Alan J. Pitts
Major Stewart
Sat Feb 17 22:52:22 2001


I'm reasonably certain that Captain Stuart's court martial had to do with being absent from duty with his cavalry command. If you have access to hsi service record and request all papers on file under his name, you should find documents which relate to Stuart's service in both units. I'll check both files next time I'm at the library if you wish; the officer from the 4th Alabama sounds like a good candidate, also.

I have a copy of a post-war roll for Co. "F", Capt. Benjamin M. Collier. There is an assertion on the roll that Collier's Company was attached to Patterson's 5th Ala. Cav. Regt. I cannot confirm this.

I've seen a suggestion that there were eight companies in this battalion, but the microfilm for Stuart's Battalion includes evidence for only seven. As for strength, I'd guess it was about 125 present for duty in May 1864, and fifty less by February of the following year. Unconditional resignations by company officers from February 1865 contain statements about companies being down to four or five men.