Duty-Honor-Valor: The Story of the Eleventh Mississippi Infantry Regiment

by Steven H. Stubbs

Book by Stubbs, Steven H.

948 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 2000

Reviews

[Michael Brasher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Steven H. Stubbs labor of love which documents not only the 11th Mississippi Infantry Regiment, but also the individuals who comprised it, is everything a regimental history should be. Unjustly overlooked by historians due in large part to the fact the regiment served as a part of two different brigades (the first a very unusal mixed-state command), the 11th Mississippi's combat record in Lee's Army of Northern Virginia is second to none. By the time it was assigned to Brigadier Joseph R. Davis's brigade in early 1863, combat reputations at the brigade level had unfortunately already been established and "carved in stone." As a part of Bee's/Whiting's/Law's hard-hitting "mixed" brigade, the 11th Mississippi, 2nd Mississippi, 4th Alabama and 6th North Carolina comprised one of Lee's premier combat units and played a major role at 1st Manassas, Gaines Mill, 2nd Manassas, South Mountain and Antietam. However, the brigade was broken up in late 1862 and the units reassigned to more traditional "state" commands. The two Mississippi units went on to form the core of Davis's new brigade which came to grief during the Gettysburg Campaign. Although the 11th Mississippi missed the debacle at the Railroad Cut on July 1, it was present for "Pickett's Charge" forming the highly exposed left flank of the Confederate line once Brockenbrough's small Virginia brigade broke to the rear. The remnants of the 11th Mississippi, along with the other units of Davis's Brigade, also suffered in rear-guard actions at Falling Waters during Lee's retreat. Thus, the outstanding performance subsequently demonstrated by Davis's brigade following the Gettysburg debacle, during the Overland Campaign and the fighting south of Petersburg in the closing months of the war, was largely relegated to brief passages or footnotes in the works of most Civil War historians. Steven Stubbs' history of the 11th Mississippi helps correct this serious error of omission. Highly recommended.