Thomas Jefferson Crocker In Mississippi

Regimental History: 37th/34th/24th Mississippi Volunteer Infantry, CSA

Is pretty much the standard text for that state’s Civil War unit histories. Dunbar gives the following history for the 34th Mississippi:

The 34th Mississippi was originally known as the 37th. Many of its men were from Tippah and Marshall Counties. It was organized 19-Apr-1862 under the command of Samuel Benton, a Holly Springs attorney, who would lead the regiment until being injured on 22-Jul-1864 during the Battle of Atlanta. He lost his right leg, was promoted to Brigadier General on 26-July, and then died on 28-July. Tippah County was split up in 1870 and the new county created from the split was named after Benton.

The 37th/34th was immediately sent to Corinth and fought its first battle at Farmington, TN, 9-May-1862 as federal General U.S. Grant advanced from Pittsburg Landing towards Corinth. The regiment then moved with Confederate General Braxton Bragg’s army to Chattanooga and marched into Kentucky where it fought in the Battle of Perryville 8-Oct-1862, one of its bloodiest engagements. (After Perryville, Co. K of the regiment had only seven men left available for duty.) Gen. Bragg’s army then retreated back to eastern Tennessee, encamping at Shelbyville in November. On 27-Dec-1862, the 37th/34th moved towards Nashville and fought in the Battle of Murfreesboro on 31-Dec and 1-Jan-1863.

Later that year, the 34th was in the thick of the battle at Chickamauga on 18/20-Sep-1863. The regiment fought on Lookout Mountain on 24-Nov-1863, wintered at Dalton, GA, and fought in the battles for Atlanta in the summer of 1864. From Georgia, the 34th followed General John Bell Hood back into Tennessee and took part in the battles of Franklin and Nashville. On 26-Dec-1864, the remnants of the army crossed the Tennessee River and wintered in the vicinity of Tupelo, MS. The brigade was furloughed until 12-Feb-1865; it reassembled at Meridian, MS, and was given orders to proceed to the Carolinas for action. The regiment started east on 18-Feb-1865 and was tied up for some time in Alabama by the Mobile campaign.

In March, the 34th finally proceeded to Augusta, GA, and on to North Carolina. On 3-Apr-1865, the brigade (not just the regiment) could only muster 283 men; on 9-April, the 24th, 27th, 29th and 34th Mississippi regiments were consolidated and renamed the 24th Mississippi regiment under the command of Colonel R.W. Williamson. The regiment’s final assignment was in the brigade of Gen. W.F. Brantley, in Gen. D.H. Hill’s Division of Gen. S.D. Lee’s Corps. The army surrendered 26-Apr-1865 and was paroled at Greensboro, NC, soon thereafter.

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