43rd Mississippi Infantry Regiment

The 43rd Mississippi Infantry Regiment was a regiment of infantry in the Confederate States Army. It fought in many battles and campaigns of the American Civil War. It was known as "The Camel Regiment" after its mascot, Douglas the camel.

Service history
Organized in the summer of 1862 and serving in the Army of the West of Gen. Sterling Price, the first battle that the 43rd fought was at Iuka. At the Battle of Second Corinth Colonel William Hudson Moore and Lieutenant-Colonel Richard W. Leigh were killed by Union forces. After the battle, Richard Harrison was promoted to Colonel and Columbus "Lum" Sykes promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel.

Their next battles were during Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's Vicksburg Campaign between April and July 1863. At the Siege of Vicksburg a mine blew up killing six members from the 43rd. The regiment was part of General Hebert's brigade defending the Third Louisiana Redan. The regiment's namesake camel, Douglas, was killed by Union sharpshooters on June 27th, 1863 at Vicksburg, and the regiment was captured along with the rest of the Confederate defenders when the city fell to Union forces on July 4th.

In September 1863, a detachment from Company H of the 43rd Regiment which had not been captured at Vicksburg was organized as Captain Merriman Pound's Battalion Mississippi Sharpshooters and sent to join Braxton Bragg's Army of the Tennessee in Georgia, fighting at the Battle of Chickamauga.

After Chickamauga, Pound's Battalion was sent back to Mississippi and some of the 43rd rode with General Forrest to drive Union forces out of the state. In the spring of 1864, the 43rd regiment was sent to Georgia to fight in the Atlanta Campaign against William T. Sherman's invading Federal army. In Cobb County, Georgia, the regiment hauled cannons up the side of Kennesaw Mountain.

After Atlanta was lost, the 43rd fought in General John Bell Hood's Tennessee Campaign which included the Battles of Franklin and Nashville. Afterwards it was sent to the Carolinas and fought at the Battles of Kinston and Bentonville, North Carolina.

The 43rd Mississippi was part of the Gen. Joe Johnston's surrender of the Army of Tennessee at Bennett Place on April 26, 1865. The army was soon disbanded and the men of the 43rd walked back to their home state and rebuilt their communities.

Commanders
Commanders of the 43rd Mississippi Infantry Regiment:
 * Col. William H. Moore, killed at Corinth, 1862.
 * Col. Richard Harrison
 * Lt. Richard W. Leigh, killed at Corinth, 1862.
 * Lt. Col. Columbus Sykes
 * Lt. Col. James O. Banks

Organization
Companies of the 43rd Mississippi Infantry Regiment:
 * Company A – Frank Rodgers Rifles of Monroe County
 * Company B – Lowndes Riflemen of Lowndes County
 * Company C – Whitfield Guards of Monroe County
 * Company D – Capt. Thompson's Company of Choctaw County
 * Company E – Capt. Smith's Company of Pontotoc County
 * Company F – Capt. Hampton's Company of Lowndes County
 * Company G – Capt. Winter's Company of Monroe County
 * Company H – Itawamba Tigers of Itawamba County
 * Company I – Capt. Banks Company of Lowndes County.
 * Company K – Kemper Fencibles of Kemper County.
 * Company L – Gholson's Rebels of Monroe County.