Originally and usually called 2nd Tennessee Cavalry Regiment. Also 2nd Tennessee Cavalry Battalion
Organized June, 1862; reorganized June, 1863; reorganized May 10, 1864; consolidated February, 1865 with 21st (Wilson’s) and paroled May, 1865 as 21st and 22nd Consolidated Regiment.
Colonel C. R. Barteau, on a muster roll, not dated, but evidently in 1864, gave the following account of the confusion surrounding the organization of this regiment, which is typical of that of many other cavalry organizations: “I have stated that the regiment was organized June 6, 1863, but it is almost impossible to determine what is the proper date. It was organized and designated as the 2nd Tennessee Cavalry Regiment by Brigadier General Beall, June 13, 1862, with seven companies present, and three (not known) which he had ordered to report to it. He was immediately relieved of the cavalry command, the three companies did not report, and the regiment remained with seven companies until June 6, 1863, when three companies were added to it by Brigadier General Ruggles. I dated the organization of the regiment from this period, for the three companies (Captain Gurthay’s Alabama Company, Captain Carpenter’s Mississippi Company, and Captain Morphis’s Tennessee Company, which were added by General Ruggles) did not report until the Alabama Company was again transferred by Brigadier General Ferguson to Colonel Boyle’s Alabama Regiment, and the other two companies, which were operating near the Tennessee-Mississippi line, were allowed to go into other commands (during the time I was not in command of the regiment from July 12, 1863 until December 16). The regiment is not officially known at Richmond; no appointments have been made to it from the War Department. The original order of the organization was not forwarded by General Beall. He was captured at Port Hudson, and the original muster rolls, as well as the original order has been lost. No record of the organization of June 13, 1862 exists. At that time no organization less than a regiment could be received at Richmond. Captain N. Oswell dropped from (report torn) by order Brigadier General Ferguson and not yet returned from West
To this may be added the information that the original seven companies were a consolidation of 1st (MeNairy’s) Battalion and 7th (Bennett’s) Battalion (q.v.) In May, 1864, Brigadier General A. Buford assigned three more companies to complete the regiment, and finally on February 15, 1865, the War Department directed: “The organization of Barteau’s Tennessee Cavalry Regiment made by the addition of the companies commanded by Captain 0. B. Fans, S. H. Reeves and B. Edwards by order of Brigadier General A. Buford is hereby confirmed to date from the 10th day of May, 1864. It will be known as the 22nd Tennessee Cavalry Regiment.”
FIELD OFFICERS
- Colonel-Clark R. Barteau
- Lieutenant Colonel-George H. Morton
- Majors-William Parrish, O. B. Farris
CAPTAINS
- Nicholas Oswell, Co. “A”. A consolidation of “A” and “B”, McNairy’s Battalion.
- William Parrish (to major), Thomas B. Underwood, Co. “B”. A consolidation of “C” and “D”, McNairy’s Battalion.
- Moses W. McKnight, Co. “C”. Formerly Co. “E”, McNairy’s Battalion.
- W. T. Rickman, Co. “D”. A consolidation of “A” and “C”, 7th Battalion.
- Christopher L. Bennett, William A. DeBow, Co. “E”. Formerly Co. “B”, 7th Battalion.
- Micajah Griffin, John A. Brinkley, Co. “F”. Formerly “D”, 7th Battalion.
- Thomas Puryear, Jonathan M. Eastes, Co. “G”. A consolidation of “E” and “F”, 7th Battalion.
- These were the original seven companies.
CAPTAINS
- A. J. Guttery, 1st Co. “H”. An Alabama company assigned June 6, 1863, and assigned to 56th Alabama Cavalry as Co. “L”. No muster rolls of this regiment were found for Carpenter’s and Morphis’s companies. Morphis’s Company served as 2nd Co. “I”, 15th (Stewart’s) Tennessee Cavalry (1st organization), and later in the 3rd (Forrest’s Old) Regiment.
The companies assigned in May, 1864 by General Buford were:
CAPTAINS
- B. Edwards, 2nd Co. “H”. Men from Gibson, Obion and Weakley Counties.Samuel H. Reeves, Co. “I”. Organized December 1, 1863 at Newbern, Dyer County of men from Gibson and Obion County.
- Oliver B. Farris, Co. “K”. Organized December 1, 1863 at Newbern, Dyer County of men from Obion County.
- Barteau served as lieutenant colonel until June, 1863, when he was appointed colonel. Parrish resigned in April, 1864, and Captain B. Farris succeeded him as major.
The regiment for most of the war was stationed in North Mississippi. A report from Co. “A” dated October 30, 1862 at Guntown, Mississippi said: “It has from constant service been so reduced until at the present it is totally unfit for duty. It has changed commanders so often it is almost totally devoid of discipline.” Other company reports told of constant outpost duty, scouting and picketing, and also of being with Brigadier General Frank Armstrong on his raid into West Tennessee beginning August 22, 1862, with engagements at Medon Station, September 1, Britton’s Lane and Denmark, September 21, 1862. After this expedition, the regiment was with Brigadier General Sterling Price in the campaign around Iuka and Corinth, Missisppi in October 1862.
