Private J.M. Price, of Company E, 28th Mississippi Cavalry
The companies of the 28th Cavalry Regiment were organized in early 1862. Peter Burwell Starke, a state politician, was elected colonel, and Samuel W. Ferguson, a native of South Carolina and graduate of West Point was elected lieutenant colonel.[1] Ferguson had previously served in the South Carolina militia and was one of the officers who received the surrender of the US garrison after the Battle of Fort Sumter in April, 1861.
In May, the Regiment was sent to Vicksburg under the command of General Martin Luther Smith to aid in the defense of the city during an attack by Federal gunboats. The Regiment continued operations in the vicinity of Vicksburg for the rest of the year. Company I of the regiment, under Captain William H. Johnson, took part in the Battle of Chickasaw Bayou in December.[1]
In January, 1863, the 28th Cavalry was assigned to General George B. Cosby's brigade and sent to Tennessee. The regiment was held in reserve during the Battle of Thompson's Station, then fought in the First Battle of Franklin in April, where the "gallant and meritorious conduct" of the Regiment was noted by General William Hicks Jackson.[2] The 28th returned to Mississippi in June, and on June 22, the regiment fought a skirmish with the 4th Iowa Cavalry at Birdsong's ferry along the Big Black River.[1] After the fall of Vicksburg on July 4, the 28th harassed Union forces advancing on Jackson, the state capital. For the rest of the year, the 28th fought skirmishes with Union forces across Mississippi.
After the Confederate losses in the Tennessee campaign, the 28th Cavalry moved into Alabama and fought a series of skirmishes there before surrendering on May 4, 1865.[1]
