John C. Carter
Casualty list for the 9th Alabama
Fri Apr 27 10:42:36 2001


Alan...

Thanks for posting the information on the casualties for the 9th Alabama at Gaine's Mill. In the past I have had to go back and forth between several lists and books for that information. Excellent job.

When it's all together in one place with the names listed by company, the casualties for the regiment in just one battle become a lot more vivid to an observer than just a total number. You can imagine friends and families scanning the newspapers for what must have seemed to them an endless list.

It's even more sobering when you know that earlier the 9th was involved in the battle at Seven Pines, and afterwards at Frazier's Farm with casualties equal to that of Gaine's Mill. They had begun the Seven Days Campaign with 595 men and had taken 310 casualties by the end of it. The Peninsula Campaign (including Williamsburg) was their first taste of combat. The 9th had missed First Manassas by a day and then spent most of 1861 on picket duty or on construction of the fort, cabins, and military railroad at Centreville, VA. The regiment had arrived at Manassas in July 1861 with more than 1,000 men and lost over 400 to disease and discharges before they ever saw their first action. This was the case in most of the regiments in Northern Virginia.In a way they were almost safer on the battlefield than in their camp during their first year of the war.

I would be interested in any other casualty lists published in the Alabama newspapers. Do you know if they published separate lists for Frazier's Farm (Glendale) or Seven Pines?

Thanks again for the post.

John