With the completion of these railways, farmers in East Tennessee could finally transport produce, primarily hogs and corn, to Virginia and the Deep South, and a new cash crop emerged in the regions economy: wheat.

Though a military alliance was signed with the Confederate States of America the very next day, Tennessee's Declaration of Independence was submitted for a referendum to be held on June 8.

"[6] According to Worsham's first person account, at the time of the regiment's formation, there were 1,012 men in the 19th's rank and file, and 48 commissioned officers, for a total of 1,060 soldiers.

Colonel - Francis Marion Walker Major - Abram Fulkerson Adjutant - V. Q. Johnson Sgt.-Major - Henry M. Doak Surgeon - Joseph E. Dulaney Asst.

The regiment began building breastworks and fortifying the mountain pass, but was soon stricken with an epidemic of measles and mumps that nearly incapacitated the entire command.

Union loyalist sentiment was as strong in Eastern Kentucky as it was in East Tennessee, and Zollicoffer feared that local Home Guard units might take action against his forces.

On September 18, Zollicoffer sent a mixed force of 800 troops, including Companies B and K of the 19th, to destroy Camp Andrew Johnson, a Union training facility at Barbourville, KY.

Lt. Robert D. Powell of Company K acquired the dubious distinction of being the first Confederate killed in the Western Theater of the American Civil War.

The regiment remained in Kentucky for a time, even managing a couple of successful raids to acquire supplies, but the assorted diseases that spread through the camps like wildfire were taking their tolls.

Indeed, also believing that invasion was imminent, Unionist guerillas had stepped up actions in East Tennessee, including the burnings of several key railroad bridges, but the revolt was soon suppressed by Confederate reinforcements in the region.

With the local rebellion under control, Zollicoffer's forces, including the 19th Tennessee, returned to Kentucky in late November to establish winter camp near the tiny hamlet of Mill Springs on the south bank of the Cumberland River.

The Union's Army of the Ohio responded by sending a brigade under the command of General Albin F. Schoepf to nearby Somerset to prevent Zollicoffer from crossing the river and advancing into Central Kentucky.

Zollicoffer committed a potentially grave tactical error by crossing the Cumberland and established a fortified position on the north bank at Beech Grove—he had a numerically superior force on his front, and a flood-prone river to his rear.

The 19th and 25th Tennessee charged the Yankees and drove them back into the woods, but the attack faltered as confusion and chaos set in from limited visibility due to the rain, fog, smoke, thunder, and lightning.

[10] Crittenden placed Colonel Cummings of the 19th Tennessee in command of Zollicoffer's brigade, and he attempted to correct his battle lines, but artillery support was ineffective, and the infantry's assortment of inferior rifles, including many flintlock muskets and country rifles that were misfiring in the rain and dampness, were no match for the Federals' superior .58 caliber, percussion cap Enfields.

The attack on the Federal camp opened at 5:00 A.M., but Col. George Maney's battalion, the 19th Tennessee, and General Nathan Bedford Forrest's cavalry were sent to scout the Confederate rear in case Buell attempted a landing there.

Union gunboats fired shells into the Confederate lines starting a brushfire that burned a considerable amount of ground where the dead and wounded still lay,[14] and nature unleashed another deluge about 10:00 P.M. that lasted until 3:00 in the morning.

Breckinridge had assembled his men and moved towards the Hornet's Nest, with the 19th Tennessee posted in the woods on the center-right of his line, where they began taking considerable artillery fire.

Federal troops advanced from the woods near Bloody Pond toward the Manse cabin, but were met by intense artillery and musket fire from Bowen's and Stratham's brigades, including the 19th Tennessee.

Breckinridge's corps organized a rear guard action and held the Federals off, allowing the Army of Mississippi to safely retreat.

[17] The next day, the corps moved to Mickie's Farm near Corinth and held the position, allowing Beauregard to organize a defense near the Mississippi town.

When the divisions marched on the Union positions just before dawn, fog limited the ability to see more than "twenty steps" and there were not enough troops to form the standard double battle line.

The Confederates occupied Port Hudson for a time and fearing another attack by them, Union forces abandoned Baton Rouge on August 18.

The men of the 19th recuperated for the rest of the month in Jackson, Mississippi and the troops left ill at Vicksburg and Baton Rouge began to trickle back in.

The men of the 19th Tennessee stitched the battle honors of Fishing Creek, Shiloh, Vicksburg, and Baton Rouge into their regimental flag, to which they were fiercely devoted.

The men of the 19th Tennessee overran and artillery battery that had shelled them, but was met with another fusillade of fire, killing the regiment's flag bearer.

The Rebels managed to capture 300 small arms, ammunition, and supplies, along with 50 Federals, but the 19th, who had entered the battle with 382 men, suffered 136 casualties.

By this time, Federal troops occupied much of East Tennessee and with Unionist guerrillas anxious to punish the region's Rebels and their families, desertions from the army rose dramatically, taking their toll on all units, including the 19th.

The Confederate lines began to buckle as the Federals advanced, but a Rebel artillery barrage of canister and grapeshot, effective turning the big guns into shotguns, forced the Yankees to retreat.

They served as the Honor Guard at the gravesite during the funeral for the crew of the H. L. Hunley (submarine) on April 17, 2004, at Magnolia Cemetery in Charleston, South Carolina.