Confederate Regiments & Batteries > Tennessee


1861
May The 7th Tennessee Infantry Regiment was organized at Camp Trousdale in Sumner County, Tennessee under Colonel Robert Hatton, Lieutenant Colonel John F. Goodner and Major John Howard.
July Mustered into Confederate Service
July 15 – 25 Moved to Staunton, Virginia by train
  Joined with Manley’s 1st Tennessee and the 14th Tennessee to form the Tennessee Brigade under Brigadier General Samuel R. Anderson
  At Big Springs, Virginia
September 12-15 Lee’s Cheat Mountain Campaign
  Ordered to to Raleigh Courthouse, then to join General Thomas Jackson at Winchester. Shumaker’s battery joined the brigade
1862
January 4 Jackson’s expedition to Bath
February 9 Maney’s 1st Tennessee ordered to return to Tennessee
February 24 Ordered to Manassas; the regiment, along with the 14th Tennessee and the 3rd Arkansas was placed under Major General Theophilus Holmes.
March 8 Turney’s 1st Tennessee Infantry Regiment (Provisional Army) joined the brigade at Evansport (now Quantico), Viginia
May 23 Colonel Hatton was promoted to brigadier general and took command of the brigade. Lieutenant Colonel John F. Goodner was elected colonel, Major John K. Howard lieutenant colonel and Captain John A. Fite of Company A was elected major.
May 31
Battle of Seven Pines

General Hatton was killed and General James Archer took command of the brigade.

June Archer’s Brigade was assigned to A.P. Hill’s Division. It included the 5th Alabama Battalion, a Georgia regiment, and Braxton’s Battery.
June 26 – 27
Battles of Mechanicsville and Gaines’ Mills

The regiment lost 72 casualties. Lieutenant Colonel Howard was mortally wounded and Major Fite and Captain William Williamson were wounded.

July 9 Lieutenant Colonel Howard died of his Mechanicsville wound. Major Fite was promoted to lieutenant colonel and Captain Samuel G. Shepard of Company G to major
August 9
Battle of Cedar Mountain

The regiment lost 34 men. Lieutenant Colonel Fite was wounded.

August 26 Manassas Junction
August 28
Second Battle of Manassas

The regiment was commanded by Major Shepard and lost 26 casualties;

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 – 15 Siege of Harpers Ferry
September 17
Battle of Sharpsburg (Antietam)

Commanded by Adjutant George A. Howard, the regiment lost 30 casualties out of less than 100 effectives.

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 19-20
Shepherdstown
  Rest at Berryville, Virginia
  Ordered to join General Longstreet at Fredericksburg; it did so after a ten-day march
December 13
Battle of Fredericksburg

The regiment lost 38 casualties. The regiment broke and ran in the face of an overwhelming Federal attack after running out of ammunition, but a desperate counterattack by General Archer leading the 5th Alabama Battalion rescued the situation

December Went into winter quarters
1863
April 8 Colonel Goodner resigned due to ill health. Lieutenant Colonel Fite was promoted to colonel, Major Samuel G. Shepard to lieutenant colonel and Captain William H. Williamson of Company H to major.
May The 13th Alabama was added to the brigade.
May 3
Battle of Chancellorsville

The regiment was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel John A. Fite. It participated in the charge which captured the Chancellor House, losing 11 killed and 45 wounded. Colonel Fite was wounded.

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 7th Tennessee Infantry Regiment took part in the heavy fighting on July 1st as well as Pickett’s Charge on July 3. The 7th Tennessee made it to the stone wall north of The Angle but was unable to hold its position. It lost 24 killed, 38 wounded and 54 missing of 249 engaged. Colonel Fite and Major Williamson were captured. Colonel Fite would remain a prisoner for the rest of the war. Lieutenant Colonel Samuel Shepherd took command of the regiment when Colonel Fite fell.

When the men of the 7th Tennessee who had advanced the farthest were cut off and about to be captured, Captain A.D. Norris ripped the flag from the staff and carried it to safety. It was the only flag in Archer’s Brigade that survived the battle, although three standard bearers were lost carrying it.

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.
1864
  The brigade was consolidated with that of Brigadier General H. H. Walker.
May 5 – 7
Battle of the Wilderness
May 12-21
Battle of Spotsylvania Courthouse

Colonel Fry took over brigade when General Walker was wounded.

June 3
Battle of Cold Harbor
June 7
Siege of Petersburg
  2nd Maryland Battalion added to Brigade
August 19 General Archer returned from captivity to command the brigade, but his health, never good, was shattered from prison and 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
February 3 A deserter reported the 7th Tennessee had “not more than 60 men left” in the regiment.
February 16 Major Williamson was paroled.
April
Appomattox Court House

The 7th Tennessee Infantry Regiment surrendered 6 officers and 41 men under Lt. Colonel Samuel G. Shepard. The regiment was part of McComb’s Brigade of Heth’s Division of the Third Corps, consisting of the 2nd Maryland Battalion, 1st, 7th, 14th, 23rd, 25th, 44th and 63rd Tennessee Infantry Regiments.