The Jackson Greys have a most interesting history. Originally enrolled at Camp Moore on July 6, 1861 as Company K of the 9th Louisiana Infantry, the company was sent to Virginia arriving too late to participate in the First Battle of Bull Run [First Manassas] fought on July 21st. Captain James R. Kavanaugh was promoted to Major of the 9th Louisiana in October 1861 and replaced as company commander by George W. McCranie.

The men were re-enlisted in mid-February 1862 for three years and Major Kavanaugh, Captain McCranie, plus a substantial number of the re-enlisted veterans went home to Jackson Parish on furlough to recruit. They were highly successful and enrolled a large number of new volunteers on March 1, 1862 at the parish seat of Vernon.  Major Kavanaugh also recruited men from nearby parishes for other companies in the 9th Louisiana. While en route back to Virginia with their furloughed veterans and new recruits, Kavanaugh, McCranie, and most of the men were captured at Huntsville, Alabama on April 11, 1862 in a large scale Federal cavalry raid on the Memphis & Charleston Railroad. Languishing in Federal prisoner of war camps in Ohio, the men were released in the first major exchange of the war under the newly negotiated Dix-Hill Cartel of July 1862. Delivered to Confederate authorities at Vicksburg, they were sent to a parole camp near Jackson, Mississippi to refit and re-organize. When news of their declaration of exchange (agreed to at Aiken's Landing in Virginia on November 11, 1862) reached Mississippi, they were sent from Jackson to join the 12th Louisiana Infantry at Holly Springs, Mississippi rather than returned to the 9th Louisiana in northern Virginia.

James Kavanaugh was dropped from the rolls of the 9th Louisiana on April 24, 1862 when news of his capture reached Virginia. Following his exchange declaration, he returned to Louisiana and continued to recruit. He organized the Jackson Volunteers which became Company C, 1st State Battalion in 1863. McCranie gathered up all of the other exchanged men in a camp at Jackson, Mississippi in September 1862 and the Jackson Greys were officially transferred to the 12th Louisiana Infantry and became Company M [second Company M in the Compiled Military Service Records] replacing the Natchitoches Parish Farmer Rangers who had been merged with the Southern Sentinels of Winn Parish into a new Company C. Men serving in Virginia who wanted to continue to serve with the Jackson Greys were sent back to Mississippi to join Company M2, 12th Louisiana Infantry.

COMPANY M2 ROSTER

The Compiled Military Service Records are organized alphabetically by regiment. 

This company roster was derived from the author's 12th Louisiana database

and is not available as such from the National Archives.

Copyright registered with the Library of Congress.

Data presented below shows (1) name as it appears in the Compiled Military Service Records with spelling variations (2) positions or rank held, and (3) initial enrollment data. Camp Moore volunteers are designated by the letters CM. Volunteers who joined after the regiment left Camp Moore are designated by the year of their enrollment. Asterisks indicate service at regimental and higher headquarters.

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LSU Class of 1965.  Geaux Tigers!!