Alan J. Pitts
Re: 10th Alabama Cavalry
Mon May 7 16:33:54 2001


The 5th and 10th Cavalry Regiments have a confusing history. These two regiments served together under the leadership of Colonel Patterson of the 5th Cavalry from the time the 10th organized until the end of the war.

The 10th Cavalry was formed about the first of January 1864 from two mounted battalions that had been recruited the previous autumn, Pickett's and Powell's. The 10th Alabama served along the south bank of the Tennessee, picketing the area from Decatur to Florence, occasionally sending small parties over the river to scout and gather forage. When General Forrest was finally able to gather a large force to cross the Tennessee and cut Sherman's rail connections in Tennessee, the 10th Cavalry came along and evidently performed well.

Shortly after Forrest's Athens-Sulpher Springs-Pulaski raid, Colonel Pickett of the 10th Alabama Cavalry was replaced by Lt.Col. James M. Warren of the 5th Cavalry. The old organization of both the 5th and 10th Cavalry was broken up, many companies from the 5th being transferred to the 10th Cavalry and vice versa. If I understand correctly, this took place in the last few months of 1864.

There are very few (only about 200) service records on file for the 10th Cavalry. The name Samuel W. May appears on a Federal POW record, which states that he enlisted on Dec. 7, 1863, a resident of Franklin County. There's no mention of what company he joined. Information he provided was that he deserted on December 23, 1864, and entered Federal lines to take the oath of allegiance later. At this time (late December 1864) Roddey's command (which included the 10th Cavalry) was being driven out of Huntsville by Federal cavalry.

I hope that's enough detail to give you some idea of what was happening. There are records in the 5th Cavalry for men who might be kin: J. A., Pleasant P., and Robert May, who were members of Company "A", 5th Cavalry. Pleasant P. May soon transferred to Company "F", 5th Cavalry; T. W. May also served with Company "F". Captain Powell's Company "A" 5th Cavalry later formed the basis of Powell's Battalion, which I mentioned above.