"Tis something akin to the immortals that makes
us long not to be altogether
unworthy of the fame of our ancestors, it is
certain that if the child respects himself
he must honor his father and
mother."
Elkanah Burson, Memorial Day Speech, April 26, 1879
1. Story of the Flag of the Wilcox True Blues
The “Wilcox True Blues” was the first company formed in this
part of the State in early 1861, and was initially comprised of young men
from east Wilcox County followed by young men from the Camden area. The
ladies of the families of these volunteers decided to present the company
with a suitable flag, and while the company was being organized, the women
began to make the flag. Since the stores in Camden had no suitable material,
Miss Adele Robbins of Canton Bend presented the ladies with blue silk
dress material to be used for the flag. Mr. Samuel Tepper volunteered to
paint the inscription on the banner which consisted of the words “Wilcox
True Blues” on one side, and on the other side was depicted a steamboat,
cotton boll, and a coiled rattlesnake. Mrs. Ella Thompson presented the flag
to the company which the Honorable S.C. Cook accepted on its behalf. The
company left Wilcox County in February 1861 as was engaged in the capture of
Fort Barrancas and Fort McRea. The “Wilcox True Blues” then were organized
into the First Regiment of Alabama as Company B and Judge Purifoy of Furman
was made color bearer. Captain was I.G.W. Steadman, a medical doctor from
Oak Hill. This regiment was the first one transferred to the Confederate
service, and was ordered to Island 10 on the Mississippi River. On the way
to this outpost, thinly clad, many of the young soldiers became ill. The
color bearer, among the sick, was put off the boat a private residence at
Tiptonville, Tennessee. There he and his colors were captured by Wisconsin
troops, and sent to Madison where it was placed in a military museum.
Many years later, the museum was destroyed by fire, and it was assumed that
the flag had been destroyed. However, in 1917, Miss Maud McWilliams of
Camden was visiting her sister Mrs. Margueritte McWilliams Cook, in Lansing,
Michigan, and happened to discover in a military museum there the “Wilcox
True Blues” banner, which she recognized from the description given her by
her father. When the word reached Richard Ervin McWilliams, an original
member of the Company, and who later served as a Major in the Confederate
Army, and who had spent many years trying to locate the flag, he wrote the
Michigan State Auditor and the Grand Army of Michigan requesting its return.
The flag was
returned to Alabama in
1921,
and was displayed at the Wilcox County Courthouse for a period of
time. Later it was placed in the
Department of Archives and History, where it rested for nearly 85 years,
though in dire need of repair. The local Wilcox Historical Society
spearheaded the effort including a fund raiser to have this flag restored,
and through the special efforts of the ADAH, this is has come to fruition.
(The above information was excerpted from an article written by R.E.
McWilliams, a Private in Company B, and which appeared in the Wilcox
Progressive Era on February 10, 1921. Mr. McWilliams,
the great-grandfather of our Vice
President, Garland Cook Smith and her sister Jean Lindsay Cook,
died on August 25, 1921).
2. How the True Blues Became Company B
Co. “K” (“Wilcox
True Blues”, Wilcox County; company organized at Allenton, AL, 9 Feb 1861.
Officers and men
were sworn into Confederate service on 8 April 1861, and mustered out at
Pensacola, FL, 18 Jan 1862)
The Mobile "Red
Eagles" had problems with discipline and morale from the beginning and
disbanded on 14 Jan 1862, eliminating Co. "D". Co. "A" and "B", "Pioneer
Guards" and "Eufaula Rifles", disbanded shortly afterwards and reorganized
as the "Eufaula Light Artillery". That left seven companies. A substantial
number of twelve-month men in these were willing to reenlist for two years:
Co. “C” (“Perote
Guards”, Pike County) became Co. "G"
Co. “E” (“Rough
and Ready Pioneers”, Pike County) continued as Co. "E"
Co. “F”
(“Tallapoosa Rifles”, Tallapoosa County) became Co. "A”
Co. “G” (“Alabama
Rifles”, Talladega County, became Co. "D"
Co. “H” (“Guards
of the Sunny South”, Lowndes County) became Co. "C”
Co. “I” (“Clayton
Guards”, Barbour County) became Co. "F"
Co. “K” (“Wilcox
True Blues”, Wilcox County) became Co. "B"
New companies
were designated "H", "I" and "K". Veterans reenlisted for two years or the
war rather than three years as all others would have.
3.
Service of the "Wilcox True Blues" (Men of Wilcox: They Wore
the Gray, Ouida Starr Woodson)
Early in February, 1861, men
from East Wilcox county organized a company of volunteers, who would offer
their service to Alabama. These men, about 100 strong, left their
county on February 12, with I. G. W. Steadman as Captain. They went to
Pensacola, Fla., and before the end of February were mustered into the First
Alabama Infantry Regiment as Company B. At the time of the of the
organization of the Regiment, Captain Steadman was elected Colonel of the
First Alabama, and David Wardlaw Ramsey became Captain of the True Blues.
For a year, the First Alabama remained on duty at Fort Barrancus, Pensacola.
Being the oldest Alabama Regiment, the men of its ranks were the first
called upon to re-enlist for the duration of the war. Seven of the
Companies of the Regiment re-enlisted. About two-thirds of the men of
the Wilcox true Blues remained in Pensacola.
Early March, 1862, the First
Alabama was ordered to Island No. 10, on the Mississippi River, near the
borders of Missouri, Kentucky and Tennessee.
In 1898, Col. Steadman wrote a
letter to the Birmingham Age Herald which told of the Regiment's service.
