"ACW Orders of Battle" Topic

Anyone else like to just browse through the George Nafziger OOBs? I think it's interesting just looking through them and seeing how commanding officers changed over time, especially between campaigns/battles. I also find the make up of each brigade and which regiments were present and from which state(s) the regiments were from.

For instance, I just looked at a listing for the Confederate Army of Mississippi, Corinth, Mississippi, 26 May 1862. Quite a few Louisiana infantry regiments present, which you don't really see in the Army of Tennessee later on. Hmmm, interesting. Then, in Hardee's Corps Shaver's 1st Brigade you have 4 Arkansas infantry regiments and 1 Tennessee regiment. In Cleburne's 2nd Brigade you have 1 Arkansas regiment and 5 Tennessee Infantry Regiments.

At first glance it would seem logical to swap out the odd one's to make an Arkansas Brigade and a Tennessee infantry brigade, at least to my (a bit OCD) mind. However, without knowing too much about the units and Brigade commanders (Shaver and Cleburne) this early in the war I would bet there is more to how these brigade's were organized and which units ended up in each.

Going through the OOBs certainly can lead one down some research rabbit holes and off on tangents.

When I took a class in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1996, I had the opportunity to spend a Saturday at the state archives. I looked up the 16th Alabama. I had never really thought about the issue of where the troops were raised, other than in this case, Alabama. The regiment was actually formed from companies raised in six different counties (not a statewide thing). Four of the counties that provided men (Lauderdale, Franklin, Lawrence, and Marion) were in the northwest corner of the state, grouped around Colbert County, which did not provide troops. The other two counties were along the eastern border with Georgia: Cherokee in the north, and Russell, four counties to the south. I have no idea why they didn't draw all the troops from the northwest counties (and like you, I'm OCD enough to wonder). This is the only regiment I've ever seen a county breakout on, so I don't know if the usual procedure was to raise regiments in contiguous counties, or some from over here and some from over there. I think that, early in the war, they were drawing in entire companies of militia, but that still doesn't explain what the deal was with the companies from Russell and Cherokee counties.

Grelber

It varied tremendously. Early in the war you could have a recruitment drive and raise all ten companies for a regiment on the spot. So they would all be from the same city, town, or company. This was more common in urban areas.
Later, you had individual companies raised in a location, and then they were sent to training camps, or camps of instruction. Companies were then grouped together to form regiments depending on what was available. This is where you get companies from different parts of the state grouped together in a single regiment.
And then sometimes you would only have 4-5 companies ready, but the need for a unit was urgent and they were needed for service immediately. So they were formed into a battalion and sent to the front. Later, this battalion would or could be grouped with other available companies or battalions to form a formal regiment. This was much more common in the Confederacy, and is how many of the late war infantry and cavalry regiments were formed.

One of the articles in Time Portal Passages from back in the 1990s was on Alabama Regiments, counties of Origin and nicknames.
Currently I am working on an article based on a Book that covers 140+ cemeteries in Clay, Cleburne and Randolph counties. One guy had survived in an Arkansas regiment.

One Consolidated regiment in 1864 consisted on four Alabama companies + four Mississippi companies + two Tennessee companies. An interesting look.
After the battle of Mobile, at Fort Bakley an Arkansas regiment minus was stationed there.

Brigade composition early in the war was mainly by State. By 1864 some brigades were a mix of States. Of course there are exceptions to both examples.

Northern Alabama tended to be Pro-Union.

Oh yes the Free State of Winston actually happened in north Alabama.
In my family most uncles nd great grandfathers fought for the State of Alabama. None joined CSA national regiments.
However one uncle fought for the north after being captured at Island 10. He was offered a chance to join a Union regiment. He never came back to Alabama. Another uncle left Alabama in 1861 and went to Arkansas only to return n 1865.

By the way if you did not serve or hire a substitute, you would have your land or business was confiscated by the State. Hatred for the north in rural, very few slave owners, grew only after the Union Cavalry started raiding in the state.

Back to north Alabama, the Alabama Volunteer Cavalry had more campaigns listed than any other cavalry unit.

Some of these make sense if you know the backstory. Johnston brought Hardee east from Arkansas in 1861, and I believe Hardee brought some of his troops with him. In the aftermath of Donnelson Bragg and Ruggles commands from the Gulf coast were sent north to reinforce Johnston. I believe that included a block of troops from Louisiana. Then after Shiloh Van Dorn came east of the Mississippi bringing troops from Missouri, from Arkansas and from Texas. When Bragg shifted his command to East Tennessee not all of these troops made the move.

For periods that I am interested in, I like to browse OOBs in general.

Yes, Hardee took about 4,000 troops from Arkansas to Kentucky in late '61.

Bill N,

Doing a bit of research (or in some cases a lot of research) to find out the backstory is what I find fascinating. I also know that even though an ACW infantry regiment may seem out of place, especially in the case of Confederate brigade organizations, it seems that brigade structures weren't changed without cause (such as extreme losses).

Russ,
A number of regimental histories were authorized in the 1960s for the centennial. I am currently reading a copy of the history of the 31st Alabama regiment. Interesting account of battles including some I had not researched before.
So you might look for copies of histories at the local library or historical society.

Ruggles brought a brigade of 5 regiments north from Louisiana after the fall of Donelson. His first stop was Corinth, to guard the Memphis & Charleston RR.

Correction: Ruggles' brigade only had 4 regiments.