Henry Seale
40TH Ala. Inf. Regt
Sat Dec 9 22:11:56 2000


I noticed a few errors I wanted to correct. The 40TH was not organized at Speed's Mill, Pickens County, Alabama as is sometimes erroneously stated. This was the place that the "Pickens Planters", what was later to become Company B of the 40TH was organized. The regiment was organized at Mobile in April 1862 from various companies that were recruited primaily from the following counties : Co. A,C,and K from Sumter, Co. B and G from Pickens, Co. D,E,and F from Choctaw, Company H from Perry and Company I from Covington. Some of these companies, particularly K and H were short of the required minimum 62 privates, 4 corporals, 5 sergeants, 3 lieutenants and 1 captain and were filled out at Mobile from volunteers from the Alabama Militia and some conscripts. The erroneous reference to the Speed's Mill place of organization seems to come from a reference work compiled by a Mr. Brewer who obviously got his information from the published diary of Capt. (later Major) Willett of Co. B.

The 40TH was originally commanded by Col. A.A. Coleman of Sumter County who was a delegate to the Alabama Seccession Covention. It was then commanded by Col. Higley of Mobile and quite often in his absence by Lt.Col. E.S. Gulley of Sumter County(originally Captain of Co. A). At the consolidation of the 40TH into the 19TH Ala. Inf. on 09 April 1865 after the Battle of Bentonville, North Carolina, Lt.Col. Gulley became the Lt.Col. of the 19TH. Col.Higley was on an extended furlough since December 1864 and did not actively command the regiment at all in 1865.

As to the battles listed, The regiment was first engaged at Deer Creek, Mississippi during the Vicksburg Campaign. The only companies that were at Chickamauga were Companies A,D, and I under the command of Major Thomas O. Stone. These 3 companies were on an expedition up the Sunflower River when the City of Vicksburg was invested and were cut off from the remainder of the regiment and therefore missed the siege of Vicksburg. This unit of 3 companies then temporarily became known as "Stone's Battallion" or "Stone's Battallion of Alabama Sharpshooters" and were attached to Ector's Texas Brigade and participated in the Battle of Chickamauga. The remaining 7 companies that were captured at Vicksburg were not declared as exchanged at this time and were not present for this battle. Soon after the Chickamauga battle they were declared exchanged and the regiment was reunited in time for the Battle of Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge before going into winter quarters at Dalton, Georgia.






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