Hutchinson, Merritt

Submitted to the USGenWeb Archives by Edgar McNabb, Oct 2006

Merritt S. Hutchinson, b. ca. 1841, was the son of Simpson Hutchinson of St. Helena Parish, La. He served with the Confederate Army during the Civil War. He was on the rolls of Company I, 4th Regiment, Louisiana Infantry, CSA. He joined the Confederate Army on May 25th,1861 at Camp Moore as a member of the St. Helena Rifles and was killed at the Battle of Jonesbourgh in Georgia on August 31st ,1864.

A summary of the history of his regiment is as follows; Fought at Shiloh on April 6-7th, 1862, served picket duty at Vicksburg May 18th- July 27th, 1862, participated in the Battle of Baton Rouge on August 5th, 1862, erected the fortifications at Port Hudson during the fall and winter of 1862 and remained there until May 1863. In December, 1863 the regiment joined the Army of Tennessee.

On May 27th,1864 the regiment fought at the Battle of New Hope Church. The regiment was transferred to General Randall Gibson's Louisiana Brigade on July 19th,1864. The regiment made a gallant but futile attack against the Union Army at Jonesbourgh, Georgia on August 31st, 1864. In that battle Company I was decimated, losing 64 of the 104 men engaged.

By March, 1865 only one lieutenant and 18 enlisted men of the regiment remained. During the War some 1,045 men served with the regiment. Of that number 155 died in battle.

The regiment surrendered at Meridian, Mississippi on May 12th,1865.

Merritt is buried in an unmarked grave near the battlefield in Jonesborough, Georgia.