First Alabama U.S. Cavalry

The First Alabama U.S. Cavalry Regiment was the only White regiment from Alabama to serve in the U.S. Army during the Civil War. Recruited from southern Unionists in 35 counties of Alabama and eight other Confederate states, the unit served through much of the conflict, primarily as part of the Army of the Tennessee in the Western theater and later under the Military Division of the Mississippi. The origin of the unit derived, in part, from the uniqueness of northern Alabama as compared with the rest of the state.

In 1860, on the eve of the Civil War, more than 400,000 enslaved people lived in Alabama, making up nearly 45 percent of the state's population. But the distribution of enslaved individuals across the state was uneven. In some Black Belt counties, such as Dallas, Greene, Marengo, Sumter, and Wilcox, where the cultivation of cotton dominated agriculture, enslaved populations exceeded 70 percent of their total populations. In contrast, counties in the northern part of the state, such as Blount, DeKalb, Walker, and Winston, where cotton cultivation was much less prevalent, enslaved populations made up less than 10 percent. These mountainous and rugged areas could not support the plantation economy that dominated central and southern Alabama. The White residents in these counties consisted primarily of poor subsistence farmers who resented the wealthy enslavers. As talk of secession rose following Abraham Lincoln’s victory in the 1860 presidential election, many in northern Alabama did not share the fear of Lincoln’s supposed abolitionist plans and saw the secession movement as primarily serving the interests of the enslaving elite. Although unique within Alabama, other parts of the Confederacy experienced similar dynamics. In the mountainous regions of eastern Tennessee, northern Georgia, western North Carolina, and western Virginia—areas with comparable poor yeoman farmer populations—anti-secession sentiments also persisted.

Christopher Sheats

As the calls for secession grew louder across the state and leaders called a convention to address the issue, many north Alabamians did not agree with the call for secession, particularly those in Winston County. During a meeting of leaders from Winston and other nearby counties, three resolutions were passed, including a declaration of neutrality in the conflict and a call for the creation of a “Free State of Winston.” However, the hope for remaining neutrality came under quick backlash from ardent secessionists. Christopher Sheats, the Winston County delegate to the Secession Convention, was jailed for voting against secession and refusing to change his vote.

Frustration over this stance of neutrality reached a crisis point when the Confederate Congress passed the Conscription Act on April 16, 1862, which required every able-bodied man between the ages of 18 and 35 to be drafted into the military. This policy directly conflicted with many northern Alabamians' hopes to stay neutral. As Alabama governor John Gill Shorter sent home guard units on conscription patrols, many men took to the mountains to avoid their forced enlistment. The resistance to conscription led many to view those trying to remain out of the conflict as traitors, and they began to treat them accordingly. Conscription patrols carried out multiple incidents of theft, property confiscation, physical violence, including murder, towards these so-called “traitors.” This harassment prompted many to abandon their hopes of neutrality and turn to the U.S. military.

Maj. Gen. Don Carlos Buell

Simultaneous with the passage of the Conscription Act and rising harassment, U.S. forces began moving farther into the Deep South. The U.S. Army’s victory at the Battle of Shiloh in western Tennessee and its seizure of Huntsville, Madison County, in April 1862, and its capture of the railroad junction in Corinth, Mississippi, within a few months established a federal military presence in north Alabama. In the summer of 1862, Maj. Gen. Don Carlos Buell requested and received permission to enlist Alabamians into the U.S. Army. Recruiters traveled covertly through north Alabama counties with strong Unionist sentiments to find recruits. Their efforts proved fruitful, as groups of Alabamians traveled through woods and at night to reach Corinth, where the first company of the First Alabama Cavalry regiment was formed. Recruits also flooded into Huntsville to enlist in the regiment. Recruiting became so successful that Gov. Shorter offered a $10,000 reward for the body of any federal recruiting officer. In total, 2,058 White men joined the regiment, with a large majority born in Alabama. About eight Black men served in the unit as cooks. New York native George Eliphaz Spencer commanded the regiment and would later serve in the U.S. Senate representing Alabama during Reconstruction. Overall, approximately 2,678 White Alabamians enlisted in the U.S. Army.

George E. Spencer

Upon mustering in on December 18, 1862, the regiment served in the Army of the Tennessee within the Western theater, which included the states of Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia. The men performed a variety of duties, such as scouting, raiding, reconnoitering, guarding the flanks, and screening for the infantry.

In 1864, the unit took part in Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman’s Atlanta Campaign (May to September), as part of his effort to capture Atlanta and defeat opposing forces. At the end of August 1864, U.S. forces had not completely subdued the city. Hoping to further cut off supplies to the city, Sherman ordered U.S. cavalry units to take the railroads near Jonesborough, present-day Jonesboro, south of Atlanta. Initially, Confederate troops under Gen. William J. Hardee repulsed the U.S. advance. On September 1st, the First U.S. forces attacked Hardee’s position again and successfully broke through, prompting Confederate troops to begin evacuating Atlanta. Later, when Sherman began his famous 1864 “march to the sea” from Atlanta to Savannah, Georgia, he requested the First Alabama Union Cavalry serve as his escort to take advantage of the symbolism of a group of Southern Unionists escorting the U.S. Army into the Deep South.

William Tecumseh Sherman

During the last few months of the war, as U.S. forces moved up from Georgia into the Carolinas, the First Alabama, now part of the Military Division of the Mississippi, took part in two of the last engagements of the war. Near Fayetteville, North Carolina, at Monroe’s Crossroads on March 10, 1865, Confederate forces ambushed U.S. Cavalry. While initially routed, U.S. cavalry units managed to recover and counterattack. As U.S. infantry began approaching, the Confederate forces withdrew and crossed the Cape Fear River into Fayetteville. Nine days later, on March 19, the First Alabama took part in an attack against Confederate forces near Bentonville, North Carolina. After three days of fighting, neither side had gained a clear advantage on the battlefield, and Confederate forces managed to retreat. The battle would have little impact on the broader conflict as Confederate general Robert E. Lee surrendered his Army of Northern Virginia to U.S. forces on April 9, 1865, at Appomattox Court House, Virginia. Confederate general Joseph E. Johnston surrendered his forces to Sherman on April 26 near Durham, North Carolina.

Six months later, the regiment received its mustering out order on October 20, 1865, in Huntsville. By the end of the war, of the 2,058 White men in the regiment, about 345 had been killed in action, 88 were captured, and 279 had deserted. Like many other regiments, members stayed in contact through reunions after the war, even as late as 1912.