Hayes Lowe
Calhoun Guards and AVC
Mon Apr 23 13:17:54 2001


It has been quite sometime since I have looked at the issues surrounding the Calhoun Guards, so I'm pretty rusty on the subject.

However, it is more complicated than just following the men to other companies. In fact, just today in looking up something for somebody else on this board, I just added to the mystery.

Abner Knight (discussed in a thread below) was a member of the Calhoun Guard of Pickens County, formed on 6/9/1860. He is listed in AVC rolls for the Providence [Pickens County] Company [not Carrollton as I had previously stated]. I had not been able to find anything on this man in Pickens County records. So today, I went and looked him up in the 1860 Census. I found two Abner Knights in Alabama. One from Walker County, and one from *Calhoun* County!

All men on that same Pickens Co. roster are noted as residents of Pickens County, including Abner Knight. The men in the microfilm for the Magnolia Regiment's Company A, however, do not seem to include the men of the Pickens County Calhoun Guard.

Until this find today (which may turn out to be totally coincidental), I had a least a working theory. This theory was that there was confusion over which Calhoun Guard had been ordered to be Company A. I believe that the Pickens Co. Calhoun Guard reported to Mobile (there is evidence of this), but ended up not becoming Company A (or at least was not a part of Company A for long).

There are also sources that state that Company A was made up of "men from Pickens and Calhoun Counties". Also, there are sources that state that this Company became Company I of the 9th Alabama Infantry. At least some of the officers of the 2nd Ala. Inf. from Calhoun Co. do appear in the ranks of the 9th. They also later appear in the ranks of the 1st Confederate Infantry Battalion. There is evidence in the microfilmed records to indicate that some men of Company A transferred to Loomis’ 1st Alabama Battalion. Many of the men shown below, later show up in the 25th Ala. Inf., which was formed by a merger of Loomis’ 1st Alabama Battalion with the 6th Alabama Battalion.

The Calhoun Guard of Pickens County (at least a part of it) ends up as half of Company H of the 11th Alabama Infantry Regiment, which was organized in June 1861. I can document that the Calhoun Guard was a part of this company by November 1861.

As to the AVC rolls and whether the roll follows to Confederate service, it varies from unit to unit. I have examples were they joined as a unit. Others simply had members to join whatever unit that they wanted. A vote was generally taken to decide which way the AVC company wanted to do this. Examples of those tendered intact include: Coalfire Guards of Fayette County (rejected), [original] Pickens Grays to 41st Alabama, and Lane Guards to Magnolia Regiment.