15 Regiment, Alabama Infantry

The total membership of the Company, officers and men, was 190. Of these, there were 32 from Dale County and 158 from Henry County. There were 38 men who were mortally wounded or died soon thereafter; 66 were wounded in battle; 16 permanently disabled; 57 died of disease; 14 discharged for original disability; 20 were in more than two battles and never wounded; and 19 deserted.
Source: "The War Between the Union and the Confederacy," by William C. Oates of Abbeville, Ala. 1905 and copied by W. W. Nordan, Pres. Henry County Historical Society, Feb 1975.
From Charlene (Parker) Montgomery

Description and Battles are from information on National Park Service dot gov. http://www.itd.nps.gov/cwss/soldiers.htm

15th Regiment, Alabama Infantry
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.

Cold Harbor
Other Names: Second Cold Harbor
Location: Hanover County
Campaign: Grant’s Overland Campaign (May-June 1864)
Date(s): May 31-June 12, 1864
Principal Commanders: Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and Maj. Gen. George G. Meade [US]; Gen. Robert E. Lee [CS]
Forces Engaged: 170,000 total (US 108,000; CS 62,000)
Estimated Casualties: 15,500 total (US 13,000; CS 2,500)

Description: On May 31, Sheridan’s cavalry seized the vital crossroads of Old Cold Harbor. Early on June 1, relying heavily on their new repeating carbines and shallow entrenchments, Sheridan’s troopers threw back an attack by Confederate infantry. Confederate reinforcements arrived from Richmond and from the Totopotomoy Creek lines. Late on June 1, the Union VI and XVIII Corps reached Cold Harbor and assaulted the Confederate works with some success. By June 2, both armies were on the field, forming on a seven-mile front that extended from Bethesda Church to the Chickahominy River. At dawn June 3, the II and XVIII Corps, followed later by the IX Corps, assaulted along the Bethesda Church-Cold Harbor line and were slaughtered at all points. Grant commented in his memoirs that this was the only attack he wished he had never ordered. The armies confronted each other on these lines until the night of June 12, when Grant again advanced by his left flank, marching to James River. On June 14, the II Corps was ferried across the river at Wilcox’s Landing by transports. On June 15, the rest of the army began crossing on a 2,200-foot long pontoon bridge at Weyanoke. Abandoning the well-defended approaches to Richmond, Grant sought to shift his army quickly south of the river to threaten Petersburg.

Other Names: Fort Huger, Hill’s Point
Location: Suffolk
Campaign: Longstreet’s Tidewater Operations (February-May 1863)
Date(s): April 11-May 4, 1863
Principal Commanders: Brig. Gen. John Peck [US]; Lt. Gen. James Longstreet [CS]
Forces Engaged: Divisions (45,000 total)
Estimated Casualties: 152 total (1,160 for entire siege)

Description: On April 19, a Union infantry force landed on Hill’s Point at the confluence of the forks of the Nansemond River. This amphibious force assaulted Fort Huger from the rear, quickly capturing its garrison, thus reopening the river to Union shipping. On April 24, Brig. Gen. Michael Corcoran’s Union division mounted a reconnaissance-in-force from Fort Dix against Maj. Gen. George E. Pickett’s extreme right flank. The Federals approached cautiously and were easily repulsed. On April 29, Gen. Robert E. Lee directed Longstreet to disengage from Suffolk and rejoin the Army of Northern Virginia at Fredericksburg. By May 4, the last of Longstreet’s command had crossed the Blackwater River en route to Richmond.

Other Names: None
Location: Catoosa County and Walker County
Campaign: Chickamauga Campaign (1863)
Date(s): September 18-20, 1863
Principal Commanders: Maj. Gen. William S. Rosecrans and Maj. Gen. George H. Thomas [US]; Gen. Braxton Bragg and Lt. Gen. James Longstreet [CS]
Forces Engaged: The Army of the Cumberland [US]; Army of Tennessee [CS]
Estimated Casualties: 34,624 total (US 16,170; CS 18,454)

