24th Infantry Regiment was organized at Meridian, Mississippi, during the fall of 1861 with eleven companies.
Its members were recruited in the counties of Hancock, Clay, Lowndes, Chickasaw, Kemper, Choctaw, and
Monroe.
It moved to Florida, returned to Mississippi, and took part in the siege of Corinth.
After serving in Kentucky, it was assigned to General Walthall's and Brantly's Brigade, Army of Tennessee.
The 24th participated in many battles from Murfreesboro to Atlanta, endured Hood's winter operations in
Tennessee, and saw action in North Carolina.
It sustained 116 casualties at Murfreesboro, 132 at Chickamauga, and 189 at Chattanooga.
For a time it was consolidated with the 27th Regiment and in December, 1863, totalled 491 men and 354 arms.
At Resaca the unit lost 24 killed and 28 wounded, and at Ezra Church the 24th/27th had 11 killed and 67
wounded and missing of the 430 engaged. About 25 men were present at the surrender.
The field officers were Colonels William F. Dowd, Robert P. McKelvaie, and R.W. Williamson; Lieutenant
Colonels Clifton Dancy and William L. Lyles; and Majors George M. Govan and William C. Staples.
24th Regiment, Mississippi Infantry
Eight months later, George would find himself celebrating Christmas in Murfreesboro,
Tennessee. What George and his fellow soldiers didn’t know is that they were on the
eve of the bloodiest battle of the Civil War up to that time in 1862.
The weather late in December had turned cold which was made worst on the night of December 30th when the winds picked
up with a cold steady rain, which occasionally turned into a freezing drizzle sleet. Soldiers on both sides were miserable.
The commander for the Twenty-fourth Mississippi brigade, General Walthall was
absent on sick leave. Gen. Patton Anderson commanded the brigade in the battle of
Murfreesboro, and Lieut.-Col. McKelvaine the Twenty-fourth Regiment.
The brigade went into line of battle on December 28, 1862, on the left of Chalmers'
Brigade, stretching on the right into a dense cedar forest.
The regiment threw up breastworks of the loose stone which covered the ground.
Murfreesboro was a small town in the Stones River Valley. Confederate General
Bragg and his army were warmly welcomed and entertained by the local population
during the month of December. Bragg positioned his troops near Stones River.
Portions of the area were near the intersection of the Nashville Pike and Nashville and
Chattanooga. Soldiers referred to the intersection as the “Pike”. Two thirds of General
Rosecrans’s Union army were in position along the Nashville Turnpike.
That night, both Armies could hear the music being played on either side. The Union regimental bands would play
“Yankee Doodle” and then “Hail Columbia.”
The Confederate bands would answer with the playing of “Dixie” and other Southern favourites.
This friendly exchange of music continued for a time, until a Federal band started to play the bittersweet sounds of
“Home, Sweet Home.”
Within minutes, a Southern band joined in, and the bands played together in what would be a unique expression of
mutual longing for home and family. Thousands of Northern and Southern soldiers sang the sentimental song together
across the lines.
More and more regimental bands joined in until all the bands where playing the tune together. A Confederate soldier
remarked in his diary, “after our bands had ceased playing, we could hear the sweet refrain as it died away on the
cool frosty air.”
That night, George’s thoughts must have been on his young wife and daughter back in their home in Mississippi.
Hail Columbia,
Civil War-Music & Narration
Eastman Wind Ensemble
Home Sweet Home
Civil War: Songs of the South
Craig Duncan
The events that George Morgan faced on the morning of the 31st are best
described by a report made by Brigadier-General, PATTON ANDERSON:
On the 29th, rifle-pits were constructed along the line of the Twenty-seventh
Mississippi, which was in the open field. Captain [Overton W.] Barret also threw
up slight earthworks to protect his cannoneers and horses against the enemy's
sharpshooters.
The other regiments, all of which were in the cedar forest, erected temporary breastworks of stone,
great quantities of which covered the ground about them.
….
On the 30th, the skirmishers were more hotly engaged, killed and wounded on this day amounting to 35.
At 9 p.m. the order for attack the next morning was received. Regimental commanders were immediately assembled,
and the order communicated to them.
On the morning of the 31st, soon after daylight, a few shots on our extreme left, quickly followed by the thick roll of
musketry and then by booming artillery, announced that the action had commenced.
About 9 a.m. Colonel Manigault came to me and informed me
that he intended to charge a battery in his front; wished me to
send two regiments to his support. I consented to do so, and
immediately ordered the Forty-fifth Alabama and Twenty-fourth
Mississippi forward to perform that duty.
They became hotly engaged soon after leaving their breastworks,
the enemy being in heavy force and strongly posted, backed by
many pieces of artillery, so planted as to enfilade a portion of our
line. In addition to this enfilading fire, Colonel Manigault was
exposed to a cross-fire from a battery in front of his left. In the unequal contest our line halted, staggered, and
fell back in some confusion, but were easily rallied, reformed, and moved to the front.
The Twenty-fourth Mississippi, Lieutenant-Colonel McKelvaine commanding, and the Forty-fifth Alabama,
Colonel Gilchrist commanding, respectively, on the left of the Thirtieth Mississippi, also encountered a battery in
their front, strongly supported by infantry on advantageous ground.
On that day, the Twenty-fourth Mississippi brigade was moved to the position Chalmers had occupied, then was ordered across
the river to assist Breckenridge, ordered back, and again ordered across in the evening.
On the return to Chalmers' position, however, the Twenty-fourth was detached to support Scott's battery on the front line. The
regiment, supported by the Alabama regiment, was credited with the capture of a battery near the Wilkinson pike.
As George Morgan is taken to be treated, the Battle of Stones River continues for two more days.
At the end of the 31st there was no definite winner by either the Union or Confederate sides.
The Confederate General Bragg was certain that he had won the battle and sent a telegram to President Jackson, telling him so. The
morning of Jan 1st, Bragg expected to find the Union army gone but soon found out that the Union troops maintained their positions on
the field.
Both the Union and Confederate Army’s observed New Year’s Day by resting and tending to their wounded.
General Bragg resumed his attack on Jan 2nd at 4 p.m. that afternoon.
The Battle of Stones River, continued…
The Union army repulsed the attack and the fighting ended by 5 p.m. with the Confederates retreating back to their earlier positions.
The next day, Jan 3rd, the Union attacked. Confederate General Bragg decided to remove his Army and retreat to Tullahoma,
Tennessee.
After the battle of Stones River - Killed and wounded
Union
12,906
Confederates
11,739
The casualties of the 24th regiment were 8 killed, 108 wounded (Including George Morgan)
Many of the wounded were captured.
As the Civil War continues, there would be many more battles. The Battle of Stones River is ranked as the 7th
bloodiest battle of the Civil War.