Hayes Lowe
Tuskaloosa Plow Boys
Sat Apr 7 15:11:45 2001


Yes, you are correct that they served with the 38th Tenn. Inf. They were Company G. My g-g-grandfather was Private Joseph Jasper Doughty of this unit.

This is all that I have on Private Beams: Died at Camp Abbington, Tenn.

Here are some excerpts from my writings on this unit:

"The company was organized at Big Creek Church, in Coker, Tuscaloosa County on the Columbus Road (now U.S. Hwy 82). The men received their uniforms there, when they entered service."

"The next day, the company left for Columbus, Miss., marching through Pickens Co. via the Upper Columber Road, and making it as far as Palmetto [in north central Pickens County]. On the third day, the company camped near Bethlehem Church. On the fourth day, the company marched to Tabernacle Church, near the Miss. stateline. The next morning, the Plow Boys entered Columbus and boarded a train for Artesia and Corinth. On the sixth day, they arrived near Memphis, where they entered a camp of instruction thirty miles down the Memphis and Charleston Railroad."

"The 38th Tennessee Infantry “won more laurels” at the Battle of Shiloh than any other Confederate regiment that fought there. The 38th took at least one thousand Union prisoners near Owl Creek during the battle. One account says that the 38th took as many as five thousand prisoners at Shiloh." [At this time, the 38th included three companies of men from Alabama.]

I haven't developed a list of engagements for the 38th, yet. During November and December 1925, several articles were written about this company in the Tuscaloosa News. If you can find these (probably available on microfilm at the Tuscaloosa library or at the Alabama archives), they would be a good source of details.