John Carter
26th/50th Alabama
Thu Feb 15 22:30:00 2001


I am currently working on a book about the 9th Alabama Regiment- many of its members were from Limestone County. Some of the correspondence between my gr-gr-grandfather, William Cowan McClellan, and his two brothers back at home (Robert A. and John B. McClellan) indicate there was a lot of scurrying around during the fall of 1861 attempting to raise additional regiments.

Robert and John McClellan were attempting to join up with one of the local companies or regiments during this time. A family friend, legislator Nick Davis, was attempting to raise an entire regiment as early as August 1861, and in a family letter written in December of that year it was stated that Nick had taken his "battalion" to Corinth, Mississippi to remain there until they could procure arms. He eventually failed to raise a regiment and dropped out of the picture all together (although he shows up as dropping out of the 2nd Battalion as Lt. Col. at consolidation). There was also mention that "Humphries' 15 companies were at Decatur (AL) in October to form a brigade, but that the men had left for their homes."

Back in July of 1861 John B. McClellan and Capt. Hal Malone had been attempting to raise a company in the Limestone area. John's brother, Robert, later also attempted to join this company. It seems that it took awhile, for it wasn't until October that Robert and John McClellan wrote to their brother, William, that they had gone into Hal Malone's company in Huntsville, AL. They also reported that "Higgins and Gilbert's companies" had come to Huntsville. They mentioned two of the company names: Sander's Rebels and the Limestone Rebels- I'm not sure if the names are related to Higgins & Gilbert. Rumors had Malone's company going to Pensacola, FL as well as the L.P. Walker Brigade, but most of the movement seems to have been between Mobile and Huntsville.

Many of these regiments, companies, and brigades seem to have never gotten off the ground, or had been merged into other, more successful units. They seem to have had trouble being outfitted with weapons, and coupled with no overall organization planning, it may have been hard to keep the men together while they were awaiting organization.

After all of this the McClellan brothers reported to their brother, William, (at the front in Virginia), that their companies had now become a battalion (no name of the battalion mentioned). I do know for a fact that John B. McClellan became 3rd Lt. in Malone's Company and was later promoted to Capt. of CO H in the 26th/50th Regiment. Also Robert A. McClellan later ended up with Malone in the 9th Alabama Cavalry (originally the 7th Cavalry) shortly after this. Malone apparently bailed out of the infantry to start up a cavalry unit at that time. My gr-gr-grandfather, William McClellan, spent most of his first year in Virginia trying to get transfeered (unsuccessfully) to that cavalry company.

Damned confusing isn't it...Anyway the reason for this epistle is to suggest that the 26th/50th Regiment may have been born out of this confusion (as well as possibly the 7th/9th AL Cavalry and maybe even parts of the 5th AL Battalion.

If anyone has more information to fill in some of these blanks. I would appreciate it.

John Carter






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