3rd Missouri Infantry Regiment (Confederate)

On February 12, 1862, the regiment left Springfield for Cove Creek, Arkansas due to Union pressure against Springfield. The 3rd Missouri Infantry saw some action as a rear guard unit during the retreat. On March 3, the regiment left Cove Creek as part of a Confederate advance against a Union force that was in the Pea Ridge, Arkansas area.[2] During the Battle of Pea Ridge on March 7 and 8, the regiment was in the First Missouri Brigade, which was commanded by Colonel Lewis Henry Little. Also in Little's Brigade were the 2nd Missouri Infantry Regiment, Wade's Missouri Battery, Clark's Missouri Battery, and the 1st Missouri Cavalry Regiment.[3] During the morning of March 7, the division of Major General Sterling Price, which contained Little's Brigade, encountered Union troops near a position known as Cross Timber Hollow. Little's Brigade was deployed in line; the 3rd Missouri Infantry was assigned a line of advance along Telegraph Road, which ran through the area.[4] In the afternoon, Little's Brigade would be part of an attack made against a Union line arrayed around the Elkhorn Tavern. During the fighting, Colonel Rives moved to the front of the 3rd Missouri Infantry, leading a successful charge.[5] However, the attacking lines became disorganized, and the forward movement of the charge was eventually stopped.[6] On March 8, a Union cannonade forced the 3rd Missouri Infantry back from an exposed position in an open field to a more protected one in some woods.[7] A Union counterattack then drove in the right flank of Little's Brigade. The brigade, including the 3rd Missouri Infantry, then retreated from the field.[8] Colonel Rives had been mortally wounded on either the 7th[9] or the 8th[10]; Pritchard took over command of the regiment in Rives' stead.[9][lower-alpha 2] The regiment's losses at Pea Ridge are variously reported as either 104 (26 killed, 45 wounded, and 33 missing)[11] or 117 (39 killed, 45 wounded, and 33 missing).[12]

After the defeat at Pea Ridge, the regiment fell back to the Van Buren, Arkansas area. In late March, the regiment transferred to Des Arc, Arkansas. Crossing the Mississippi River, the regiment reached Memphis, Tennessee on April 7, but was soon sent to Corinth, Mississippi. On May 5, while at Corinth, a roll call was performed, determining that 450 men of the regiment were present for duty. On May 9, the regiment was present at the Battle of Farmington, Mississippi, but did not see much action. In late May, the Confederates evacuated Corinth, and the 3rd Missouri Infantry spent the summer stationed at various points in northern Mississippi. At the Battle of Iuka on September 19, the regiment experienced artillery fire, but did not enter the main action.[12]

At the Second Battle of Corinth on October 3 and 4, the 3rd Missouri Infantry was part of Colonel Elijah Gates' brigade of Brigadier General Louis Hébert's division. The other units of Gates' Brigade were the 16th Arkansas Infantry Regiment, 2nd Missouri Infantry Regiment, 5th Missouri Infantry Regiment, the 1st Missouri Cavalry Regiment, and Wade's Missouri Battery.[13] On October 3, Gates' Brigade reinforced Brigadier General Martin E. Green's brigade in a charge against a stubborn Union line, but only the 2nd Missouri Infantry of Gates' Brigade saw heavy action.[14] However, even with Gates' Brigade in good shape, Price determined not to attempt a large-scale assault against the interior Union lines on the 3rd.[15] On October 4, Gates' Brigade and Green's Brigade (now commanded by W. H. Moore) began as assault against the interior Union works around 10:00 a.m.[16] The target of Gates' Brigade was a fortification known as Battery Powell.[17] The 3rd Missouri Infantry clashed with the 52nd Illinois Infantry Regiment, defeating the Union regiment. However, Colonel Pritchard was shot in the shoulder and had to be carried off the field; Major Hubbell took command of the regiment. The wound proved to be mortal.[18] Gates' Brigade was able to capture Battery Powell.[19] A Union counterattack was able to drive Gates' Brigade from the field. Hubbell reported that most of the 3rd Missouri Infantry broke and routed during the retreat.[20] The regiment lost 92 men at Second Corinth. Lieutenant Colonel Gause took over the regiment permanently after the battle.[21]

