Alan J. Pitts
Re: Bartow Rangers/Avengers
Fri Jun 29 15:25:47 2001


My error introduced the name "Bartow Rangers" to this discussion; the question involves a Captain Hale and his company, the "Bartow Avengers" of Cherokee County. We agree on the likelihood of Col. Hale and Capt. Hale being the same person; in my opinion the name matching that of a Lowndes County company is pure coincidence. In October 1861 the Lowndes County company would have been in camp with other companies of Watts' Regiment at Montgomery.

Perhaps Col. Weeden is correct about men from Cherokee County accounting for a substantial number in the 49th Alabama. I still do not know which company or companies he has in mind. His article seems directed more towards recognizing the service of this command and others from northern Alabama. As may have been mentioned in earlier posts, this regiment, along with Clifton's 10th Infantry Battalion and Robertson's 35th Alabama, served in predominantly Kentucky brigades during much of 1862. The Kentuckians received a great deal of attention in the press, while the Alabamians did not. The same was true of the 41st Alabama at a somewhat later time. This would appear to be Weeden's intent.

I'm still curious about the flag presentation story. Was this described in a memoir, a letter or a contemporary news article? In addition to a pure sense of curiosity, I wonder if some other details in the story may allow us to associate Hale's "Bartow Avengers" with a company that went into service with a different name. For instance, Co. "D", 19th Alabama, went into service as the "Jabe Curry Guards", adopting this name to honor a man who has a statue in Washington D.C. today. However, this company had gone into state service as the "Gadsden Light Infantry" some months earlier. It's possible that the "Bartow Avengers" changed their name to something else before going into Confederate service. It's also possible that this company wasn't accepted in service and most members joined other companies.