Description: After the Tullahoma Campaign, Rosecrans renewed his offensive, aiming to force the Confederates out of Chattanooga. The three army corps comprising Rosecrans’ s army split and set out for Chattanooga by separate routes. In early September, Rosecrans consolidated his forces scattered in Tennessee and Georgia and forced Bragg’s army out of Chattanooga, heading south. The Union troops followed it and brushed with it at Davis’ Cross Roads. Bragg was determined to reoccupy Chattanooga and decided to meet a part of Rosecrans’s army, defeat them, and then move back into the city. On the 17th he headed north, intending to meet and beat the XXI Army Corps. As Bragg marched north on the 18th, his cavalry and infantry fought with Union cavalry and mounted infantry which were armed with Spencer repeating rifles. Fighting began in earnest on the morning of the 19th, and Bragg’s men hammered but did not break the Union line. The next day, Bragg continued his assault on the Union line on the left, and in late morning, Rosecrans was informed that he had a gap in his line. In moving units to shore up the supposed gap, Rosencrans created one, and James Longstreet’s men promptly exploited it, driving one-third of the Union army, including Rosecrans himself, from the field. George H. Thomas took over command and began consolidating forces on Horseshoe Ridge and Snodgrass Hill. Although the Rebels launched determined assaults on these forces, they held until after dark. Thomas then led these men from the field leaving it to the Confederates. The Union retired to Chattanooga while the Rebels occupied the surrounding heights.

Other Names: Petersburg
Location: City of Petersburg
Campaign: Appomattox Campaign (March-April 1865)
Date(s): April 2, 1865
Principal Commanders: Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant [US]; Gen. Robert E. Lee [CS]
Forces Engaged: Armies
Estimated Casualties: 7,750 total (US 3,500; CS 4,250)

Description: With Confederate defeat at Five Forks on April 1, Grant and Meade ordered a general assault against the Petersburg lines by II, IX, VI and XXIV Corps on April 2. A heroic defense of Fort Gregg by a handful of Confederates prevented the Federals from entering the city that night. Lt. Gen. A.P. Hill was killed trying to reach his troops in the confusion. After dark, Lee ordered the evacuation of Petersburg and Richmond. Grant had achieved one of the major military objectives of the war: the capture of Petersburg, which led to the fall of Richmond, the Capitol of the Confederacy.

Other Names: None
Location: Appomattox County
Campaign: Appomattox Campaign (March-April 1865)
Date(s): April 9, 1865
Principal Commanders: Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant [US]; Gen. Robert E. Lee [CS]
Forces Engaged: Armies
Estimated Casualties: 700 total (27,805 Confederate soldiers paroled)

Description: Early on April 9, the remnants of John Broun Gordon’s corps and Fitzhugh Lee’s cavalry formed line of battle at Appomattox Court House. Gen. Robert E. Lee determined to make one last attempt to escape the closing Union pincers and reach his supplies at Lynchburg. At dawn the Confederates advanced, initially gaining ground against Sheridan’s cavalry. The arrival of Union infantry, however, stopped the advance in its tracks. Lee’s army was now surrounded on three sides. Lee surrendered to Grant on April 9. This was the final engagement of the war in Virginia.

Other Names: None
Location: Rockingham County
Campaign: Jackson’s Shenandoah Valley Campaign (March-June 1862)
Date(s): June 8, 1862
Principal Commanders: Maj. Gen. John C. Frémont [US]; Maj. Gen. Richard S. Ewell [CS]
Forces Engaged: 17,300 total (US 11,500; CS 5,800)
Estimated Casualties: 951 total (US 664; CS 287)

Description: Moving up the Shenandoah Valley in pursuit of Jackson’s army, Maj. Gen. John C. Frémont’s army encountered Maj. Gen. Richard S. Ewell’s division at Cross Keys on June 8. Brig. Gen. Julius Stahel’s brigade, attacking on the Union left, was stunned by a surprise volley from Trimble’s command and driven back in confusion. After feeling out other parts of the Confederate line, Frémont withdrew to the Keezletown Road under protection of his batteries. The next day, Trimble’s and Patton’s brigades held Frémont at bay, while the rest of Ewell’s force crossed the river to assist in the defeat of Brig. Gen. E. Tyler's command at Port Republic.

