This sounds quite interesting! Some of the more useful contemporary accounts I've seen come from the ADAH. These are letters to Governor Thomas H. Watts from county officials concerning events in Dale, Coffee, Conecuh, Henry and Covington. For instance, one of three petitions by citizens of Dale County includes the signature of one William Sketoe. He's among twenty-four citizens requesting a militia exemption for William D. Vaughan as a teacher, a man who reported his occupation as farmer in 1860. Their petition was signed by Probate Judge Daniel Carmichael, Feb. 8, 1864.