13th Tennessee Infantry, Confederate States Army

The companies changed company letters when the regiment was accepted into Confederate service.In the following list,the letters used in Confederate service are shown,with the original company designation.
Captains
W.C.Burton,Thomas Arnold,S.R.Brewer,F.H.Carter,Company A,formerly E.The Fayette Rifle Grays.Men from Fayette County,Tennessee.
Joe L.Granberry,Ben Lightle,William Mebane,Company B,formerly B.The Macon Grays.Men from Fayette County,Tennessee.
John Morgan,E.W.Douglass,W.D.Harrison,Company C,formerly C.The Secession Guards.Men from Shelby County,Tennessee.
John Wilkins,S.R.Brewer,Company D,formerly D.The Yorkville Rifles.Men from Gibson County,Tennessee.
Alfred J.Vaughn,Jr.,Beverly Dyer,John Moody,Company E,formerly F.The Dixie Rifles.Men from Fayette County,Tennessee.
John Wright,Dew Moore Wisdom,G.W.Churchwell,Company F,formerly G.The Wright Boys.Men from McNairy County,Tennessee.
W.E.Winfield,C.D.Palmore,R.F.Lanier,Company G,formerly H,The Gaines Invincibles,Men from Fayette County,Tennessee.
Robert Pitman,Sylvester Munson,Company H,formerly I.The Yancey Riflemen.Men from Fayette County,Tennessee.
G.L.Ross,William Crook,John Purdy,Company I,formerly A.The Forked Deer Volunteers.Men from Henderson,now Chester County,Tennessee.
Samuel L.Latta,Joseph Rucks Hibbitt,Ausburn Brown,Company K,formerly K.The Dyer Grays.Men from Dyer County,Tennessee.
C.B.Jones,Richard Moody,Company L.The Zollicoffer Avegers.Men from Hardeman County,Tennessee,joined regiment April 28,1862.

Of the field officers,Colonel John Wright was elected to Congress,and resigned in 1861.Colonel A.J.Vaughn was promoted to brigadier general on September 22,1863,Lieutenant Colonel W.E.Morgan died January 5,1863.Major W.E.Winfield was not reelected at the reorganization,and Major Peter Cole was killed December 31,1862 in the Battle of Murfreesboro.

The 13th Infantry was orginally composed of ten companies which assembled at Jackson,Tennessee,where they were mustered into state service.They were organized into the regiment on June 4,1861.

Immediately after organization the regiment moved to Randolph,Tennessee,to join Brigadier General John Sneed,of the Provisional Army of Tennessee.On July 26,1861 the regiment was ordered to New Madrid,Missouri,where it was accepted into Confederate service,and placed in a brigade with the 154th Senior Tennessee Infantry Regiment,with Colonel J.P.McCowan as brigade commander.On September 7,1861,the regiment was placed in a brigade commanded by Colonel R.M.Russell(of Trenton),consisting of the 12th,13th,and 21st Tennessee Infantry Regiments,and moved to Columbus,Kentucky.On October 24,1861,the regiment was in Colonel J.Knox Walker's Brigade,which was composed of the 2nd,13th,and 15th Tennessee Infantry Regiments.The brigade was in Brigadier General Gideon J.Pillow's Division,and as part of Pillow's forces,the regiment participated in its first engagement at Belmont,Missouri,on November 7,1861.

In this battle,the 13th was on of the regiments which crossed the Mississippi River to the Missouri side,and recieved the first brunt of the Federal attack.The regiment lost 149 men in killed,wounded and captured,of whom 54 were from Company A.

The regiment remained at Columbus,Kentucky,until the fall of Fort Donelson necessitated the evacuation of this point,and the regiment moved via Union City to Corinth,Mississippi,arriving March 29,1862.Despite this fact,on December 10,1861,at Dublin,Virginia,Assistant Adjutant General George Deas wrote a note to Adjutant General S.Cooper,which stated "Donelson's Brigade,1300 strong,moves today for Petersburg.8th and 13th Tennessee,Floyd's Brigade,require repose."This is symptomatic of the confusion which existed in the early days of the war with regard to the numbering of the Tennessee regiments.The 13th was never in the Virginia theatre.

