The 15th Alabama
Our History
August 1861, Alabama
Total mustered 1,633.
Casualties: 260, combat. 440, disease.
Command Surrendered: 17 officers, 170 enlisted men under Capt. Eli Daniel Clower.
Major Engagements:
Second Manassas
Antietam
Fredericksburg
Gettysburg
Knoxville Campaign
The Wilderness
Spotsylvania Court House
Cold Harbor
Siege of Petersburg
Appomattox Campaign
The 15th Infantry Regiment was organized in August, 1861 at Fort Mitchell, Alabama, with eleven companies. The men were recruited in Barbour, Russell, Dale, Henry, Macon, and Pike counties.
With more than 900 effectives, it moved to East Tennessee, then Virginia. Here, the unit was assigned to Trimble's Brigade, which saw action in Jackson's Valley Campaign. Later it served under Generals Law and W.F. Perry, Army of Northern Virginia.
The 15th participated in many conflicts from the Seven Days' Battles to Cold Harbor, except when it was with Longstreet at Suffolk, Chickamauga, and Knoxville. It was involved in the battles and hardships of the Petersburg siege and ended the war at Appomattox.
This regiment lost 51 men at Cross Keys and Port Republic, 152 during the Seven Days' Battles, 112 at Second Manassas, and 84 at Sharpsburg. More than thirty percent of the 499 engaged at Gettysburg were disabled, and it reported 142 casualties at Chickamauga and 91 during the Wilderness Campaign. The unit surrendered with 15 officers and 204 men.
Its commanders were Colonels James Cantey, Alexander A. Lowther, William C. Oates, and John F. Treutlen; Lieutenant Colonel Isaac B. Feagin; and Major John W.L. Daniel.
Today
The telegraph lines are down, and we are anxiously awaiting word from the front.
Please check back later.
-Thomas Wallace Knox, Correspondent for the New York Herald. Acquitted on spy charges for publishing important information pertaining to the Vicksburg Campaign
