Confederate Regiment

3rd Alabama Infantry

Organized: Montgomery, AL; mustered in 4/12/1861
Disbanded/Mustered out: Appomattox CH, VA April 1865

Commanding Officer on the Sharpsburg Campaign:
Col. Cullen A. Battle

This Regiment's Chain of Command:
  Army - Army of Northern Virginia
  Corps - Jackson's Command
  Division - D. H. Hill's Division
  Brigade - Rodes' Brigade

Unit history

Not long after the Alabama legislature passed the ordinance of secession, the Third Alabama regiment was organized from the companies of the 2nd Regiment, and its officers elected were Jones M. Withers, of Mobile, colonel; Tennent Lomax, of Montgomery, lieutenant-colonel, and Cullen A. Battle, of Tuskegee, major. The Second battalion, under Major Battle, was ordered to Virginia, and early in April reported to Lieut.-Col. E. Kirby Smith, commanding at Lynchburg. Being joined a few days later by the other battalion, under Lomax, the regiment was mustered into the Confederate service, by Colonel Smith, about April 12, 1861.

The regiment was soon ordered to Norfolk, and during the Confederate occupation of that post, Colonel Withers was promoted and sent west, and Lomax became colonel, and Battle, lieutenant-colonel. The regiment was assigned to Mahone's brigade early in 1862, and in that command participated in the battle of Seven Pines, where Colonel Lomax was killed. Battle was now promoted colonel, and early in June his regiment was transferred to General Rodes' brigade.

On the Sharpsburg Campaign

In his report of the battles of Boonsboro and Sharpsburg, General Rodes wrote: "The men and officers behaved well, but Colonel Gordon's Sixth Alabama, Major Hobson's Fifth Alabama, and Colonel Battle's Third Alabama deserve special mention for admirable conduct during the whole fight.'' The Regiment was among those few defending Turner's Gap on South Mountain on September 14th, and in the fierce fighting in the Sunken Road during the midday of the 17th.

Maps Showing this Unit

Detail Map #6: French's Division Hits the Sunken Road (9-10 am)
Detail Map #9: Richardson's Division Attacks the Sunken Road (10-11 am)

Battlefield Tablets for this Unit

Tablet #332: D. H. Hill's Division, Jackson's Command - 14 Sep, 10 PM to 16 Sep, 9 PM
Tablet #384: D. H. Hill's Division, Jackson's Command - 14 Sep, 10 PM to 16 Sep, 9 PM
Tablet #303: Longstreet's Command - 14 Sep, 9 PM to 15 Sep, 12 PM
Tablet #338: Rodes' Brigade, D. H. Hill's Division - 16 Sep, 9 PM to 17 Sep, 1 PM
Tablet #333: D. H. Hill's Division, Jackson's Command - 17 Sep, 7 AM to 17 Sep, 1 PM
Tablet #304: Longstreet's Command - 17 Sep, 7 AM to 17 Sep, 3 PM
Tablet #385: D. H. Hill's Division, Jackson's Command - 17 Sep, 7 AM to 17 Sep, 5 PM

After the Sharpsburg Campaign

The Regiment continued in all the campaigns of the ANV until assigned to Early's forces in the Valley late in 1864.

Placed in the trenches at Petersburg, the 3rd dwindled away by attrition until only about 40 men surrendered at Appomattox. Of 1651 names on the roll, about 260 were lost in battle, 119 died in the service, and 605 were discharged or transferred.

