Also called 2nd Tennessee Infantry Battalion
Organized January, 1863; field consolidation with 38th Tennessee Infantry Regiment; paroled Greensboro, North Carolina, May 1, 1865, as part of 3rd Consolidated Tennessee Infantry Regiment.
This battalion was formed by the addition of five companies which had been organized in September and October, 1862 to four companies which had previously served in the 4th (John P. Murray’s) Tennessee Cavalry Regiment, which was disbanded in January, 1863. T. B. Murray was formerly lieutenant colonel of the 16th Tennessee Infantry Regiment, and was frequently referred to as lieutenant colonel of the 22nd Infantry Battalion. However, his official rank seems to have been major of the 22nd Infantry Battalion.
FIELD OFFICER
- Major-Thomas B. Murray
CAPTAINS
- Thomas E. Taylor, Co. “A”. Organized October 1, 1862 at McMinnville. Men from White County.
- James S. Gribble, Co. “B”. Organized October 1, 1862 at McMinnville. Men from White County.
- James M. Freiley, Co. “C”. Organized September 10, 1862 at Pikeville, Bledsoe County.
- John W. Bass, Co. “D”. Organized November 26, 1862 at McMinnville, Warren County.
This company was incomplete, and March 28, 1863 was ordered disbanded the men distributed to other companies, the order was apparently not carried out.
- M. B. Wood, Co. “E”. Organized September 25, 1862 in Van Buren County.
- Oliver P. Schooffield, Co. “F”. Organized July 31, 1862 at Pikeville, Bledsoe County. Formerly Company “K”, 4th Tennessee Cavalry Regiment.
- Ephraim Hixson, Co. “G”. Organized August 28, 1862 at Pikeville, Bledsoe County. Formerly Co. “G”, 4th Tennessee Cavalry Regiment.
- M. A. Christian, Co. “H”. Organized October 2, 1862 at Mill Creek, Putnam County. Formerly Co. “B”, 4th Tennessee Cavalry Regiment.
- R. J. C. Gailbreath, Co. “K”. Organized August 22, 1862 at Dixon Springs, Smith County. Formerly Co. “E”, 4th Tennessee Cavalry Regiment.
- There was no Company “I”.
The battalion joined the Army of Tennessee at Shelbyville, after the Battle of Murfreesboro, and was placed in Lieutenant General Leonidas Polk’s Corps, Major General B. F. Cheatham’s Division, Brigadier General Marcus J. Wright’s Brigade, which consisted of the 8th, 16th, 28th, 38th, 51st Tennessee Infantry Regiments, and the 22nd Battalion plus Carnes’s Battery.
Company reports for January, February, March, and April, 1863 for Companies “F” and “G” were signed by Major Murray, with the note, “These reports are not signed in the usual way because the officers of the company are Absent Without Leave.”
The battalion retreated with the army to Chattanooga in July, 1863, when Major Murray and some of the company officers were detached by General Bragg for recruiting and mounting the battalion. The battalion was consolidated into a field unit with the 38th Tennessee Infantry Regiment, but separate muster rolls were maintained for a while. Later the consolidation seems to have been made permanent, for the 22nd Battalion disappears from the records, and some members of the battalion were paroled as members of the 38th Regiment when the end came.
A report from Company “A” for July-August, 1863 at Chattanooga, stated “we have had an aggregate of 104 men. Officers of the company on detached service getting the men together at Kingston in order to have them remounted.” Company “D” reported an aggregate of 83 men, with the same note as to company officers. The last report from any company of the battalion was dated September 26, 1864 at Palmetto, Georgia, and stated “The battalion has been in all engagements from Rocky Face, Georgia, to Jonesboro, Georgia, August 31, 1864.” For further details, refer to the history of the 38th Tennessee Infantry Regiment, with which the battalion served throughout the war.
Federal reports show “Lieutenant Colonel” T. B. Murray late in 1863 and early 1864 in command of a mounted guerrilla force operating in Tennessee. These were probably recruits for the battalion, but no record has been found to show that they were united with the battalion. Some of the officers were dropped from the rolls as being absent without leave. “Lieutenant Colonel” Murray himself was captured in February, 1864, but must have been exchanged and rejoined the battalion some time later, as he was granted a furlough by General Joseph E. Johnston in April 1865.
The battalion is not accounted for in the order of battle for General Joseph E. Johnston’s Army at Smithfield, North Carolina, March 31, 1865, nor in the final reorganization on April 9, 1865. However, the 38th Tennessee Infantry Regiment was paroled as part of the 3rd Consolidated Tennessee Infantry Regiment, and examination of the muster rolls show that some members of the 22nd Battalion were paroled as members of the 38th Infantry Regiment.
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.