Alan J. Pitts
"Calhoun Guards" question....
Mon Apr 23 11:49:16 2001


Obviously there was more than one A.V.C. company by this name. However, if you follow these men to new companies after the 2nd Alabama disbanded at Fort Pillow, many joined Calhoun County commands: Company "G", 3rd Alabama Cavalry Regiment, and Company "A", 51st Alabama Partisan Ranger Regiment. Others reenlisted in Company "A", 1st Confederate Infantry Battalion, a 'generic' unit which included men from several companies of the 2nd Alabama.

This particular A.V.C. company organized at Jacksonville AL on September 15, 1860. The captain was a prominent citizen of Calhoun County, Daniel P. Forney. Also, from all indications it would appear that members named their company after their county. There really shouldn't be any question about the origin of this command. I'd have to suppose that the Pickens County edition of this company intended to honor the popular Southern Rights political leader, John C. Calhoun.

Two other notes on this subject. There was no patent on a company name, so many instances of "Lee Guards", "Southern Rifles" or "Johnston Avengers" could be found throughout the Confederacy. Also, there are numerous examples of companies 'borrowing' a popular name. If there was any local relationship between two companies, 'No. 2' might be appended to a name. For instance, "Gulf City Guards" was an A.V.C. company from Mobile which joined the 3rd Alabama Infantry. New members joined men discharged from service in the original company to form a new militia unit at Mobile. They called themselves the "Gulf City Guards No. 2". The new company eventually transferred to company service and joined the 24th Alabama Infantry.

Finally, although you and I seem to agree on the importance of citing A.V.C. origins, I believe it's a mistake to believe that large numbers of names from A.V.C. rolls reappeared on Confederate rolls under the same name. After studying one such company, the "Midway Guards" of Barbour County, which joined the 15th Alabama Infantry. I found only four names from the A.V.C. roster that reappeared on the first roll of the 15th Alabama. One member of the old "Midway Southern Guards", William C. Jordan, joined the regiment in 1862 and wrote a book after the war about his experiences. Listing an unusally long list of family responsibilities, Jordan explained that it took seveal months to get these in order before he could leave for the 'seat of war'. I can only guess about the others: most A.V.C. members appear to be notably older (age 40+) and wealthier than those who took their places and actually went off to war. Please feel free to draw your own conclusions.