On March 13,1862,while still at Columbus,Kentucky,the 2nd Tennessee had replaced the 21st in Russell's Brigade,now shown in Brigadier General J.P.McCowan's Division.At Shiloh,April 6 and 7, 1862,Russell's Brigade was in Brigadier General Charles Clark's Division,and was composed of the 11th Louisiana,12th,13th and 22nd Tennessee Infantry Regiments.In this battle the 13th captured a Federal battery,but sustained 137 casualties.

At the reorganization in April,Vaughn was reelected colonel,Morgan lieutenant colonel,but Peter Cole replaced Winfield as major.By June 30,1862,the brigade was begining to assume the form which it maintained throughout the war.The 11th Louisiana had been transferred,the 22nd Tennessee consolidated with the 12th Tennessee,and the 47th and 154th Tennessee Infantry Regiments added to the brigade,which was still in Clark's Division.About this time Brigadier General Preston Smith,formerly colonel of the 154th Tennessee,assumed command of the brigade,which was in Major General Benjamin Franklin Cheatham's Division.

The brigade moved from Corinth to Tueplo,Mississippi,and there via Mobile,Alabama and Atlanta,Georgia,to Chattanooga,to participate in the invasion of Kentucky.On August 10,1862,the brigade was detached to Knoxville,where it was placed in Brigadier General Partick Cleburne's Division of Major General Kirby Smith's Army.With General Smith,it moved into Kentucky and fought at the Battle of Richmond on August 30,1862,where it sustained 48 casualties.In this battle Cleburne was wounded,Smith assumed command of the division,and Vaughn of the brigade.

The brigade rejoined Cheatham's Division of General Bragg's Army at Harrodsburg,Kentucky,prior to the Battle of Perryville October 8,1862.However,the brigade was held in reserve at this battle,and was not actively engaged,although it came under artillery fire.

From Perryville,the brigade retreated to Knoxville,thence to Tullahoma,and from there to Murfreesboro,arriving the latter part of November,1862.Here the 13th was detached from the brigade for some weeks due to a smallpox outbreak in its ranks,but rejoined December 28,in time to take part in the Battle of Murfreesboro,December 31,1862,where it lost 110 casualties out of 252 engaged.Colonel Vaughn was in command of the brigade,Lieutenant Colonel Morgan,and later Captain R.F.Lanier in command of the regiment,after Morgan and Major Cole were mortally wounded.

After the Battle of Murfreesboro,the brigade went in to winterquaters at Shelbyville,Tennessee.In March,1863, the 13th and 184th Regiments were consolidated for field operations into one unit,under the command of Colonel Vaughn,but maintained separate muster rolls.This field consolidation continued until the close of the war.

There followed the retreat to Chattanooga and the Battle of Chickamauga September 19-20,1863.Here General Smith was killed and Vaughn,soon to be promoted to brigadier general,again took command of the brigade.The 13th/154th was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel R.W.Pitman.The regiment took 300 prisoners and the colors of the 77th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment.The list of casualties was not found,but the severity of the fighting is indicated by the report of the ordnance officer that the 13th/154th used 10,338 rounds of ammunition.

After Chickamauga,the brigade was again detached from Cheatham's Division to that of Major General Thomas Hindman's,of Lieutenat General James Longstreet's Corps,and the 13th/154th moved briefly to Sweetwater,but returned in time for the Battle of Missionary Ridge on November 25,1863.Then came the retreat to Dalton,where on February 20,1864,the brigade was again placed in Cheatham's Division where it remained until the end.The 13th/154th remained at Dalton until the resumption of fighting in May,1864,except for one expedition in February to Demopolis,Alabama,and return,when they had started out to reenforce General Leonidas Polk in Mississippi,but were recalled on reaching Demopolis.

From here on the regiment participated in the retreat to Atlanta,the return to Tennessee,and the final journey to join General Joseph Johnston at Bentonville,North Carolina.On April 30,1864,the 13th/154th was commanded by Colonel Michael Magevney,Jr.,of the 154th;on December 10,1864,the 13th/51st/52nd/154th Consolidated was commanded by Major John Williamson of the 51st;on March 31,1865,by Major Marsh Partick of the 154th.

On April 9,1865 the 11th,12th,13th,29th,47th,50th,51st,52nd and 154th Tennessee Infantry Regiments formed the 2nd Consolidated Tennessee Infantry Regiment,command by Colonel Horace Rice,of the 11th.As such they were paroled at Greensboro,North Carolina May 2,1865.