22nd (Barteau's) Tennessee Cavalry Regiment

Organized June,1862: reorganized June,1863; reorganized May 10, 1864: consolidated February,1865 with Wilson's 21st Tennessee Cavalry Regiment and paroled May, 1865 as 21st and 22nd Consolidated Regiment.

Colonel C.R. Barteau, on a muster roll, not dated, but evidently in 1864, gave the following account of the confusion surrounding the organization of this regiment, which is typical of that of many other cavalry organizations."I have stated that the regiment was organized June 6, 1863, but it is almost impossible to determine the proper date. It was organized and designated as the 2nd Tennessee Cavalry Regiment by Brigadier General Beall, June 13, 1862, with seven companies present and three which he had ordered to report to it. He was immediately relieved of the cavalry command, the three companies did not report, and the regiment remained with seven companies until June 6, 1863, when three companies were added to it by Brigadier General Ruggles. I dated the organization of the regiment from this period, for the three companies(Captain Gurthay's Alabama Company, Captain Carpenter's Mississippii Company, and Captain Morphis' Tennessee Company). did not report until the Alabama Company was again transferred by Brigadier General Ferguson to Colonel Boyle's Alabama Regiment, and the other two companies, which were operating near the Tennessee-Mississippi line, were allowed to go into other commands( during the time I was not in command of the regiment from July 12, 1863 until December 16). The regiment is not officially known at Richmond: no appointments have been made to it from the War Department. The orginal order of the organization was not forwarded by General Beall. He was captured at Port Hudson, and the orginal muster rolls, as well as the orginal order has been lost. No record of the organization of June 13,1862 exists.At that time no organization less than a regiment could be recieved at Richmond. Captain N. Oswell dropped from( report torn) by order Brigadier General Ferguson and not yet returned from West Tennessee."

To this may be added the information that the orginal seven companies were a consolidation of 1st (McNairy's) Battalion and 7th (Bennett's) Battalion. In May, 1864 Brigadier A. Buford assigned three more companies to complete the regiment and finally on February 15, 1865 the War Department directed:" The organization of Barteau's Tennessee Cavalry Regiment made by the addition of the companies commanded by Captain O.B.Faris, S.H.Reeves, and B. Edwards by order of Brigadier General A. Buford is hereby confirmed to date from the 10th day of May,1864. It will be known as the 22nd Tennessee Cavalry Regiment".

Field Officers
Colonel
Clark R. Barteau

Lieutenant Colonel
George H. Morton

Majors
William Parrish, O.B. Farris

Captains
Nicholas Oswell,Company A.A consolidation of A and B,McNairy's Battalion.

William Parrish,(to major).Thomas Underwood, Company B.A consolidation of C and D, McNairy's Battalion.

Moses McKnight,Company C. Formerly E, McNairy's Battalion.

W.T.Rickman, Company D. A consolidation of A and C,7th Battalion.

Christopher Bennett,William DeBow, Company E. Formerly B,7th Battalion.

Micajah Griffin, John Brinkley, Company F. Formerly F, 7th Battalion.

Thomas Puryear, Jonathan Eastes, Company G. A consolidation of E and F, 7th Battalion.

These were the orginal seven companies.
Captains
A.J.Guttery,1st Company H. An Alabama company assigned June 6,1863,and assigned to 56th Alabama Cavalry as Company L. No muster rolls of this regiment were found for Carpenter's and Morphis's companies. Morphis's Company served as 2nd Company I,15th(Stewart's)Tennessee Cavalry(1st organization), and later in the 3rd(Forrest's Old)Regiment.

The companies assigned in May,1864 by General Buford were:
Captains
B. Edwards, 2nd Company H. Men from Gibson,Obion and Weakley Conties.

Samuel Reeves, Company I. Organized December 1,1863 at Newbern, Dyer County of men from Gibson and Obion County.

Oliver Farris, Company K. Organized December 1, 1863 and Newbern, Dyer County of men from Obion County.

Barteau served as lieutenant colonel until June, 1863, when he was appointed colonel. Parrish resigned in April, 1864 and Captain O.B.Farris suceeded him as major.

For most of the war the regiment was stationed in North Mississippi. A report from Company A dated October 30, 1862 at Guntown, Mississippi said:"It has from constant service been so reduced until at the present it is totally unfit for duty. It has changed commanders so often it is almost totally devoid of discipline." Other company reports told of constant outpost duty, scouting and picketing, and also of being with Brigadier General Frank Armstrong on his raid in to West Tennessee begining August 22,1862, with engagements at Medon Station, September 1,1862, Britton's Lane and Denmark, September 21,1862. After this expedition, the regiment was with Brigadier General Sterling Price in the campaign around Iuka and Corinth Mississippi in October 1862.