We have 71 individuals in the AotW database who were on the Maryland Campaign with this unit:

Co.	Rank	Name	Casualty?
A	Pvt	Chidsey, Strong Minor	WIA 09/14
A	Pvt	Dennis, Thomas	WIA 09/14
A	Pvt	Dunlevy, A. F.	WIA 09/14
A	Sgt	Hurxthal, John W.
A	Sgt	Ledyard, William Nathaniel	WIA 09/14
A	Corp	Soto, John A.	WIA 09/17
A	Sgt	Stewart, James Glenn	WIA 09/17
A	Pvt	Wheeler, Josiah	WIA 09/14
A	Capt	Witherspoon, Thomas Casey	POW 09/14
A	Pvt	Woodcock, Andrew B.	WIA 09/17
B	Pvt	Brennan, Martin	POW 09/17
B	Pvt	Bullis, Halsted C.	MWIA 09/17
B	Pvt	Carver, Jr., Thomas Jefferson	WIA 09/14
B	Pvt	Cooke, James Jarvis	KIA 09/17
B	Sgt	George, Winfield S.	POW 09/14
B	Pvt	Hall, Alexander P.	WIA 09/17
B	Pvt	Hall, Benjamin R.	WIA 09/18
B	Lt	Johnston, Henry C.	WIA 09/14
B	Pvt	Lewis, John C.	WIA 09/14
B	Pvt	Randall, James Fitzsimmons	POW 09/17
B	Lt	Robbins, Arthur Ferris	WIA 09/17
B	Pvt	Rondeau, Henry W.	POW 09/18
B	Sgt	Sharpe, Gordon
B	Capt	Simpson, John Richard	WIA 09/17
B	Pvt	Sturdivant, Norwood	KIA 09/17
C	Lt	Bilbro, William Thomas	POW 09/14
C	Sgt	Davis, Joseph L.	MWIA 09/14
C	Pvt	Ellis, Alexander	WIA 09/17
C	Lt	Howard, John Jackson	WIA/POW 09/14
C	Pvt	Jones, Robert M.	WIA/POW 09/14
C	Pvt	Needham, Willam James	KIA 09/14
C	Pvt	Summerville, James W.	WIA 09/14
C	Pvt	Swearengen, William N.	POW 09/14
C	Sgt	Tate, James Madison	WIA 09/14
C	Pvt	Turk, Thomas Labon	POW 09/14
C	Pvt	Wimberly, Ezekial Abner	POW 09/14
C	Pvt	Wright, Benjamin F.	POW 09/14
D	Pvt	Bagby, Jonathan Thomas
D	Pvt	Baker, Alexander H.
D	Corp	Eley, Josiah E.
D	Pvt	Hardman, William Joel	WIA 09/14
D	Pvt	Johnson, Thomas Lancaster
D	Pvt	Knowles, George W.	WIA 09/14
D	Capt	Powell, Richard Holmes
D	Lt	Randle, Edmund Troup	WIA 09/14
D	Pvt	Stinson, Micajah Lewis
D	Pvt	Yarrington, Thomas Lowry	WIA 09/14
E	Pvt	Bagby, John Hampden	WIA 09/14
E	Capt	Chester, John Wood
E	Corp	Ellison, George H.
E	Pvt	Reynolds, Hugh	MWIA 09/14
F	Pvt	Costello, Peter	WIA 09/14
F	Pvt	Keating, George Walter	WIA 09/14
F	Lt	Phelan, Watkins
F	Pvt	Pringle, Benjamin Franklin	WIA 09/14
G	Capt	Bonham, Malachi Ford
G	Sgt	Ruff, Newman M.	WIA 09/14
H	Sgt	Crocheron, James A.	WIA/POW 09/14
H	Sgt	Dunklin, William John	WIA 09/14
H	Capt	Robinson, Cornelius
H	Pvt	Taylor, D. J.	KIA 09/14
I	Sgt	Davis, Joseph A.	MWIA 09/14
I	Lt	Havis, W. C.	KIA 09/14
I	Pvt	Kincaid, Robert Alexander	WIA/POW 09/14
I	Pvt	Lennard, Thomas C.	KIA 09/14
I	Pvt	Nickles, John T.	MWIA 09/14
I	Capt	Ready, Edward Sims	WIA/POW 09/14
K	Sgt	Childress, Jefferson Van Dyke	POW 09/14
K	Lt	Lake, John Jemison	KIA 09/14
K	Pvt	Ryder, Corbet A.	WIA/POW 09/14
F&S	Col	Battle, Cullen Andrews

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