Alan J. Pitts
Re: I'm interested to know...
Wed Apr 25 14:00:32 2001


I haven't lost interest in the Pickens County version of the "Calhoun Guards". As you will see, a window of time exists in which the event that you describe may have occurred (see below). Note that Capt. Forney's company entered Confederate service on May 8, 1861; the other six companies at Fort Morgan did so at least a month earlier. I don't know when Formey company arrived in Mobile; perhaps another reader can help us there. Based on this evidence alone, I'd say you must be right.

However,

Governor Moore always directed orders calling companies into service to company captains. For this purpose, the Secretary of State kept a list of A.V.C. companies including names and post offices of each duly commissioned company officer. A directive would have been addressed to Captain D. P. Forney, "Calhoun Guards", Jacksonville, Ala., ordering his company into state service. The Quartermaster-General of Alabama would then have arranged for appropriate transportation. This procedure should've precluded gross errors such as shipping the wrong group of men to Mobile and then sending them home again with the explanation that the governor really meant to ask for another company. How strong is the evidence that the Pickens version of the Calhoun Guards reported to Mobile?

Also,

The governor had little ability to disperse a company as described earlier. Keep in mind that the "Calhoun Guards" was authorized and regulated under state laws governing incorporations. As a militia company, the governor had to FIRST call the company into service in order to direct it to do anything anywhere. Particularly in the 1861 time-frame, we should expect to read news published of a company being called into service, a day appointed for company members to assemble at the train station or a river landing for a tearful departure from home. Something like that. Many AVC companies were never called into service. Do we have a contemporary account of the "Calhoun Guards" departure?

Moreover,

1) Sources stating that Company "A" of the 2nd Alabama included men from both Pickens and Calhoun Counties are not contemporary and are in error.
2) Regardless of their origin, the "Calhoun Guards" cannot possibly have simultaneously served as Company "A" of the 2nd Alabama and Company "I" of the 9th Alabama Infantry.
3) The Confederate government urgently desired men in twelve-month units like the 2nd Alabama to reenlist "for the war", and was willing to offer fifty-dollar bounties to those who did. This was a reenlistment (change in term), not a transfer. Thats why you see men leaving the 2nd Alabama for "war" units then stationed at Mobile such as the 1st Confederate Infantry Battalion and Loomis 1st Alabama Battalion.
4) What about the "Carrollton Guards"? Doesn't it appear to you that these two companies merged to form the "Pickens County Guards"? The name change certainly suggests that.

Here's the 2nd Alabama company information:

2nd REGIMENT ALABAMA VOLUNTEER INFANTRY

Calhoun Guards, Company A of Calhoun County, Capt. Daniel P. Forney:

Organized at Jacksonville, Alabama, September 15, 1860, this unit enrolled in state service at Talladega, Alabama, February 23, 1861. Members transferred to Confederate command at Fort Morgan, Alabama, on May 7, 1861.

Lane Guards, Company B of Pickens County, Capt. Thomas C. Lanier:

Organized in Pickens County, Alabama, February 19, 1861, this company enrolled in state service on March 18, 1861. Members transferred to Confederate command at Fort Morgan, Alabama, March 26, 1861.

Claiborne Guards, Company C of Monroe County, Capt. George W. Foster:

Organized at Claiborne, Alabama, prior to January 20, 1861, this company entered state service on March 15, 1861. Members left Claiborne on the evening of March 23, 1861, and enrolled in Confederate service at Fort Morgan, Alabama, on March 25, 1861. [Information from the Claiborne Southern Champion, February 8 and March 22, 1861.]
January 12, 1861, to March 11, 1861. Members entered Confederate service at Fort Morgan, Alabama, March 26, 1861.

“Jackson Avengers”, Company “G” of Mobile County, Capt. Washington C. Fergus:

Also known as the “Wheeler Rifles”, this company entered Confederate service on June 28, 1861. [See the Mobile Advertiser and Register, June 28, 1861] Members mustered on July 3, 1861, at Fort Morgan, Alabama.

“Pope Walker Rifles”, Company “H” of Mobile County, Capt. Edmund H. McDonald:

This company enrolled in state service April 14, 1861, under Captain George M. Bonner, later mustering in Confederate service at Fort Morgan, Alabama, July 10, 1861.

“Mobile Scotch Guards”, Company “I” of Mobile County, Capt. Gavin G. Watson:

Received in state service at Fort Morgan, Alabama, July 4, 1861, this company had organized under Captain Robert Greig on May 16, 1861. It went into camp on June 24, 1861. [See the Mobile Advertiser and Register, June 26, 1861] Officers and men enrolled in Confederate service on September 5, 1861, but for some reason were not mustered until December 7, 1861.

“Jackson Rifles”, Company “K” of Jackson County, Capt. Henry Clay Bradford:

Organized at Bellefonte, Alabama, February 21, 1860, this company was admitted to the Alabama Volunteer Corps on September 20, 1860. Members entered state service March 22, 1861, and enlisted in Confederate service at Fort Morgan, Alabama, April 1, 1861.