On January 31,1863, the regiment was reported in Brigadier General Daniel Ruggles' 1st Mississippi District; and on March 6, General Ruggles, in reporting on the condition of his forces, said:"Lieutenant Colonel Barteau's troops are miserably armed, deficient in numbers, with not even ammunition sufficient for a skirmish." On March 20,he reported Barteau's Regiment had 235 to 315 men fit for duty.

On April 21,at Palo Alto,Mississippi, the regiment was part of a force under General S.J. Gholson which met and defeated the 2nd Iowa Cavalry, and pursued it to near Birmingham. On May 5, at King's Creek, near Tueplo, still with General Gholson, the regiment was mentioned in Federal reports as being engaged in a skirmish at that point.

On May 8, Bishop Paine, in a letter to President Jefferson Davis, reporting on conditions in North Mississippi, listed "Barteau's Regiment, 540, 40 with horses, principally armed with shotguns." On May 17, a detachment under Captain Puryear was involved in a skirmish near Albany, Mississippi, and Lieutenant Anderson French was commended by General Ruggles for conspicuos gallantry.

On August 27, 1863, the regiment was reported in Brigadier General S.W. Ferguson's Brigade at Okolona, Mississippi, along with the 2nd Alabama, 56th Alabama and 12th Mississippi Regiments. Barteau's regiment reported an aggregate of 548 on roll. It moved with General Ferguson to Courtland, Alabama in October, 1863, and en route, was engaged at Fulton, Mississippi on October 25. In reporting on this engagement, General Ferguson said: "Lieutenant Colonel Morton is due more than a passing tribute. He led his gallant band with a cool skill and determination, admirable in the extreme."

The regiment remained in Ferguson's Brigade, Chalmers' Division, until January 26, 1864, when it was ordered to Major General N.B. Forrest, who had assumed command of the cavalry forces in North Mississippi. In Forrest's first move to reorganize his command on January 25, 1864, he placed Barteau's Regiment in Colonel(later Brigadier General)T.H. Bell's Brigade, along with Russel's, Greer's, Newsom's, and Wilson's Regiments. All of these except Barteau's, were irregular organizations raised during the fall of 1863 in West Tennessee. All of them, again with the exception of Barteau's, were shortly after consolidated and reorganized by General Forrest. On March 7, Bell's Brigade of Brigadier General A. Buford's Division, was organized with Barteau's Regiment, 20th(Russell), and 21st(Wilson) Regiments. These regiments, with later additions, remained in Bell's Brigade until the end.

The regiment took part in the capture of Fort Pillow on April 12, 1864, where Bell's Brigade was placed temporarily under the command of Brigadier General J.R. Chalmers. Its next major engagement was the Battle of Harrisburg,Mississippi July 13-15, 1864. Here the brigade had been increased by the addition of the 18th(Newsom's)Tennessee Cavalry Regiment. Barteau's Regiment suffered 66 casualties including Colonel Barteau who was wounded and furloughed.

The regiment was with Forrest in his running battle with the forces under Major General William Sooy Smith, which ended with the latters total defeat at the Battle of Brice's Crossroads, June 10, 1864. Reporting on the fighting, Forrest wrote:"About 300 men of the 2nd Tennessee Cavalry, under Colonel Barteau, and the 7th Tennessee Cavalry, Colonel Duckworth, recieved repeated charges from seven regiments of the enemy in the open field, and drove them back time after time, capturing three stands of colors and one piece of artillery."

It was with General Forrest on his raid into Middle Tennessee, begining with the capture of Athens, Alabama on September 24, and endind with the recrossing of the Tennessee River October 8, 1864. As part of Buford's Division, it took part in General Hood's invasion of Tennessee in November,1864 and withdrew into Mississippi again, after this campaign ended in disaster at Nashville.

On February 13, 1865, General Forrest ordered all the Tennessee forces in his command to report to Brigadier General W.H. Jackson, for consolidation into six regiments. As a result of this order the regiment was consolidated with the 21st(Wilson's) Regiment to form the 21st and 22nd Consolidated Tennessee Cavalry Regiment. On May 3, 1865, still in Bell's Brigade, the consolidated regiment reported 31 officers, 317 men present for duty, 260 effectives, 423 aggregate present, 641 aggregate present and absent.

The consolidated regiment was paroled at Gainesville, Alabama in May, 1865