Ninth Alabama - Infantry

Ninth Alabama - (Infantry)

This regiment was organized at Richmond, Virginia, the latter part of May 1861, and moved to Winchester several weeks later. It was there brigaded under Gen. Kirby Smith of Florida, but failed to reach the battle-field of Manassas because of a railroad accident. The regiment lay at Manassas Centerville till March 1862, when it marched to Yorktown. 

Gen. J. H. Forney of Calhoun succeeded to the command of the brigade, and was relieved by Gen. Wilcox in January. The regiment was under fire at Yorktown, with slight loss. It participated in the battle of Williamsburg, but the loss was not severe. At Seven Pines it was held in reserve, and did not suffer. It was now brigaded with the Eighth, Tenth, Eleventh, and Fourteenth Alabama regiments, still under Gen. Wilcox. At Gaines’ Mill the regiment sustained severe loss, and was rent and torn by the wall of fire at Frazier’s Farm. With the army it took up the line of March for Maryland, and was under fire but not actively engaged at the second Manassas. It was part of the investing force at Harper’s Ferry, and hastened from there to the field of Sharpsburg, where it lost 8 killed, 42 wounded, and 9 missing. The Ninth wintered on the Rappahannock, and was underfire, with few casualties, at Fredericksburg. Its brightest renown was won at Salem, where it bore the brunt of a successful assault, and lost very heavily. The regiment moved into Pennsylvania, and sustained severe loss at Gettysburg where the brigade had 781 killed and wounded. The fall and winter were passed in camp, near Orange C. H., and the Ninth participated in the fierce struggles at the Wilderness and at Appomattox, with severe loss in each battle. Gen. Sanders of Greene then took command of the brigade. The fighting was almost continuous for several weeks, culminating in the terrible repulse of the invading army at the second battle of Cold Harbor, in which the Ninth shared without severe loss. From June till the end - nine weary months - the regiment was in the trenches of Petersburg, or engaged in the majority of the numerous and bloody battles that relieved the monotony of the last, long, and desperate collision of the great rival armies that had so long struggled on Virignia soil. A remnant of the Ninth surrendered at Appomattox, the brigade having been in commond of Gen. W. H. Forney of Calhoun for some months. Of 1138 men on its rolls, about 200 fell in battle, over 175 died of disease, and 208 were discharged or transferred. 

Field and staff. 

Colonels - Cadmus M. Wilcox of Tennessee; promoted. Samuel Henry of Marshall; resigned. Horace King of Morgan; wounded at Gettsyburg. 

Lieutenant Colonels - Samuel Henry; promoted. Edward A. O’Neal of Lauderdale; transferred. Gaines Smith of Limestone. 

Majors - E. A. O’Neal; promoted. Jere Williams of Jackson; resigned. James M. Crow of Lauderdale. 

Adjutants - John Burtwell of Lauderdale; transferred. John Featherston of Limestone; transferred to line. James W. Wilson; killed at Sharpsburg. William Holcombe of Limestone; captured at Petersburg. 

CAPTAINS, AND COUNTIES FROM WHICH THE COMPANIES CAME

Mobile - F. H. Ripley; resigned. W. C. Murphy; wounded and captured at Williamsburg; killed at Salem. A. H. Hays. 

Jackson and Marshall - Jere Williams; promoted. Blake Moore; resigned. Elias Jacobs; wounded at Gettysburg; retired. Patrick Seward; captured. 

Limestone - Thomas H. Hobbs; killed at Gaines’ Mill. John Featherston; wounded at Gettysburg. 

Butler - E. Y. Hill; killed at Gaines’ Mill. Thomas Mills; resigned. Matthew Patton. 

Lauderdale - D. W. Gillis; killed at Williamsburg. John Chisholm; captured at Gettysburg; died at Fort Delaware. B. F. Taylor; wounded at Sharpsburg; captured at Petersburg. 

Lauderdale - J. Butler Houston; resigned. William C. Reeder; resigned. James M. Crow; wounded at Gaines’ Mill; promoted. Wm. J. Cannon.

Marshall - James L. Sheffield; resigned. John Rayburn; killed at Sharpsburg. A. W. Ledbetter; wounded at Salem and Petersburg. 

Lawrence - James M. Warren; resigned. M. G. May; wounded at Sharpsburg. 

Morgan - Horace King; promoted. Wm. Todd; retired. 

Limestone - David Houston; resigned. Gaines Smith; captured at Gettysburg; promoted. 

Brewster, Willis. Alabama, Her History, Resources, War Record, and Public Men: From 1540 to 1872. Montgomery, Ala: Barrett & Brown, Steam Printers and Book Binders, 1872.