Organized at Talladega, Alabama, Nov. 17, 1863, the "Lockhart Cadets" entered Confederate service Nov. 24, 1863. Officers and men mustered at Selma, Ala., Jan. 27, 1864, becoming Co. “A” of Lockhart’s Battalion. James L. Davidson became Major of Lockhart's Battalion on Feb. 10, 1864.

Also known as the 1st Reserve Battalion, officers and men served on provost guard duty at Selma AL until the summer of 1864. Major Davidson took the battalion in pursuit of Rousseau's column, which defeated Clanton's Alabama cavalry at Ten Islands Ford on July 14, 1864. The fighting at Chehaw AL (Jully 17, 1864) is covered in Chapter 8 of Charles Evans, Sherman's Horsemen: Union Cavalry Operations in the Atlanta Campaign. Davidson lost five boys killed, forty-three wounded and four missing.