The city of Columbus bustled with activity in early 1861. An intensity and patriotism swept through its citizens as Lowndes County volunteer companies were about to set out for Pensacola, Florida, for service in what would be the first year of the War Between the States. Two companies — the Lowndes Southrons, led by Capt. William Bartee Wade, and the Southern Avengers, under Capt. George Hardwicke Lipscomb — prepared to leave their homes.
Accounts of these men and others who served in the 10th Mississippi Infantry Regiment are the focus of the Columbus Lowndes Historical Society’s event Sunday, Sept. 18 at 2 p.m. at the Stephen D. Lee Home. The group will welcome Mississippi historian Paulette French for a review and signing of her book “The 10th Mississippi Infantry Regiment: A Record of the Marches, Battles, Skirmishes and the Men of the 10th.”
The book, described as a Civil War odyssey of the 10th, is chronicled from the outbreak of hostilities in 1861 until its surrender in Greensboro, North Carolina, in 1865, when Gen. Joseph E. Johnston surrendered his troops to Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman.
“This book actually was a result of our genealogy research into my husband’s great-grandfather, who was an officer in the regiment,” said French, who lives near Brandon. As the retired educator studied her husband’s ancestor’s military history, she was inspired to dig even deeper into the records.
The men of the 10th Mississippi traveled over 3,000 miles on foot and 5,880 miles by rail during their quest for victory, fighting on the battlefields of Shiloh, Munfordville, Murfreesboro, Chickamauga, Resaca, New Hope Church, Atlanta, Jonesboro, Franklin, and Nashville. They hailed from the Mississippi counties of Adams, Claiborne, Copiah, DeSoto, Hinds, Itawamba, Lowndes, Madison, Marshall, Rankin, Tippah, Warren and Yazoo.
Details of their journey were compiled from personal diaries, letters, newspaper accounts, official battle reports and contact with descendants.
“That was extremely important as I was doing the research — getting in contact with many of the descendants; that was really essential to me,” said French.
As with other counties represented in the 10th, Lowndes has present-day family connections with members who served. Columbus has another significant link, through Stephen D. Lee, whose former home at 316 Seventh St. N. is the site of the Sept. 18 program.
“We are excited to host Paulette for this entertaining and informative talk,” said Keith Gaskin, president of the Historical Society. “It will be of great interest to many in the area because Stephen D. Lee was a corps commander of this regiment.”
French is a member of the Jackson Civil War Roundtable and co-authored a Civil War history brochure tour of Greenwood Cemetery in Jackson, compiling selected biographies of some of the 1,200 Confederate veterans interred there.
Her current book will be available at the Lee Home Sept. 18 (hard cover, $36.95; soft cover $19.95). Or contact French to purchase a copy, at [email protected].
Jan Swoope is the Lifestyles Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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