Page:Confederate Military History - 1899 - Volume 7.djvu/740

CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. army as colonel of the Ninth Mississippi regiment of infantry in 1861, and for a while commanded at Pensacola, Florida. On February 13, 1862, he became a brigadier-general in the Confederate army, and on April 6th was assigned to the command of the Second brigade of Withers' division, army of the Mississippi. He and his command did splendid fighting in the battle of Shiloh. When Bragg was conducting operations in north Mississippi he sent Chalmers with a force of cavalry to make a feint upon Rienzi in order to cover the movement of a body of infantry to Ripley, Miss. In executing this order Chalmers encountered Sheridan, July 1st, and a stubborn engagement took place. It lasted from about half-past eight in the morning till late in the afternoon. Chalmers, ascertaining that Sheridan had been reinforced by infantry and artillery, retired. When Bragg advanced into Kentucky in the summer of 1862 Chalmers' command was a part of his force, performing its duties with courage and zeal. In the battle of Murfreesboro he and his men again rendered brilliant service. In April, 1863, General Chalmers was placed in command of the military district of Mississippi and East Louisiana. In 1864 he was assigned to the command of the cavalry brigades of Jeffrey Forrest and McCulloch, forming the First division of Forrest's cavalry. This division was subsequently enlarged by the addition of Rucker's brigade. General Chalmers bore a conspicuous part in the battle of Fort Pillow and in all the brilliant campaigns of Forrest in north Mississippi, west Tennessee and Kentucky, as well as in the Tennessee campaign of Hood. February 18, 1865, he was put in command of all the Mississippi cavalry in the Confederate service in Mississippi and west Tennessee. After the war General Chalmers was quite prominent in the politics of Mississippi. He was elected to the State Senate in 187s and 1876, and in 1876 as a representative of his district to the Congress of the United States, serving in the Forty-fifth and Forty-sixth Congresses. He