Consider the timing, and you understand that Buell's forces that occupied the Tennessee Valley since April 1862 left at the end of August. Shortly thereafter dozens of cavalry companies organized for Confederate service in the area just vacated, most joining Roddey's newly assembled command. Others like the the 13th Alabama PR Battn organized at the same time.

At this time the Confederate Conscript Bureau had not organized, so no officers would have been forcing men into service anywhere in the state. Camps of Instruction at Talladega and Notasulga were just being constructed; drill officers had not yet been appointed for either one. A draft (if any) would have been done by Walker County civil officers.

Unless I'm mistaken there weren't enough Alabama loyalists for recruiting purposes until March 1863, and then only a couple of companies. Also, US terms of service were often only one year. The 1st Alabama Cavalry (US) did not organize until some time later, and didn't become an effective combat unit until 1864.

Some time ago we went over the question of loyalism in Alabama. Voting patterns for the late 1850s show that across the state most citizens supported staying in the Union. Events from John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry up to Lincoln's call for troops swayed public opinion. By May 1861 Unionism in Alabama had shrunk from a strong majority, almost completely drying up. As one Alabama Unionist expressed it, there is scarcely a greasy spot of us left.

We might expect that counties like Winston would have supported the Constitutional Union Party in 1860. Instead the record shows that Winston went heavily for the Southern Rights Party. This does not tell us that they were secessionists, but rather that men from Winston were sympathetic to the Southern Rights argument concerning the territories.

Years ago I wrote an article on the 13th AL PR Battn and its subsequent service with the 56th Alabama. All six companies came from Walker, Winston and Fayette. They were among the last Confederates to leave Atlanta on Sept 2, 1864. At the end of the war these men formed part of the cavalry escort for Jefferson Davis from Charlotte NC to the Savannah River. Soon afterwards officers and men disbanded at Forsyth GA but never surrendered.