He wrote, "Warm weather had begun in Pensacola, and we were ordered to send
our heavy clothing home, and march as lightly clad as we could." He
remembered that upon arrival at Island No. 10, the men found no tents, few
utensils for camp life, and sufferings of the men of the Regiment were
great.
Island No. 10 was under siege
six weeks, during which time several communicable diseases broke out.
Measles, mumps, and whooping cough were rampant among the men.
Following the surrender of the Confederate forces, the enlisted men were
sent to Union prisons in the far north. Col. Steadman's letter notes
that mortality among prisoners at Madison, Wisconsin was high. He
attributed the high death rate to the privations suffered prior to capture
rather than any neglect by the Union authorities.
A muster roll, which was
prepared in the early 1930s by Richard Ervin McWilliams, lists 13 of the
True Blues who died during the terrible happenings of the spring of 1862.
Col. Steadman and Captain Ramsey were taken prisoner and both were held
captive in northern prisons for the duration of the war.
The Privates of the First
Alabama were paroled in September of 1862. The Regiment rendezvoused
in Jackson, Miss., where casualties were counted as being 300 men lost
during the siege or during their time in northern prisons.
The Regiment was ordered to
Port Hudson where they suffered another siege and capture. another 150
casualties were recorded for the First Alabama.
| Picture |
Rank |
First
Name |
Last Name |
Service |
Comments |
| |
Captain |
I. G. W. |
Steadman |
|
|
 |
Captain |
David Wardlaw |
Ramsey |
POW Camp Chase,
Columbus, Ohio |
|
| |
First Lieutenant |
J. K. |
Hawthorne |
|
|
| |
Second Lieutenant |
W. D. |
McNeill |
|
|
| |
Third Lieutenant |
Robert |
Powers |
|
|
| |
First Sergeant |
J. P. |
Benson |
|
|
| |
Second Sergeant |
J. P. |
Williams |
|
|
| |
Third Sergeant |
W. J. |
Hawthorne |
|
|
| |
First Sergeant |
Nick |
Stallworth |
|
|
| |
First Corporal |
Preston |
Williams |
|
|
| |
Second Corporal |
Frank |
Mobley |
|
|
| |
Third Corporal |
E. A. |
Shannon |
|
|
| |
Fourth Corporal |
Joseph B. |
McWilliams |
|
|
| |
Private |
Andrew |
McMeehan |
|
|
| |
Private |
Seaborne |
Flannagan |
|
|
| |
Private |
R. |
Gaillard |
|
|
| |
Private |
Robert D. |
George |
|
|
| |
Private |
John |
Bragg |
|
|
| |
Private |
David W. |
Carter |
|
|
| |
Private |
J. H. |
Chappell |
|
|
| |
Private |
N.P.E. |
Crook |
|
|
| |
Private |
William P. |
Carter |
|
|
| |
Private |
D. R. |
Maxwell |
|
|
| |
Private |
E. C. |
McWilliams |
|
|
| |
Private |
W. W. |
McConnico |
|
|
| |
Private |
William |
Mims |
|
|
| |
Private |
John F. |
Melton |
|
|
| |
Private |
David P. |
Owens |
|
|
| |
Private |
Judge W. |
Purifoy |
|
|
| |
Private |
E. D. |
Harris |
|
|
| |
Private |
W. R. |
Hawthorne |
|
|
| |
Private |
Brustus |
Howard |
|
|
| |
Private |
Nathaniel |
Ashley |
|
|
| |
Private |
James |
Brown |
|
|
| |
Private |
Thomas J. |
Blair |
|
|
| |
Private |
C. W. |
Bodie |
|
|
| |
Private |
John |
Bunkley |
|
|
| |
Private |
Leslie |
Bloxom |
|
|
| |
Private |
William J. |
Bailey |
|
|
| |
Private |
W. D. |
Bain |
|
|
 |
Private |
E. |
Burson |
Wounded
Sharpsburg, Wilderness
2nd Manassas, August 20, 1862
Sharpsburg
16 Nov 1863
Campbell's Station
Knoxville
Danbridge |
Speech Given
Memorial
Day Camden,
April 26, 1877 |
| |
Private |
J. Decatur |
Caldwell |
|
|
| |
Private |
John |
Childs |
|
|
| |
Private |
Patrick |
Conner |
|
|
| |
Private |
Robert |
Dampler |
|
|
| |
Private |
John |
Dougherty |
|
|
| |
Private |
Tence |
Fitzsimmons |
|
|
| |
Private |
Gabriel |
Flowers |
|
|
| |
Private |
Allen J. |
Grimes |
|
|
| |
Private |
James L. |
Grace |
|
|
| |
Private |
Thomas P. |
Gaillard |
|
|
| |
Private |
J. Salter |
Grace |
|
|
| |
Private |
William |
Campbell |
|
|
| |
Private |
A. T. |
Chappell |
|
|
| |
Private |
Benjamin |
Hardy |
|
|
| |
Private |
W. |
Carstarphen |
|
|
| |
Private |
C. W. |
Campbell |
|
|
| |
Private |
J. F. |
Maxwell |
|
|
| |
Private |
Hugh W. |
McKee |
|
|
| |
Private |
J. S. |
McBryde |
|
|
| |
Private |
David |
Flowers |
|
|
| |
Private |
C. O. |
Miller |
|
|
| |
Private |
Simeon K. |
Nored |
|
|
| |
Private |
John W. |
Purifoy |
|
|
| |
Private |
Henry |
Haddox |
|
|
| |
Private |
William O. |
Richardson |
|
|
| |
Private |
Thomas J. |
Holcombe |
|
|
These soldiers
were listed below in the 1921 article, below, but were not listed above
