6th Infantry Regiment [also called 7th Regiment] was assembled at Jackson, Mississippi, in February, 1861. Its companies were recruited in the counties of Rankin, Quitman, Leake, Scott, Copiah, and Simpson. The unit fought at Shiloh under General Cluburne and later was assigned to Rust's, Tilghman's, and J. Adams' Brigade. For a time it served in Mississippi and saw action in various conflicts in the Vicksburg area. It later joined the Army of Tennessee and fought with distinction throughout the Atlanta Campaign, with Hood in Tennessee, and in North Carolina. The regiment was organized with 649 officers and men, lost seventy-six percent of the 425 engaged at Shiloh, and reported 30 casualties at Champion's Hill. On April 26, 1865, it surrendered with about 60 men. The field officers were Colonels Robert Lowry and John J. Thornton; Lieutenant Colonels R.R. Bennett, Thomas J. Borden, and A.Y. Harper; and Majors W.T. Hendon and J.R. Stevens.
30 November 1864. General Hood has lead the Army of Tennessee in a desperate bid to turn the tide of the war by invading Tennessee.
Following a failed attempt to trap the Union Army of Ohio at Spring Hill, Hood discovered the same force dug in around the outskirts of Franklin. Hood orders a frontal assault on the Union works, fearful of allowing General Schofield's force from reaching the near impregnable defensive works of Nashville.
Six infantry divisions, including that of Irish born Patrick Cleburne, charged the Union forces. General Cleburne, nicknamed "the Stonewall of the West," was a talented commander and beloved by his men and on that fateful day, he would lead them bravely into the inferno of Union musket and cannon fire.
By the end of battle 6 generals, including Cleburne, were dead or mortally wounded. 55 of the Army's regimental commanders were dead or wounded.
This vignette depicts Cleburne and some of his men in their last moments.
A compact, illustrated account of the first major battle in the Western theatre of the American Civil War.