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Short History of the First Tennessee Infantry (Maney's), 1861-1865

The First Tennessee Volunteer Infantry (Maney's) was organised on 2nd May 1861 at Nashville, Tennessee. After initial training, it was ordered to Virginia to join Brigadier-General William W. Loring's Division, Army of the North-West and took part in the abortive Cheat Mountain campaign within Brigadier-General Samuel R. Anderson's Brigade, It was involved in Major-General Thomas J. Jackson's expedition to Bath, Virginia during December 1861, and on 17 February 1862 was ordered West where it served for most of the remainder of the Civil war, later joining the Army of Tennessee. The left wing of the regiment (Co.'s A, B, C, D and E) was sent to Cumberland Cap, whilst the right wing (Co.'s F. G, H, I and K, took part in the Battle of Shiloh on 6-7 April 1862.

Re-united, the 1st Tennessee was re-organised about 1 May 1862, as part of the 2nd Brigade, Major-General Benjamin Franklin Cheatham's Division. During August 1862 they took part in General Braxton Bragg's invasion of Kentucky where it suffered heavily in the Battle of Perryville, later retreating into Tennessee to be involved in the Battle of Murfreesboro on 8 October 1862. Following this, it was consolidated with remnants of the 27th Tennessee Infantry to form a field organisation known as the 1st/27th Consolidated Regiment in January 1863. It remained thus for the remainder of the war, under the command of Colonel Hume R. Feild. It was mainly involved in the battles of Chickamauga and Missionary Ridge during 1863, and Kennesaw Mountain, Jonesboro, Franklin, and Nashville in 1864, as part of the Army of Tennessee.

After defeat at Nashville the army made a long and tedious journey through Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina to join General Joseph E. Johnston at Bentonville, North Carolina. In the final re-organisation of Johnston's Army in April 1865, the 1st/27th was consolidated with the 6th, 8th, 9th, 15th, 28th and 34th Infantry Regiments, and the 24th Battalion of Sharpshooters to form the 1st Consolidated Regiment of Tennessee Infantry. The consolidated regiment formed part of General Joseph E. Palmer's Brigade, Cheatham's Division, Hardee's Corps. After the Battle of Bentonville, it was surrendered by General Johnston at Durham, North Carolina on 26 April 1865, and was paroled at Greensboro, North Carolina on 1 May 1865. In April 1862 the 1st Tennessee had 1,167 men of all ranks on its roll, but only 125 were left to surrender. The 1st Tennessee returned home on 21 May 1865.

[Tennesseans in the Civil War: A Military History of Confederate and Union Units with Available Rosters of Personnel, Part I, Civil War Centennial Commission, 1964, pp. 172-174.]