Other Names: None
Location: Rockingham County
Campaign: Jackson’s Shenandoah Valley Campaign (1862)
Date(s): June 9, 1862
Principal Commanders: Brig. Gen. Erastus Tyler [US]; Maj. Gen. Thomas J. Jackson [CS]
Forces Engaged: 9,500 total (US 3,500; CS 6,000)
Estimated Casualties: 1,818 total (US 1,002; CS 816)

Description: Maj. Gen. T.J. Jackson concentrated his forces east of the South Fork of the Shenandoah against the isolated brigades of Tyler and Carroll of Shields’s division, Brig. Gen. Erastus Tyler commanding. Confederate assaults across the bottomland were repulsed with heavy casualties, but a flanking column turned the Union left flank at the Coaling. Union counterattacks failed to reestablish the line, and Tyler was forced to retreat. Confederate forces at Cross Keys marched to join Jackson at Port Republic burning the North River Bridge behind them. Frémont’s army arrived too late to assist Tyler and Carroll and watched helplessly from across the rain-swollen river. After these dual defeats at Cross Keys and Port Republic, the Union armies retreated, leaving Jackson in control of the upper and middle Shenandoah Valley and freeing his army to reinforce Lee before Richmond.

Other Names: Manassas, Second Bull Run, Manassas Plains, Groveton, Gainesville, Brawner's Farm
Location: Prince William County
Campaign: Northern Virginia Campaign (June-September 1862)
Date(s): August 28-30, 1862
Principal Commanders: Maj. Gen. John Pope [US]; Gen. Robert E. Lee and Maj. Gen. Thomas J. Jackson [CS]
Forces Engaged: Armies
Estimated Casualties: 22,180 total (US 13,830; CS 8,350)

Description: In order to draw Pope’s army into battle, Jackson ordered an attack on a Federal column that was passing across his front on the Warrenton Turnpike on August 28. The fighting at Brawner Farm lasted several hours and resulted in a stalemate. Pope became convinced that he had trapped Jackson and concentrated the bulk of his army against him. On August 29, Pope launched a series of assaults against Jackson’s position along an unfinished railroad grade. The attacks were repulsed with heavy casualties on both sides. At noon, Longstreet arrived on the field from Thoroughfare Gap and took position on Jackson’s right flank. On August 30, Pope renewed his attacks, seemingly unaware that Longstreet was on the field. When massed Confederate artillery devastated a Union assault by Fitz John Porter’s command, Longstreet’s wing of 28,000 men counterattacked in the largest, simultaneous mass assault of the war. The Union left flank was crushed and the army driven back to Bull Run. Only an effective Union rearguard action prevented a replay of the First Manassas disaster. Pope’s retreat to Centreville was precipitous, nonetheless. The next day, Lee ordered his army in pursuit. This was the decisive battle of the Northern Virginia Campaign.

Other Names: Sharpsburg
Location: Washington County
Campaign: Maryland Campaign (September 1862)
Date(s): September 16-18, 1862
Principal Commanders: Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan [US]; Gen. Robert E. Lee [CS]
Forces Engaged: Armies
Estimated Casualties: 23,100 total

Description: On September 16, Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan confronted Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia at Sharpsburg, Maryland. At dawn September 17, Hooker’s corps mounted a powerful assault on Lee’s left flank that began the single bloodiest day in American military history. Attacks and counterattacks swept across Miller’s cornfield and fighting swirled around the Dunker Church. Union assaults against the Sunken Road eventually pierced the Confederate center, but the Federal advantage was not followed up. Late in the day, Burnside’s corps finally got into action, crossing the stone bridge over Antietam Creek and rolling up the Confederate right. At a crucial moment, A.P. Hill’s division arrived from Harpers Ferry and counterattacked, driving back Burnside and saving the day. Although outnumbered two-to-one, Lee committed his entire force, while McClellan sent in less than three-quarters of his army, enabling Lee to fight the Federals to a standstill. During the night, both armies consolidated their lines. In spite of crippling casualties, Lee continued to skirmish with McClellan throughout the 18th, while removing his wounded south of the river. McClellan did not renew the assaults. After dark, Lee ordered the battered Army of Northern Virginia to withdraw across the Potomac into the Shenandoah Valley.

Other Names: None
Location: Adams County
Campaign: Gettysburg Campaign (June-August 1863)
Date(s): July 1-3, 1863
Principal Commanders: Maj. Gen. George G. Meade [US]; Gen. Robert E. Lee [CS]
Forces Engaged: 158,300 total (US 83,289; CS 75,054)
Estimated Casualties: 51,000 total (US 23,000; CS 28,000)

