Bob Hurst
55th Alabama service record
Fri Sep 15 14:43:45 2000


The two battalions that formed the 55th each served in a number of battles prior to their amalgamation, including Shiloh, where Snodgrass' Bn suffered a number of casualties. At Baker Creek (Champion Hill), Snodgrass ended up inside the seige lines and Norwood escaped. My ex-wife's great grandfather, Capt. A.L. Wheeler fought with them, and I have a short reminiscence he gave in an interview to the Birmingham News in the 1930s (send me an email and I'll furnish you a copy). He fought with Norwood's Bn and spent some time in Camp Douglas after their surrender at Ft. Donelson. The 55th suffered about 50% casualties at Peachtree Creek, where they attacked up one of those steep ravines in NW Atlanta where the rich folks now live. The Yanks had barricades at all the branches leading into the main ravine. It was a slaughter. Wheeler was one of the surviving officers. They made Hood's Tennessee Campaign, a true disaster, and fought at Franklin, where they avoided the worst destruction by being held up by a hedge of osage orange. They were on the far right, along the river. Part of that hedge remains, as does the stump of a tree that saved Captain Wheeler's life. The battle of Nashville was another sad day for the 55th. They occupied a redoubt about 200 yards from Nashville's Unitarian church and were overrun, losing many men. They ended the war with the fight at Bentonville, where they lost heavily as skirmishers, the Union boys having learned to shoot well by then. The 55th was a solid, blue-collar unit that simply did its duty without flash or bluster.