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Jeff Davis Mississippi Legion Cavalry

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Muster In: Organized as the 2nd Mississippi Cavalry Battalion on October 21, 1861.  Renamed the Jeff. Davis Legion in late 1861.1
Muster Out: April 26, 18652

Commander(s):
Lieutenant Colonel J. Frederick Waring
Commander Image

Major Ivey F. Lewis
Commander Image

Commander 3
Commander Image

First Offensive Order of Battle: Young’s Brigade | Hampton’s Division | Cavalry Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army3

  • Commander:
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Second Offensive Order of Battle: Young’s Brigade | Hampton’s Division | Cavalry Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army4

  • Commander: Lieutenant Colonel J. Frederick Waring5
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Third Offensive Order of Battle: Young’s Brigade | Hampton’s Division | Cavalry Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army6

  • Commander: Lieutenant Colonel J. Frederick Waring 7
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:
  • Note: Increased to a regiment by the addition of the three companies of the 4th Alabama Cavalry Battalion and Company D, 20th Georgia Cavalry Battalion by orders issued on July 11, 1864.8
  • Note: The 20th Georgia Cavalry Battalion was broken up in the last week in July 1864.  Companies A, C, and D were placed in what became the 8th Georgia Cavalry.  Companies E, F, and G were made part of the 10th Georgia Cavalry.  Company B was added to the Jeff Davis Legion Cavalry.9

Fourth Offensive Order of Battle: Young’s Brigade | Butler’s Division | Cavalry Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army10

  • Commander: Lieutenant Colonel J. Frederick Waring 11
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:
  • Note: At least some portion of the 20th Georgia Cavalry Battalion seems to have been serving with the Jeff Davis Legion Cavalry at this time. (need source)

Fifth Offensive Order of Battle: Young’s Brigade | Butler’s Division | Cavalry Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army12,13

  • Commander:
    • Lieutenant Colonel J. Frederick Waring (September 1864)(definitely September 30, 1864)14,15
    • ? (while Waring commanded the brigade)16
  • Unit Strength: 234 officers and men PFD (September 30, 1864)17
  • Weapons: Various Rifles (Springfield, Enfield, Spencer, ?, Maynard, Sharps, Burnside, Richmond)18
  • Note: Richard Sommers mentions that the 20th Georgia Cavalry Battalion often functioned as a unit with the Jeff Davis Legion Cavalry. A Confederate Inspection Report from Young’s Cavalry Brigade for September 30, 1864 does indeed show at least a portion of the 20th Georgia serving with the Jeff Davis Legion, all of the men under Colonel J. Frederick Waring.19,20

Sixth Offensive Order of Battle: Young’s Brigade | Butler’s Division | Cavalry Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army21

  • Commander: Lieutenant Colonel J. Frederick Waring22
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Seventh Offensive Order of Battle: Young’s Brigade | Butler’s Division | Cavalry Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army23,24

  • Commander:
    • Major Ivey F. Lewis (November & December 1864)25,26
    • Colonel Frederick Waring (returned by at least December 8)(December 1864)27
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Eighth Offensive Order of Battle: Young’s Brigade | Butler’s Division | Cavalry Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army28

  • Commander:
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:
  • Note: Butler’s Division was ordered to South Carolina on January 19, 1865.29

Ninth Offensive Order of Battle:

  • No longer present.

Dyer’s/Sifakis’ Compendium Info:
Siege of Petersburg Battles30:

  • Petersburg Siege (June 1864-April 1865)
  • Williamsburg Road (October 27, 1864)

Bibliography:

    Siege of Petersburg Documents Which Mention This Unit:

    Sources:

    1. Compendium of the Confederate Armies: Mississippi by Stewart Sifakis, pp. 60-61
    2. Compendium of the Confederate Armies: Mississippi by Stewart Sifakis, pp. 60-61
    3. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., p. 113
    4. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., p. 113
    5. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., p. 113
    6. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 123
    7. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 123
    8. Compendium of the Confederate Armies: Mississippi by Stewart Sifakis, pp. 60-61
    9. Hopkins, Donald A. The Little Jeff: The Jeff Davis Legion, Cavalry, Army of Northern Virginia. White Mane Books, 1999, p. 223
    10. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 132
    11. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 132
    12. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 140
    13. Sommers, Richard J. “Grant’s Fifth Offensive at Petersburg: A Study in Strategy, Tactics, and Generalship.  The Battle of Poplar Spring Church, the First Battle of the Darbytown Road, the Second Battle of the Squirrel Level Road, the Second Battle of the Darbytown Road (Ulysses S. Grant, Virginia).” Doctoral Thesis. Rice University, 1970. Print. p. 1310.
    14. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 140
    15. Confederate Inspection Report 4-P-24: Young’s Cavalry Brigade, September 30, 1864Inspection Reports and Related Records Received By the Inspection Branch in the Confederate Adjutant and Inspector General’s Office. (National Archives Microfilm Publication M935, Roll 10: Inspection Reports P-12 – 39-P-24); War Department Collection of Confederate Records, Record Group 109; National Archives Building, Washington, D.C.
    16. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 140
    17. Confederate Inspection Report 4-P-24: Young’s Cavalry Brigade, September 30, 1864Inspection Reports and Related Records Received By the Inspection Branch in the Confederate Adjutant and Inspector General’s Office. (National Archives Microfilm Publication M935, Roll 10: Inspection Reports P-12 – 39-P-24); War Department Collection of Confederate Records, Record Group 109; National Archives Building, Washington, D.C.: 162  PFD in the Jeff Davis Legion plus 72 in the 20th Georgia Cavalry Battalion.
    18. Confederate Inspection Report 4-P-24: Young’s Cavalry Brigade, September 30, 1864Inspection Reports and Related Records Received By the Inspection Branch in the Confederate Adjutant and Inspector General’s Office. (National Archives Microfilm Publication M935, Roll 10: Inspection Reports P-12 – 39-P-24); War Department Collection of Confederate Records, Record Group 109; National Archives Building, Washington, D.C.
    19. Sommers, Richard J. “Grant’s Fifth Offensive at Petersburg: A Study in Strategy, Tactics, and Generalship.  The Battle of Poplar Spring Church, the First Battle of the Darbytown Road, the Second Battle of the Squirrel Level Road, the Second Battle of the Darbytown Road (Ulysses S. Grant, Virginia).” Doctoral Thesis. Rice University, 1970. Print. p. 1310.
    20. Confederate Inspection Report 4-P-24: Young’s Cavalry Brigade, September 30, 1864Inspection Reports and Related Records Received By the Inspection Branch in the Confederate Adjutant and Inspector General’s Office. (National Archives Microfilm Publication M935, Roll 10: Inspection Reports P-12 – 39-P-24); War Department Collection of Confederate Records, Record Group 109; National Archives Building, Washington, D.C.
    21. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 150
    22. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 150
    23. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 159
    24. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 168
    25. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 159
    26. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 168
    27. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 168
    28. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 177
    29. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume XLVI, Part 2 (Serial Number 96), page 1101
    30. Compendium of the Confederate Armies: Mississippi by Stewart Sifakis, pp. 60-61
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