Organized October 24, 1864 at Chattanooga; mustered out June 30, 1865, at Nashville, Tennessee.
FIELD OFFICERS
- Lieutenant Colonel-George A. Gowin.
- Major-William H. Bean.
CAPTAINS
- William H. Bean, Absalom Selcer, Co. “A”. Organized August 2, 1864, completed Oct.23, 1864.
- John P. Walker, William F. Morgan, Co. “B”.
- William Pryor, Co. “C”.
- Daniel McWilliam, Co. “D”.
- George W. Heard, Co. “E”.
- William Hughes, Co. “F”.
- 1st Lieutenant Andrew M. Payne, Co. “G”. Organized February 20, 1865, at Pikeville, Tennessee mustered in at Nashville.
The report of Adjutant General J. P. Brownlow, State of Tennessee, states this regiment was employed by Major General James B. Steedman, Commanding District of the Etowah, with headquarters at Chattanooga, in scouting the Cumberland Mountains in Tennessee and North Georgia after the numerous guerrilla bands which infested the region.
The first mention of the regiment in the Official Records was dated November 30, 1864, at the time when General Steedman, with the major portion of his command, was preparing to join Major General George H. Thomas for the defense of Nashville against General Hood’s invasion. On this date, Lieutenant Colonel Gowin was ordered to send 130 men at daybreak on December 1 to Cleveland, Tennessee, where they were to report to Colonel Boughton, commanding the post.
No further mention of the regiment was found until January 21, 1865, when General Steedman, back at Chattanooga, reported he had sent Gowin’s 6th Tennessee Mounted Infantry toward Summerville, Georgia, via LaFayette. On February 2, at Ringgold, Georgia, Colonel Gowin reported the previous night he had attacked the guerrilla leader, Gatewood, with 75 men in McLemore’s Cove, killing 14, and routing the remainder with the loss of most of their horses and arms.
On March 11, 1865, the regiment was directed to report, by letter, to Major General Steedman, Commanding District of the Etowah. In April, 80 men, under Major Bean, were reported as part of an expedition to Dalton and Spring Place, Georgia, and to the Coosawattie River, lasting from April 1-4, in the course of which there were several skirmishes with guerrillas.
Brownlow’s report states the regiment was placed under Brigadier General H. M. Judah, Commanding 1st Brigade, 2nd Division, with headquarters at Decatur, Georgia, about the last of March, where it was employed in scouting until the surrender of the Confederate army at Greensboro, North Carolina, and then moved to Resaca, Georgia, where its men were employed as couriers along the railroad to Atlanta. On June 18, 1865, the regiment was ordered to Nashville, and was mustered out June 30, 1865.