The "Independent Rangers”, Company E, 12th Regiment Louisiana Infantry Raised in Union Parish Louisiana Submitted by: R. Hugh Simmons Date of Submission: 02/03/2010 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ************************************************ ========================================================================================== ========================================================================================== The following narrative about Union Parish’s Company E, 12th Louisiana Infantry is provided by regimental historian R. Hugh Simmons who created and maintains a website dedicated to the 12th Louisiana Infantry. A roster of the Independent Rangers [Company E] compiled by the author from the Compiled Military Service Records is presented on the website. All of this material was researched and copyrighted by the author. See www.rhsresearch.org/12LAINF.htm ========================================================================================== ========================================================================================== ========================================================================================== ========================================================================================== The "Independent Rangers”, Company E, 12th Regiment Louisiana Infantry Raised in Union Parish Louisiana ========================================================================================== ========================================================================================== The Independent Rangers from Union Parish were organized during the summer of 1861 and left home on July 20, 1861 to report to Camp Moore. They traveled by rail from Monroe to Camp Moore through Vicksburg and Jackson in Mississippi arriving at Camp Moore two days later. Members of this company filled important leadership positions for the 12th Louisiana Infantry regimental headquarters throughout the war. 1st Lieutenant John C. Knott was elected Major of the regiment in August 1861 at Camp Moore, Louisiana and served in that capacity until May 1862. Major Knott was furloughed home in January 1862 from Columbus, Kentucky to recruit and was responsible for enlisting many Union Parish men who joined the regiment at Fort Pillow in March 1862. The regiment was re-enlisted and re-organized under the terms of the Confederate Conscription Act to serve for three years or the duration of the war. A new election was held for officers and non-commissioned officers on May 10, 1862 at Camp Green near Fort Pillow. Major Knott was not reelected, relieved from duty, and returned home. 1st Lieutenant Evander M. Graham served as Regimental Adjutant from November 1861 through January 1862 when he was elected Captain of Company E to replace D. L. Hicks who had resigned due to poor health. Graham commanded the company until he was appointed Acting Assistant Adjutant General on Colonel Thomas M. Scott's brigade staff in March 1864. He served in this capacity throughout the Atlanta and Tennessee campaigns during 1864. Because his AAAG assignment was viewed as temporary, 1st Lieutenant James R. Fuller was not promoted to Captain although he commanded the company while Graham served as AAAG. Wounded at Franklin, Tennessee on November 30, 1864, Captain Graham was furloughed home in January 1865 and did not rejoin the regiment until early April 1865. He was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel on April 9, 1865 and commanded the regiment in North Carolina in the absence of Colonel Thomas C. Standifer who was at home in Louisiana attempting to collect absentees and return to the regiment. Standifer had been promoted to Colonel on April 9, 1865 to replace Colonel Noel L. Nelson who was mortally wounded at Franklin, Tennessee. The regiment was surrendered under the Johnston/Sherman agreement at Greensboro, North Carolina on April 26, 1865. All of the regimental Sergeant Majors came from this Union Parish company. Leonidas G. Smith was promoted from 4th Sergeant of Company E to Regimental Sergeant Major in September 1861 when the regiment reached Columbus, Kentucky.  However, he was discharged for an unstated cause six weeks later. Hermann Brunner who joined the company on August 29, 1861 at Union City, Tennessee may have replaced him on a temporary basis. Brunner officially served as Sergeant Major from May 10, 1862 until his death at the battle of Franklin, Tennessee on November 30, 1864. Samuel H. Tignor was captured and paroled at Vicksburg but reported back to the company in September 1863 and served as a private in the ranks until late 1864. Promoted to Sergeant Major upon the death of SGM Brunner, Tignor was captured when the Confederate line was overrun at Nashville on December 16th. James Hardy Jackson appears as the Regimental Sergeant Major in the final roster prepared for the surrender of the regiment at Greensboro, North Carolina at the end of April 1865. Men from this company were active in post war affairs. Graham was a judge and prominent in Union Parish politics. Others were active in local camps of the United Confederate Veterans organization. The Graham family letters and the letters of Sergeant George Washington Bolton of this company have provided a good deal [but by no means all] of the primary source material documenting movements of the 12th Louisiana Infantry during its four year existence. R. Hugh Simmons Regimental Historian 12th Louisiana Infantry E-mail: HeyHugh@rhsresearch.org Website: www.rhsresearch.org/12LAINF.htm ########################################################################################## File posted at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/la/union/military/coe12lainf.txt