The Ninth Alabama Regiment.
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     The history of this noble regiment is as eventful as any which served during the late war.  Arriving at Manassas only one day after the first battle at that place, they served under Gen. Joe Johnston until he was wounded, and then under General Lee until the surrender, except when they were detached for some bold enterprise under "Stonewall" Jackson.  It was Napoleon Bonaparte's habit to emblazon on the flags of his veteran regiments in large letters, the names of the great battles in which they had taken part.  But the battle flag of the Ninth Alabama could not have contained the names of the engagements in which they gathered laurels and shed their blood.  The material

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of the regiment, both men and officers, was of the very best, which North Alabama could furnish. 
     The companies which were to compose the regiment left home early in June, 1861, and were organized in Richmond, Va., in July.  Calmus W. Wilcox was the colonel, Samuel Henry the lieutenant colonel, Edward A. O'Neal, also General, afterward Governor of Alabama, was the major, and Jeremiah Williams the second major. 
     In October, 1861, when Colonel Wilcox was promoted to Brigadier General, Lieutenant Colonel Henry was promoted to Colonel. Eventually he resigned, and Captain Horace King was made Colonel, at the special request of General Wilcox - continued with the regiment until the close of the war, and died a few years after, in Decatur. 
     When Lieutenant Colonel Henry resigned, Capt. G. C. Smith, of a Limestone company, was appointed in his stead, and served until the close of the war.
     When Major O'Neal was transferred to the command of the Twenty-eighth Alabama Regiment, in March, 1862, Lieut. J. M. Crow, of _____ Company, was promoted to major.
     Dr. John M. Hayes was surgeon of the Ninth Alabama, but was transferred at the same time with Major O'Neal.*  Dr. Minor, of Mississippi, succeeded him.  Dr. J. R. Edwards was assistant surgeon, and served until the surrender in that capacity.
     Company A, was from Mobile, Ala. Capt. T. H. Ripley (a half brother of our neighbor.  Captain Comegys) was an accomplished officer, of great bravery.  He resigned and raised a regiment, and was killed in some engagement in South Alabama.  Captain _____ Murphry, of Mobile, succeeded him.  He was a descendant of Governor Murphry, of Alabama.  A gentleman of culture and a brave officer.  He was badly wounded at the battle of Second Manassas, and not well fitted for active service afterward, but held his rank until the surrender.
     Company B, was from Jackson county, and was commanded by Captain Jere Williams, who is spoken of above.  He was a brave man, and resigned because an officer below him was promoted to colonel.
     Company C, from Lawrence county, was commanded by Capt. James M. Warren.  He was the son of Levi F. Warren, who lived near Moulton.  He resigned, and became colonel of a cavalry regiment in General Roddy's command.  This was, from its number, the color company.  Donley, an Irishman, was first color bearer.  He was recklessly brave, and was killed in the bloody battle of Cold Harbor.   Shelton was the next one, of the same fearless stamp, and was killed four days afterward.  The post was not so much sought for after these casualties, and the men frequently changed until 1863, when the flag bearer was invested with the rank of first lieutenant, when Ed. R. Till, now of Waterloo, Ala., was appointed.  He was of the right stamp for such a hazardous place, and although he lost an arm at Burgess' Mills, near the close of the war, returned to his duty, and served until the surrender.  It was an honor to be the flag company, but the post was a dangerous one, and not to be sought for. 
     Company D, was from Lauderdale county, and commanded by Capt. J. B. Houston, a nephew of Governor Houston, of Alabama,  Dr. Edwards, who has lived in Courtland since the war, was a member of this company until he became a surgeon.
     Company E, from Morgan county, was commanded by Capt. Horace King.  He was a very efficient officer, and was promoted, at one step, to the command of the regiment.
     Company G, from Limestone county, was commanded by that excellent and brave gentleman, Thomas H. Hobbs (son of Ira Hobbs and Rebecca Macklin) till he was severely wounded at Cold Harbor, and died at Lynchburg.  He was succeeded by Capt. John C. Featherston, who is a brother of Mrs. Tweedy, wife of Dr. Tweedy, of Courtland.  He was a fine looking gentleman and a good officer. Company G, was commanded by Captain Hill, and was from Greene county.  I am sorry ray information is so meagre of this company.
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     *NOTE. - The battle flag of the Twenty-sixth Alabama hangs on the wall at "Rocky Hill,"  the family home of Mrs. Hayes.  Faded, and riddled with bullets, it yet proudly displays the names of "Gettysburg," "Chancellorsville," "Mechanicsville."

