Alan J. Pitts
Smith's 3rd Battalion from Fayette, Marion &c
Mon Feb 26 11:01:07 2001


My notes on the "Coal Fire Guards" haven't gotten into the computer yet; they probably match yours. However, being from Fayette County causes me to associate your reminder about this company Smith's 3rd Alabama Battalion. Evidently many were willing to volunteer for twelve months but couldn't see their way clear for three years.

3rd BATTALION ALABAMA VOLUNTEER INFANTRY

On October 3, 1861, five companies encamped at Tuscumbia, Ala., organized as the 3rd Alabama Infantry Battalion. Members of Colonel Smith’s battalion enlisted for three years or the war. Refusing to muster for that term, the companies of Captains Newton, Sanders and Reed disbanded and went home.

Company “A” of Fayette County “Sipsey Guards”
Company “B” of Fayette County “Dixie Boys”
Company “C” of Fayette County “Luxapalila Guards”
Company “D” of Marion County “Sons of ‘76”
Company “E” of Fayette County

Captain Silas Hosmer’s “Jemison Guards” reported on October 30, 1861, requesting assignment to Smith’s Battalion. By early December, previously disbanded companies had returned to camp with men willing to enroll for three years or the war. Joined by Captain Redden’s company, the battalion enlisted in Confederate service at Tuscumbia, Alabama, on December 7, 1861. This new command was sometimes mentioned as the 21st Alabama Infantry Regiment. However, Mrs. Smith recalled the unit’s name as the 18th Alabama Infantry Battalion.

Company “F” of Tuscaloosa and Jefferson Counties “Jemison Guards”
Company “G” of Fayette County
Company “H” of Fayette County
Company “I” of Fayette County
Company “K” of Marion County


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Note that Capt. James S. McCoy's Company “E” of Fayette County organized for the war about the same time as the "Coal Fire Guards":

Officers and men organized at Barnesville, Alabama, July 4, 1861, and were accepted in Confederate service on August 25, 1861. This command later became Company “B”, 26th Alabama Infantry Regiment.

George Wright probably has something on this unit; I'm beginning to recall something out of order about the terms of enlistment, such as service within the State of Alabama. Colonel Smith would've been happy to accept them otherwise.

It also seems that the entire unit would've been sent to Fort Donelson if all companies had been armed. Perhaps someone who knows the unit better can comment on this.

Incidentally, the 26th Alabama (formed from the 3rd Battalion) included some real characters. Captain David McDaniel of Co. "C" drew pay fifty-eight times during a fourteen-month period during 1862-63; Quartermaster-General A. R. Lawton ordered him placed “under close confinement”. However, he disappeared from a Danville, Virginia, hospital on November 3, 1863, and was never heard from again.