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.

The 15th Alabama, Company G — Living History in Maine

The 15th Alabama, Company G, is a non-political, family-oriented Confederate living history organization based in Farmington, Maine.

Incorporated as a non-profit in the state of Maine in 1997, the group is dedicated to the study and portrayal of the American Civil War, presenting the daily life, drill, and material culture of a Confederate infantry company to the public.

Since 2011, the unit has been led by a succession of captains: Mike Pratt, Dave Laish, Tom Boyd, and Bill Stoops. First Sergeants during this period have included Dave Laish, Tom Boyd, and Dave Leissner.

The company currently numbers twelve members, evenly split between six military portrayals and six civilian impressions, reflecting the organization's commitment to presenting the full range of Civil War-era life rather than combat alone.

A defining feature of the group's work in Maine is its ongoing partnership with the 20th Maine, with whom Company G shares a direct historical connection: the two regiments fought each other at Gettysburg during the defense of Little Round Top. That shared history gives the two units a natural basis for joint events, and Maine's reenacting community, and its public, have shown a longstanding interest in the Civil War from both the Union and Confederate sides.