Re: Tupelo/Harrisburg
Lt. Col. Polk's service record will show that he had an assignment, just as any officer on active duty. As mentioned in another post, the 1st Mississippi regiment had lost most of its officers at Port Hudson, and Polk was needed temporarily for field service. Reynolds' Battalion could have been an ad hoc command made up of recently exchanged men from Port Hudson, another group of enlistment men short of officers.