In early 1863, the regiment was transferred to the Big Black River, where it guarded a bridge. In March, the regiment moved to Grand Gulf, Mississippi, where the men built fortifications. On April 5, the 3rd Missouri Infantry was moved across the Mississippi River into Louisiana, where it conducted reconnaissance before being transferred back to Grand Gulf in the middle of the month.[22] At the Battle of Grand Gulf on April 29, the 3rd Missouri Infantry defended a line of rifle pits that extended between the two main Confederate fortifications.[23] The unit's position at Grand Gulf allowed the men to shoot through the portholes of the Union Navy ships shelling the Confederate position.[24] The regiment lost one man killed and three wounded at Grand Gulf.[22]

At the Battle of Port Gibson on May 1, the 3rd Missouri Infantry, along with the 5th Missouri Infantry, supported the Confederate left flank. The two regiments remained in reserve for much of the early fighting.[25] In the early afternoon, when the Confederate left was in danger of breaking, the two regiments were sent to assault the Union right flank.[26] However, Union leadership noticed the threat and sent troops to support the area where they expected the attack to fall. The attack fell upon Union brigades commanded by Colonel James R. Slack and Brigadier General George F. McGinnis. The Union line was also accompanied by five artillery batteries.[27] A canebrake provided cover for the Confederate attack. Despite initial success, the weight of superior Union numbers and effective Union artillery fire drove the Confederates back to the cover of a creek bank.[28] After two hours, the two regiments began to run low on ammunition and were ordered to withdraw. However, the attack had bought valuable time for the main Confederate line to regroup.[29] One historian reports the 3rd Missouri Infantry's Port Gibson casualties as 24,[22], while another has estimated that the 3rd and 5th Missouri suffered a combined total in excess of 200 casualties.[30]

At the Battle of Champion Hill on May 16, Company G of the 3rd Missouri Infantry was detached from the regiment as part of a unit of skirmishers drawn from the various regiments of the First Missouri Brigade. Hubbell, who was by then a lieutenant colonel, commanded the battalion.[31] Later in the battle, the Confederate left was severely threatened by Union assaults, and the First Missouri Brigade was sent to shore up the failing line. The brigade's right flank was exposed, and the rightmost regiment, the 5th Missouri Infantry, was forced to fall back. That movement in turn exposed the flank of the 3rd Missouri Infantry, which also fell back.[32] After regrouping, the two regiments made a successful counterattack to regain the line of their former positions.[33] The entire brigade then made a charge against the main Union position, capturing a crossroads and Champion Hill, two keys battlefield landmarks. Hubbell was mortally wounded by a shot through the arm during the charge.[34] However, Union reinforcements and massed artillery fire first stopped, and then repulsed, the charge. The men of the First Missouri Brigade, including the 3rd Missouri Infantry, fell back from the ground they had taken.[35] The regiment lost 143 men as casualties at Champion Hill, including 36 killed.[22]

On May 17, the First Missouri Brigade was used as part of a rear guard holding the crossing of the Big Black River. However, a Union charge broke the Confederate line and routed the defenders.[22][36] The regiment then entered the defenses work at Vicksburg, Mississippi, which were put under siege by Union forces.[22] The 3rd Missouri Infantry was used as a reserve when Union forces attack the Confederate line on May 19.[37] On May 22, the men of the regiment manned the Confederate line at a point known as the Stockade Redan. The regiment, as well as other elements of the First Missouri Brigade, fought off Union attacks against the position. Many of the attacking Union soldiers were also Missourians, including the men of the 6th Missouri Infantry Regiment, 8th Missouri Infantry Regiment, and the 11th Missouri Infantry Regiment. When the attack failed, a number of Union soldiers were trapped in a ditch in front of the Confederate position. One soldier of the 3rd Missouri Infantry asked the Union soldier if they wanted to surrender. When the men refused to surrender, the Confederate soldier then threw a cannonball at the men, striking one in the face. When the Union soldiers still refused to surrender, men of the 3rd Missouri Infantry secured a number of artillery shells, lit the fuses, and then threw the explosive shells into the Union position as homemade hand grenades.[38]

The regiment saw further action repulsing Union assaults in June and July, but it was frequently used as a reserve unit. By the time the Confederate garrison of Vicksburg surrendered on July 4, the regiment had suffered 55 casualties during the siege. After the capitulation, the survivors of the regiment were paroled, although about 100 men deserted the regiment. The men of the regiment then moved to Demopolis, Alabama and were exchanged on September 12. On October 6, the regiment was combined with the 5th Missouri Infantry to form the 3rd and 5th Missouri Infantry Regiment (Consolidated); the 3rd Missouri Infantry ceased to exist as a separate unit.[39]