Description: Gen. Robert E. Lee concentrated his full strength against Maj. Gen. George G. Meade’s Army of the Potomac at the crossroads county seat of Gettysburg. On July 1, Confederate forces converged on the town from west and north, driving Union defenders back through the streets to Cemetery Hill. During the night, reinforcements arrived for both sides. On July 2, Lee attempted to envelop the Federals, first striking the Union left flank at the Peach Orchard, Wheatfield, Devil’s Den, and the Round Tops with Longstreet’s and Hill’s divisions, and then attacking the Union right at Culp’s and East Cemetery Hills with Ewell’s divisions. By evening, the Federals retained Little Round Top and had repulsed most of Ewell’s men. During the morning of July 3, the Confederate infantry were driven from their last toe-hold on Culp’s Hill. In the afternoon, after a preliminary artillery bombardment, Lee attacked the Union center on Cemetery Ridge. The Pickett-Pettigrew assault (more popularly, Pickett’s Charge) momentarily pierced the Union line but was driven back with severe casualties. Stuart’s cavalry attempted to gain the Union rear but was repulsed. On July 4, Lee began withdrawing his army toward Williamsport on the Potomac River. His train of wounded stretched more than fourteen miles.

Other Names: Combats at Parker’s Store, Craig’s Meeting House, Todd’s Tavern, Brock Road, the Furnaces
Location: Spotsylvania County
Campaign: Grant’s Overland Campaign (May-June 1864)
Date(s): May 5-7, 1864
Principal Commanders: Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and Maj. Gen. George G. Meade [US]; Gen. Robert E. Lee [CS]
Forces Engaged: 162,920 total (US 101,895; CS 61,025)
Estimated Casualties: 29,800 total (US 18,400; CS 11,400)

Description: The opening battle of Grant’s sustained offensive against the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, known as the Overland Campaign, was fought at the Wilderness, May 5-7. On the morning of May 5, 1864, the Union V Corps attacked Ewell’s Corps on the Orange Turnpike, while A.P. Hill’s corps during the afternoon encountered Getty’s Division (VI Corps) and Hancock’s II Corps on the Plank Road. Fighting was fierce but inconclusive as both sides attempted to maneuver in the dense woods. Darkness halted the fighting, and both sides rushed forward reinforcements. At dawn on May 6, Hancock attacked along the Plank Road, driving Hill’s Corps back in confusion. Longstreet’s Corps arrived in time to prevent the collapse of the Confederate right flank. At noon, a devastating Confederate flank attack in Hamilton’s Thicket sputtered out when Lt. Gen. James Longstreet was wounded by his own men. The IX Corps (Burnside) moved against the Confederate center, but was repulsed. Union generals James S. Wadsworth and Alexander Hays were killed. Confederate generals John M. Jones, Micah Jenkins, and Leroy A. Stafford were killed. The battle was a tactical draw. Grant, however, did not retreat as had the other Union generals before him. On May 7, the Federals advanced by the left flank toward the crossroads of Spotsylvania Courthouse.

Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Wilderness, and Spotsylvania—this is the bloodiest landscape in North America. No place more vividly reflects the Civil War’s tragic cost, in all its forms. A city bombarded, bloodied, and looted. Farms large and small ruined. Refugees by the thousands forced to the countryside. More than 85,000 men wounded; 15,000 killed—most now in graves unknown. The fading scars of battle, the home places of bygone families, and the granite tributes to those who fought still mark these lands. These places reveal the trials of a community and nation at war—a roiling cataclysm, a virtuous tragedy that freed four million Americans and reunited a nation.

When the Civil War ended, the debris of the recent battles in Spotsylvania County remained a constant reminder of the tragic conflict that had swept over Spotsylvania Court House. Hundreds of Confederate sons lay in crudely marked graves scattered over the nearby battlefields. Local women concerned about these unattended plots formed the Spotsylvania Memorial Association. In 1866 they established a Confederate Cemetery on five acres of land a half mile northeast of the Court House.

The Association reburied nearly 600 soldiers in the new location. Most are identified and organized by state. A few remain unknown. Headstones provided by the Federal Government mark all of the graves. In the center of the cemetery is a granite shaft crowned by a stone Confederate soldier who silently stands watch over the dead. A roster of the known dead is now online. The Park staff is currently developing a data base that will include the names of every soldier who died in the Fredericksburg area as well as information about them. Eventually this data base will be online.

To reach the Spotsylvania Confederate Cemetery, travel from the Fredericksburg Battlefield Visitor Center south on Lafayette Boulevard and Route 208 about 9 miles. The cemetery is on the left 0.7 mile past the Spotsylvania Battlefield tour road exit. The entrance is marked by a shrubbery-lined driveway. The cemetery is open daily.