1st Tennessee Infantry Regiment (Provisional Army)

Confederate Regiments & Batteries * Tennessee

1861
February 24 The 1st Tennessee Infantry Regiment began when Peter Turney organized a company of men after a secession meeting in Winchester; these later became Company C and the nucleus of the regiment.
April 21 Eleven companies organized at Winchester, Tennessee under Colonel Peter Turney, Lieutenant Colonel James H. Holman and Majors Pierce B. Anderson and Daniel W. Holman.
May 1 Left by rail for Virginia
May 8 Mustered into service for twelve months at Lynchburg, Virginia. The eleventh company was disbanded and distributed among the remaining ten to conform with regulations, and an election was held to decide which of the two majors would be kept. Major Holman won, and Major Anderson left the regiment to command an artillery battery.
May 17 Travelled by rail to Richmond and drilled by Virginia Military Institute cadets.
June 1 Posted to Harpers Ferry as part of Johnston’s Division, Bee’s Brigade
June 8 The regiment voted in favor of Tennessee seceding from the Union.
  Moved to Winchester
July Marched to Piedmont, then took the train to Manassas.
July 21
Battle of Manassas (Bull Run)

Doubletimed the six miles to the battlefield but arrived at the end of the battle.
August General William Whiting took over the brigade after General Bee died of his Manassas wound.
September 30 Duty along the Potomac between Occoquan and Aquia Creeks. Went into winter quarters at Dunfrees.
1862
January 10 At Dumfries, Virginia, under Brigadier General Whiting and Major General Holmes
February Colonel Turney was under arrest.
March 8 Assigned to the Tennessee Brigade (replacing Maney’s First Tennessee Regiment) under Brig. Gen. Samuel Anderson, part of General Whiting’s Division, at Evansport (now Quantico), Viginia
April 27 Lt. Colonel James Holman and Major Daniel Holman were dropped in the army’s reorganization along with most of the company officers. John C. Shackleford of Company G was elected lieutenant colonel and Captain Martin V. McLaughlin of Company H was elected major.
May Moved to near Yorktown on the Peninsula. General Anderson retired due to health and was replaced by the 7th Tennessee’s Robert Hatton, promoted to brigadier general.
May 31
Battle of Seven Pines

The 1st Tennessee lost 85 men in 15 minutes in a charge that drove the enemy from the field. General Hatton was killed and Brigadier General James Archer took command of the brigade.
June 11 Transferred with the rest of Archer’s Brigade to A. P. Hill’s Division.
June 26 – 27
Battles of Mechanicsville and Gaines’ Mills

The 1st Tennessee lost the regimental colors to the 13th New York Infantry. Lieutenant Colonel Shackleford and Major McLaughlin were killed and Captain Felix Buchanan was wounded.
June 27 Captain Newton J. George of Company H was promoted to lieutenant colonel and Captain Felix G. Buchanan of Company G was promoted to major.
 
Seven Days Battles

The regiment lost 99 men
August 9
Battle of Cedar Mountain

The regiment lost 24 men
August 28
Second Battle of Manassas (Bull Run)

The regiment lost 57 men
September 6 Crossed the Potomac
September 7 Went into bivouac near Frederick, Maryland.
September 11-14 Marched to Williamsport, crossed the Potomac into Virginia, then continued to Martinsburg and Harpers Ferry.
September 14-16
Capture of Harpers Ferry
September 17
Battle of Sharpsburg

The regiment made a forced march from Harpers Ferry, arriving at 4 p.m. to counterattack the Union left flank. Colonel Tunney temporarily commanded the brigade until reaching the battlefield, when General Archer resumed command and Tunney returned to the regiment.

From the first of two position markers on the Antietam battlefield:

Archer’s Brigade formed line in the road at this point about 3 P.M. supported on the right by the Brigades of Branch and Gregg, and on the left by Toombs’ Brigade of D.R. Jones’ Division. It advanced through a narrow cornfield and across the broad ravine beyond to the stone wall about 600 yards distant, where it met and checked the left of the advancing Federal line. An attempt to advance farther was repulsed and the Brigade rallied behind the stone wall where it remained until early on the morning of the 19th when it recrossed the Potomac at Blackford’s Ford.

From the second of two position markers on the Antietam battlefield:

In its advance from the Antietam Furnace Road, West of this point, on the afternoon of September 17, 1862, Archer’s Brigade of A.P. Hill’s Division encountered the Federal troops posted behind the stone fence forming the western line of the 40 acre cornfield.

Gregg’s movements on the left flank of the Federal line having compelled it to retire, Archer’s Brigade charged over the fence and across the cornfield, but was repulsed with considerable loss and fell back to this side of the fence, where it remained until withdrawn to recross the Potomac on the morning of the 19th.
September 19
Battle of Shepherdstown

Crossed the Potomac into Virginia, then skirmished with Union forces trying to force a crossing of the Potomac.
September 20 Engaged the enemy at Shepherdstown
December 13
Battle of Fredericksburg

The regiment lost 57 men. Colonel Turney was wounded and would never returned to field service. Major Buchanan was wounded. Lt. Colonel Newton J. George took over command of the regiment.
1863
May 3
Battle of Chancellorsville

The regiment was commanded by Lt. Colonel George, and lost 58 men
June 1 Assigned to Archer’s Brigade of Heth’s Division in the newly-created Third Corps under A.P. Hill.
July 1 – 3
Battle of Gettysburg

The 1st Tennessee Infantry Regiment was commanded by Lt. Colonel Newton George and brought 281 men to the field. It lost 16 men killed, 67 wounded and 95 missing. The regiment took part in the initial heavy fighting on July 1st, as well as the Pickett-Pettigrew-Trimble charge on July 3. The 1st Tennessee made it to the stone wall north of The Angle but was unable to hold its position and lost its colors to the 14th Connecticut Infantry. Colonel George and Major Felix Buchanan were wounded and captured during the charge.
July 10 Special orders No. 173 assigned the survivors of Archer’s Brigade to Pettigrew’s Brigade.
July 14 Falling Waters
July 24 Gaines’ Crossroads
July 29 The former brigades of Archer and Heth (Brockenbrough) were combined under the command of Brigadier General Henry H. Walker. Major Buchanan continued to command the regiment.
1864
May 5 – 7
Battle of the Wilderness

Major Buchanan was wounded.
May 12-21
Battle of Spotsylvania Courthouse

Colonel Fry took over the brigade when General Walker was wounded.
June 3
Battle of Cold Harbor

Captain William S. Daniel commanded the regiment.
June 7 Siege of Petersburg
  The 2nd Maryland Battalion was added to Brigade; Colonel George returns to command of the regiment
August 18-21
Battle of Globe Tavern (Weldon Railroad)

Major Buchanan was wounded.
August 19 General Archer returned from captivity to command the brigade, but his health was shattered from prison. He died on October 24.
October 31 Colonel Robert Mayo took command of the brigade, followed by Colonel William McComb of the 14th Tennessee
1865
April 9
Appomattox Court House

The 1st Tennessee Infantry Regiment surrendered 8 officers and 30 men under Major Buchanan