Alan J. Pitts
Scattergood
Thu Mar 8 22:04:41 2001


I've been curious about this rather unusual name. The letters of Philip Bond, one of Garrity's lieutenants, refer to the death of this man at Resaca:

Bond was deeply grieved by the death of a battery member named Scattergood. “We will remember him and all our other fallen comrades and strike harder in defense of our homes and firesides,” he promised.

Bond didn't mention the man's first name, and I didn't see it in the service records. I'd have to guess he was a recent enlistment. Evidently this was the only man in Garrity's Battery who died at Resaca. Incidentally, this battery was in service longer than any other Alabama artillery unit, and may be ranked among the best (If not the best) of all Alabama batteries. Formerly known as Ketchum's Battery, it carried an antebellum designation of Battery "A", Alabama State Artillery into service in May 1861. Captain Garrity was an Irish immigrant from New York who ran a bookstore in Mobile before the war.

• Scattergood — William T. Hobgood, Thu Mar 8 22:13