Alan J. Pitts
Re: 5th Alabama Cavalry
Tue May 15 12:11:08 2001


I find no record of any of the Browns you mentioned from 5th Cavalry in the 1907 veterans census or the service records. The letter you mentioned would be helpful. Are you able to make out the names of the five witnesses?

Five original muster rolls exist for Patterson's 5th Alabama Cavalry. These are for Companies "A", "B", "E", "H" and "K", which formed in the later summer/early fall of 1862. Evidence for men who joined later usually comes from receipt rolls composed at Dalton GA in March 1864 or Federal prisoner-of-war records. Then there are pensions. Although I would love to assemble all the information to be found in them, I have no current plans to read through all the Alabama pension microfilm.

One of my several long-term projects involves identification of all units from both sides involved in battles, skirmishes and campaigns in Alabama during the war. That’s going well, and I hope to be finished by the end of this year. When that's done, I can extract that portion which involves any of Roddey's units, such as the 5th Alabama Cavalry. I'll share that information wih interested parties.

Only a few assignments took Roddey’s men out of state. His 4th & 5th Cavalry were assigned to picket duty near Chapel Hill TN from February 1863 through June of that year. The 5th Alabama also served under Forrest's command at Brice's Crossroads, MS in June 1864, and during his Pulaski TN raid in Sept./Oct. 1864. The 5th Cavalry was not with Roddey when dismounted men under his command helped Wheeler destroy McCook's raid near Newnan GA, July 30, 1864. Other than a few skirmishes just over the Mississippi line in the summer of 1863, Roddey's men spent the remainder of the war in Alabama.

Several websites exist which reference the 5th Alabama Cavalry. Like all things in life, there are the good, the bad and the ugly. Some websites demonstrate that their authors had the motivation, intelligence, persistence and resources to create something really worthwhile. As an example I will cite Tod Molesworth’s site on the 26th Alabama. On the other hand, the 5th Alabama sites I’ve visited can be useful for general information. However, they contain some statements that are less than accurate and others are just plain wrong. We could all count ourselves blessed if God appointed someone like Tod to create a complete website on Roddey's command.

Again, if you have a specific question, such as where Patterson and his men were in the summer of 1864, I should be able to help. Meanwhile, check out “Confederate Veteran” magazine and search for index references under “Roddey” or “Roddey’s”. There are a number of good stories, usually written by other veterans about Roddey’s command.