A number of 19th Mississippi soldiers were awarded the Southern Cross of Honor following the war.  I found the article on the Marshall County, Mississippi, web site about Private Asbury W. Hancock of Company I and his heroism during the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House particularly moving and illustrative of the sacrifices made by many of the 19th Mississippi soldiers.  We owe a lot to these brave men.

 

CONFEDERATE MEDAL OF HONOR

CITATION

FOR

PRIVATE ASBURY W. HANCOCK

19TH Mississippi Infantry, C.S.A

 

"During the desperate struggle for the salient, with much of the fighting hand-to-hand and even the fate of the army hanging in the balance, Private Hancock voluntarily left the cover of the traverses and braved a terrific storm of musketry - - perhaps some of the most intense of the war - to bring badly needed ammunition to his exhausted comrades in arms. Although detailed as a courier to the brigade commander, he repeatedly risked his life to cross the bullet-swept terrain in the all-day fight in the rain, promptly returning each time with more cartridges for the men in the works with little concern for his own safety. Private Hancock's unselfish action, despite witnessing the death or wounding of so many others in the same attempt, was valor of the highest order and marked him for special notice from the brigadier general commanding."