Hayes Lowe
40th organization and consolidation
Mon Dec 11 20:11:23 2000


One of my sources for the information that the 40th was organized at Speed's Mill is "The History of Pickens County, Alabama, 1540-1920", by James F. Clanahan, published about 1921. Clanahan states in his opening paragraph about the Pickens Planters, "The 40th Regiment Alabama Volunteers, C.S.A. Col. A.A. Coleman commanding, organized on the 13th day of March 1862, at Speed's Mill in Pickens County, Alabama." He goes on to say that the following pages of his book are excerpts taken from the diaries of Sgt. John H. Curry and Capt./Major E.D. Willet.

While it is possible that his source for the organization information was Brewer’s, that seems doubtful. When this book was published it was widely read, and many veterans of the 40th were still living in Pickens County (Dr. Jesse Thomas Hancock, for just one example). I have never heard that there were any objections to the factualness of what Clanahan wrote. And, it would be doubtful that he would have written this without the input of those living veterans.

One of my sources about the consolidations is “The Compendium of the Confederate Armies, Alabama” by Stewart Sifakis. While Willet does mention a consolidation between the 40th and the 19th, Sifakis does not. He states that the 40th and 42nd were field consolidated with the 37th from Nov. 1864 to early 1865. He states further that the 42nd and the 54th were consolidated with the 37th at Smithfield, N.C. and was “designated as the 37th Infantry Regiment Consolidated”. It is unclear if the 40th was “unconsolidated” with the 37th at this time, but it is clear that the 40th and the 37th Consolidated were still brigaded together at this time in Baker’s Brigade. Both the 37th and the 40th were surrendered by Gen. Jo. Johnson at Durham Station, Orange Co., N.C. on 4/26/1865. The 19th was also surrendered there and then.

Next time that I’m at the library, I’ll take a closer look at the actual surrender locations. I do know that the 19th was paroled at or near Salisbury, N.C. and listed at the “19th Alabama Infantry”.