On January 31, 1863, the regiment was ported in Brigadier General Daniel Ruggles’ 1st Mississippi District; and on March 6, General Ruggles, in reporting on the condition of his forces, said: “Lieutenant Colonel Barteau’s troops are miserably armed, deficient in numbers, with not even ammunition sufficient for a skirmish.” On March 20, he reported Barteau’s Regiment had 235 to 315 men fit for duty.
On April 21, at Palo Alto, Mississippi, the regiment was part of a force under General S. J. Gholson which met and defeated the 2nd Iowa Cavalry, and pursued it to near Birmingham. On May 5, at King’s Creek, near Tupelo, still with General Gholson, the regiment was mentioned in Federal reports as being engaged in a skirmish at that point.
On May 8, Bishop Paine, in a letter to President Jefferson Davis, reporting on conditions in North Mississippi, listed ”Barteau’s regiment, 540, 40 with horses, principally armed with shotguns.” On May 17, a detachment under Captain Puryear was involved in a skirmish near Albany, Mississippi, and Lieutenant Anderson H. French was commended by General Ruggles for conspicuous gallantry.
On August 27, 1863, the regiment was reported in Brigadier General S. W. Ferguson’s Brigade at Okolona, Mississippi, along with the 2nd Alabama, 56th Alabama and 12th Mississippi Regiments. Barteau’s regiment reported an aggregate of 548 on roll. It moved with General Ferguson to Courtland, Alabama in October, 1863, and en route, was engaged at Fulton, Mississippi on October 25. In reporting on this engagement, General Ferguson said: “Lieutenant Colonel Morton is due more than a passing tribute. He led his gallant band with a cool skill and determination, admirable in the extreme.”
The regiment remained in Ferguson’s Brigade, Chalmers’ Division, until January 26, 1864, when it was ordered to report to Major General N. B. Forrest, who had assumed command of the cavalry forces in North Mississippi. In Forrest’s first move to reorganize his command on January 25, 1864, he placed Barteau’s Regiment in Colonel (later Brigadier General) T. H. Bell’s Brigade, along with Russell’s, Greer’s, Newsom’s, and Wilson’s Regiments. All of these, except Barteau’s, were irregular organizations raised during the fall of 1863 in West Tennessee. All of them, again with the exception of Barteau’s, were shortly after consolidated and reorganized by General Forrest. On March 7, Bell’s Brigade, of Brigadier General A. Buford’s Division, was organized with Barteau’s Regiment, 2Oth (Russell’s) and 21st (Wilson’s) Regiments. These regiments, with later additions, remained in Bell’s Brigade until the end.
The regiment was with General Forrest in his running battle with the force under Major General William Sooy Smith, which ended in the latter’s total defeat in the Battle of Tishomingo Creek, or Brice’s Crossroads, February 20-21-22, 1864. Reporting on the fighting on the 22nd, Forrest wrote: “About 300 men of the 2nd Tennessee Cavalry, under Colonel Barteau, and the 7th Tennessee Cavalry, Colonel Duckworth, received repeated charges from seven regiments of the enemy in the open field, and drove them back time after time, capturing three stands of colors and one piece of artillery.”
The regiment took part in the capture of Fort Pillow on April 12, 1864, where Bell’s brigade was placed temporarily under the command of Brigadier General I. R. Chalmers. Its next major engagement was the Battle of Harrisburg, July 13-15, 1864. Here the brigade had been increased by the addition of the 18th (Newsom’s) Tennessee Cavalry Regiment. Barteau’s Regiment suffered 66 casualties, including Colonel Barteau, who was wounded and furloughed.
It was with General Forrest on his raid into Middle Tennessee, beginning with the capture of Athens, Alabama on September 24, and ending with the recrossing of the Tennessee River October 8, 1864. As part of Buford’s Division, it took part in General Hood’s invasion of Tennessee in November 1864, and withdrew into Mississippi again, after this campaign ended in disaster at Nashville.
On February 13, 1865, General Forrest ordered all the Tennessee forces in his command to report to Brigadier General W. H. Jackson, for consolidation into six regiments. As a result of this order the regiment was consolidated with the 21st (Wilson’s) Regiment to form the 21st and 22nd Consolidated Tennessee Cavalry Regiment. On May 3, 1865, still in BelUs Brigade, the consolidated regiment reported 31 officers, 317 men present for duty, 260 effectives, 423 aggregate present, 641 aggregate present and absent.
The consolidated regiment was paroled at Gainesville, Alabama in May, 1865.
This unit history was extracted from Tennesseans in the Civil War, Vol 1. Copyrighted 1964 by the Civil War Centennial Commission of Tennessee and is published here with their permission. This history may not be republished for any reason without the written permission of the copyright owner.