Bryce,

You and I have spoken before about the 9th Alabama. My book, “Welcome the Hour of Conflict- William Cowan McClellan and the 9th Alabama,” was published by the University of Alabama Press in 2007. I have thoroughly researched the regiment, and have collected most of the published books and papers on it. In addition, I have put together an extensive database of its operations and battles, and a 1,600-man data base of its membership throughout the war. That includes all of their evolutions through Hill’s Third Corps, and the various brigades and divisions to which they belonged: Wilcox, Sanders, Perrin, Forney, and Mahone.

At Petersburg, the 8-9-10-11-14 Alabama were all in Mahone’s Division and Sanders Brigade, led by Col. Horace J. King, a former, and not too well-respected, colonel of the 9th. I do not condemn the man, but pass along what his superiors thought about him. The death of Perrin and Sanders had left the once proud brigade virtually leaderless. I have a lot of information on the 8th, 9th, and 10th at Petersburg, but almost nothing on the 14th. I can only speak through the 9th Alabama, as to their participation in the events around Petersburg, as part of Mahone’s Division. They were in the Battle of the Crater, Jerusalem Plank Road, Globe Tavern, Reams Station, and Burgess Mill. They were, for the most part, no longer fighting as a regiment, as their numbers were too greatly reduced. The brigade was what mattered the most at that point, but even that gave way to fighting as part of the division. Parts of the 9th and the other Alabama regiments were sent into the battles as needed, especially when Grant moved on the Weldon Railroad. Most of the time, however, they were in the trenches at Petersburg. I can not assume that soldiers of the 14th ended up fighting with Mahone’s Division in thiose battles listed above. The brigades in Mahone’s Division were located at about the mid-point of the Confederate line, between the Appomattox River and the Weldon Railroad.