of Company F of the 48th shares the real story."Our line to our rear was swarming with fugitives, many of whom we induced to remain with us and help defend the works if necessary. Others too badly demoralized to listen to duty, moved off in disregard of our taunts. Many of them presented a pitiable sight as dazed, and uncertain of what had occured, they recounted the improbabilities of the explosion. No doubt wonderful escapes were had; bordering on exaggeration, and improbable. A tall, slabsided son of Carolina, in a woeful voice described to us, as he rested within our lines, of the effect of the 'blow up.' He said 'he was cooking coffee, having arisen early according to orders; when all at once the ground all around him heaved up, and he saw and felt the fire and heat as it rushed by him, scorching him badly; he was thrown into the air, and fell into a pile of debris, but had sense enough to keep kicking, thus warding off much of the falling earth. Beside him lay a soldier with the upper part of his body buried, his legs sticking out, and working in vain efforts to get out; his sufferings soon ended, as death by suffocation ensued."The 48th Mississippi is also recognized as initiating the Rebel Yell. Foote gives this account. "That yell was born in strife, amid the crash of bursting shells, crash of cannon; roll of musketry, the ping of the minie ball and the speed of a bullet as it found a human mark. The savage smell of exploding gunpowder, the scream of agony of the maimed, the dashing charge, the rout and pursuit," these all contributed to the making of the yell now so closely identified to Confederate annals.CompaniesCompany A -- Jackson Boys (raised in Hinds County, MS) [attached to the 26th Virginia Infantry]Company B -- Rocky Point Rifles, aka Rocky Point Rifle Company (raised in Attala County, MS)Company C -- Blewett's Company, aka Blewett's Rifles, & aka "The Blewett's" (raised in Lowndes County, MS)Company D -- Dixie Boys (raised in Yalobusha County, MS)Company E -- King Cotton Guards (raised in Warren County, MS)Company F -- Claiborne Volunteers (raised in Claiborne County, MS)Company G -- Jefferson Davis Guards, Jeff Davis Guards, & aka Manlove's Company (raised in Warren County, MS)Company H -- Vicksburg Volunteers (raised in Warren County, MS)Company I -- Wilkinson Guards, aka Capt. J.E. Martin's Company (raised in Wilkinson County, MS) [was also attached to the 4th/34th Tennessee Infantry]Company K -- Capt. J.H. Fields' Company (raised in Lowndes County, MS) [subsequently became Co. F, 8th Confederate Cavalry]Company L -- Oktibbeha Reserve [or "Oktibbeha Rescue" -- records not clear], aka Capt. Joel P. Rogers' Company (raised in Oktibbeha County, MS) [also known as Co. K]