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     Company H, was from Limestone county, and was commanded by Capt. G. C. Smith, who was promoted to lieutenant colonel, after the resignation of his predecessor, Williams.  He served efficiently until the surrender.
     Company I, was raised and commanded by Capt. Ed. A. O'Neal, of Florence, son of General O'Neal.  He was transferred before active operations commenced to the command of the Twenty-fifth Alabama Regiment, and thus getting beyond my jurisdiction, I am deprived of the pleasure of sketching the career of this eloquent, impressive and chivalrous officer.  He was succeeded in the command of the company by Capt. D. W. Gillett, a splendid fellow, who was wounded at Williamsburg, and died at Richmond.  This was his first battle.  He was wounded in the fleshy part of the arm, marched with his company on foot to Richmond, and died from this slight wound.
     Company K, was from Marshall county, and was commanded by Capt. Samuel Henry, who served as colonel of the regiment for some time.  In the command of the company he was succeeded by Captain Sheffield, a good officer, who was transferred to the command of the Forty-seventh Alabama (I think).  Col. S. has been frequently in our Legislature since the war, and is a politician of some note.  The Lawrence company, as first organized, stood thus:
     Captain, James M. Warren; first lieutenant, M. G. May; second lieutenant, G. W. Garth; third lieutenant, W. T. Couch; first sergeant, R. E. Davis; second sergeant, H. V. Whitehead; third sergeant, H. H. Bibb; fourth sergeant, A. Livingston; first corporal, Charles F. Davis, second corporal, J. R. Warren; third corporal, W. P. Farley; fourth corporal, D. C. Harrison.  Lieut. G. W. Garth having been transferred to another command, those officers who were below him were promoted and J. K. McBride added to the list.  Changes in the officers will be noted from time.

Privates.

     In reading over this list of volunteers, my readers will recognize the names of many of the worthy early settlers of the county.
     This company on the day of their departure had a beautiful flag presented to them by Miss Mary Elliott, in terms so elegant and patriotic, they must have rung in their ears for many a day.  The old men of this county, by a common impulse, opened their purses for the benefit of the volunteers, and the wives of the needy; Mr. John H. Harris heading the list, with the sum of five hundred dollars.
     When the Ninth Alabama reached Richmond they were organized at once, and after an address by President Davis, on the 12th of July, 1861, were sent to Strasburg, in the Valley of Virginia.  After a few days they were ordered, by forced marches, to Manassas.  They arrived at Piedmont, and on 20th July failaed to get transportation on the train - and so were prevented taking part in the battle on the next day - officers and men chafed with disappointment.  If the curtain of the future had been lifted, and these fiery spirits had been  permitted to see, in one grand panorama, the long and "winding way" they wwere destined to pursue, leading through every one of those bloody fields which marked the career of General Lee - the broad Potomac, which, with bleeding feet, they were to wade four times in one campaign - if they could have felt, in advance, that burning thirst, known only to the wounded soldier, whose blood was gushing from his veins,

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they would have been well content to have bathed their gallant feet in the cold stream which flowed from the summit of the Blue Ridge, and rested their weary bodies on the green grass, upon its foot hills.  It is fortunate that He who does all things well, had hidden these things from their view.  The day after the battle, they reached Manass and were encamped there for many months.
    
 

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     When General Lee assumed command, McClellan had advanced his left wing within four or five miles of the city, and was protected by the strongest defences which bristled with artillery.  The right wing of this army still lay north of the Chickahominy, but they were connected by a number of solid bridges.  General Lee was satisfied that it would be very hazardous to attack in front, and with a view of ascertaining the defences of the enemy on the right flank and rear, he organized.

