Lieutenant Colonel Frederick Howard Farrar
1st Louisiana Regulars
The 1st Louisiana Regulars is a relatively unknown unit. When I run across the unit, I like to share it to help give it a little attention. Found a piece on one of the regiment's first officers, Frederick Howard Farrar. Interesting figure. Here is the bio on Farrar from Norwich University, 1819-1911; Her History, Her Graduates, Her Roll of Honor, Vol. 2 (1911):
Frederick H Farrar, son of Judge Frederick Howard and Mary (Balloch) Farrar, was born in Natchez, Miss., November 30, 1837, and was killed in battle, January 5, 1863. In February, 1849, his parents removed to Point Coupe, La. He entered the University in 1853, and graduated B. S. in 1856.
He was engineer on the railroad between Vicksburg, Meridian and Brandon, Miss. He was one of the four assistant engineers employed by Braxton Bragg, afterwards major-general, C. S. A., chief engineer of the Board of Public Works of Louisiana, and accomplished a great deal of work in ascertaining levels, etc., in different parts of the State.
On the breaking out of the Civil War, he went to New Orleans and enlisted a company for the Confederate army and was commissioned its captain. This company [became a part of the 1st Louisiana Regulars, so called as they were enlisted for the period of the war. This regiment served first under General Bragg, his old chief. He was for atime the adjutant of the brigade, and then was promoted major; and in the absence of the colonel and lieutenant-colonel, he led the regiment in the two clays' fight at Shiloh, where he had two horses killed under him and a third wounded. He commanded the regiment under General Bragg in his march into Kentucky. He was promoted lieutenant-colonel and was in command at the battle of Murfreesboro, where standing in company with his fellow officers around a camp fire at night, he was struck by a shell and mortally wounded, and died January 5, 1863. He was a great favorite with General Bragg, who considered him one of the most promising young officers in the Confederate Army, and would undoubtedly have held a high command had it not been for his untimely death.
An interesting side note to the 1st Louisiana Regulars's commanding officers: Its first Colonel (Henry Gladden) was promoted to Brigadier General and then killed at his first engagement, Shiloh. The 1st Regulars were in Gladden's Brigade and when that officer went down, the new Colonel of the 1st Regulars, Daniel W. Adams, assumed command of the brigade. Command of the 1st Regulars then fell on the shoulders of then Major Frederick Farrar. Adams was wounded that same afternoon, losing his left eye. In Adams recuperation he was promoted Brigadier General and never returned to the regiment. Following Shiloh, Colonel John Jacques was placed in command of the 1st Regulars and Farrar was promoted to Lt. Colonel. At Murfreesboro, Farrar was mortally wounded and died and shortly afterwards Jacques was court martialed. Command of the regiment now fell to Major James Strawbridge (who was promoted to Colonel). Strawbridge was captured by the enemy later in the year and never returned to the regiment. Command fell onto the shoulders of Major S.S. Batchelor (who was only recently promoted to Major from Captain). Batchelor led this unit to the early part of the Atlanta Campaign where he was mortally wounded. For the remainder of the war, there are suggestions that the 1st Regulars operated under the umbrella of Austin's Sharpshooters Battalion. Commanding the 1st Regulars was risky business.
Frederick H. Farrar was one of the first initiates of Theta Chi Fraternity along with Congressional Medal of Honor recipient Edward Bancroft Williston. Farrar was the only member of Theta Chi Fraternity to join the Confederate Army. If anyone is able to locate his final resting place, please contact me at NationalPresident@ThetaChi.org
ReplyDeleteLt. Col. Stewart Scott Batchelor is my 3rd great uncle; brother of my great great grandmother, Jennette Erskine Hutchings, nee Batchelor, of Montgomery, AL. Lt. Col. Batchelor was a dentist prior to the war breaking out. The article mentions he was "mortally wounded" in the early part of the Atlanta campaign. This is an error. Lt. Col. Batchelor was at Nashville, and continued on through the end of the war, eventually being captured and paroled at war's end in Montgomery, AL. After the war, he continued his dental practice in Pontchatoula, LA (Tangipahoa Parish), dying July 6, 1871. He is buried in the family tomb in the Masonic Cemetery in New Orleans, LA.
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