Stuart's Ride Around McClellan.

     Gen. J. E. B. Stuart with a Virginian by birth, and not yet thirty years of age.  When the war commenced he was lieutenant in the United States cavalry; he joined Jhnston in the valley, and impressed him with a high opinion of his abilities.  At Manassas he charged and broke a regiment of zouave infantry, protected the rear of the army when Johnston retreated, and, at Williamsburg, protected our right (the Ninth Alabama) from being turned, marching, and countermarching, in such a way as to make the impression that the cavalry was twice as many as they really were.  In person, he was of medium height; his frame was broad and powerful; he wore a heavy brown beard flowing upon his breast, a huge moustache of the same color, with ends curling upward, and the blue eyes flashing beneath a "piled up" forehead, had at times the dazzling brilliancy attributed to the eyes of the eagle.  Fond of movement, adventure, bright colors, and all the pomp and pageantry of war, Stuart had entered on the struggle with ardor, and enjoyed it as the huntsman does the chase.  Young, ardent, ambitious, as brave as steel, ready with jest or laughter, with his banjo player following him, going into the hottest battle humming a song, this young Virginian was in truth, an original character, and impressed powerfully all who approached him.  One who knew him well wrote: "Everything striking, brilliant and picturesque, seemed to centre in him."
     The war seemed to be, to Stuart, a splendid and exciting game, in which his blood coursed joyously in his veins, and his immensely strong physical organization found an arena for the display of its faculties.  The affluent life of the man craved those perils and hardships which flush the pulses, and make the heart beat fast.  He swung himself into the saddle at the sound of the bugle, as the hunter springs on horseback and at snch movements his cheeks glowed and his huge moustache curled with enjoyment.  The romance and poetry of the hard trade of arms seemed first to be inaugurated when this joyous cavalier, with his floating plume and splendid laughter, appeared upon the great arena of the war in Virginia.  Precise people shook their heads and called him frivolous, undervaluing his great abilities.  Those best acquainted with him were of a different opinion.  Johnston wrote to him from the West: "How can I eat or sleep without you on my outpost?"  Jackson said when he fell, "Go back to General Stuart and act upon his own judgment, and do what he thinks best I have implicit confidence in him."  Lee said, when he was killed at Yellow Tavern: "lean scarcely think of him without weeping."  And the brave General Sedgwick of the U. S. Army, said: "Stuart is the best cavalry officer ever foaled in North America" - (John Esten Cooke.
     With a picked force of 1500 men, officered by the two Lees and others, he drove the outposts of the enemy from Hanover Courthouse, broke two squadrons of cavalry near Old Church, pushed on to York River Railroad which he crossed burning or capturing all Federal stores met with, including enormous wagon camps; and then finding the way back barred against him, and the Federal army on the alert, he continued his march with rapidity, passed entirely around General McClellan's army, and building a bridge over the Chickahominy, safely re-entered the Confederate lines, just as a force appeared on his rear.  He reported to General Lee that the right and rear of the enemy were unprotected by works of any strength.
     Jackson marched and countermarched with a pretence of advancing down the valley.  At last one morning he disappeared and marched rapidly to join General Lee.  Not even his own soldiers knew what direction they were taking.  They were forbidden by general order to intimate even the names of the towns they passed through; directed to

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reply to every question "I don't know," and it is said that when Jackson demanded the name and regiment of a soldier robbing a cherry tree, he cold extract from the man no reply but "I don't know."  When Jackson reached Ashland, forty-six miles from

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The Retreat of McClellan.

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Invasion of Pennsylvania.

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The Ninth Alabama, Gettysburg Campaign

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Second Day of the Battle.

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The Ninth Alabama - Grant and Lee.

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Second Day of the Wilderness.

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Battle of North Anna.

The Ninth Alabama - The Siege of Richmond.

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Battle of the 12th of May