COMPANY C - SAMUEL C. "Fred" VAUGHAN, Capt. ... THOS. J. WORTHY, 1st Lt. ... JOHN GREEN, 2nd Lt. ... SAMUEL DENNIS, 3rd Lt. ... CHARLES SMITH, First Sgt. ... J.C. COPELAND, 2nd Sgt. ... HOLLIS RILEY, 3rd Sgt. ... A.J. VESSELS, 1st Corporal.

The Sixth Alabama Cavalry Regiment was organized near Pine Level in the spring and early summer of 1863 as part of a brigade commanded by Brigadier-General JAMES HOLT CLANTON (1827-1871), a Montgomery attorney and a veteran of the Mexican War in 1848 as a Private. In November 1861, CLANTON had raised and commanded the 1st Alabama Cavalry as a Colonel, a regiment that served with distinction at the bloody Battle of Shiloh (April 1862). In June or July 1862, Colonel CLANTON turned over command of the 1st Alabama Cavalry to Colonel WILLIAM W. ALLEN following a dispute with General BRAXTON BRAGG on whose staff he had briefly served after Shiloh at Farmington. Disputes were a very common occurrence between BRAGG and his subordinate commanders.

In January, 1863, Alabama Governor JOHN GILL SHORTER asked that then-Colonel CLANTON, his special aide-de-camp, be allowed to immediately raise a regiment from men in the southeastern counties of Alabama for the defense of that thinly-defended part of the state, which was where much of the desperately-need salt was manufactured. The area had recently been subjected to Federal raids in Coffee County, and was felt to be vulnerable to "hostile incursions from Pensacola", a problem compounded by a great deal of uncertainty as to who was actually in charge of defending that region.

Because the targeted counties had become so denuded of manpower during the first two years of the war, the pool from which Clanton had to recruit was so limited that he made many concessions and inducements which resulted in a brigade that, in the words of Department of the Gulf Commander Major-General DABNEY, were comprised primarily of "... men who have entered the army very reluctantly." The problem especially applied to the infantry units, where many of the men were paid substitutes, impressed conscripts, foreigners, men who had previously been exempt from service - in general, men from the "poorer classes" who felt they had very little to fight for.

The brigade formed by CLANTON in 1863 included units that were ultimately known as the Sixth and Seventh Alabama Cavalry, the Sixty-First and Fifty-Seventh Alabama Infantry, and two batteries of artillery - one of which was commanded by CLANTON's brother, a Captain. In early 1864, the Eighth Alabama Cavalry was added. The Sixth Cavalry Regiment consisted of eight companies of Alabama men and two companies from Florida. On March 1st, just two weeks prior to his 18th birthday, ANDERSON HARWELL enlisted in Troy (Pike County)in Company C, which was made up mostly of men from Tallapoosa County. We can only guess at Anderson's enthusiasm for service, but he was promoted fairly soon to Sergeant despite his youth. Certainly his parents, now in their mid-50's and with three other sons in the 8th Confederate Cavalry, had deep concerns.

Although still under strength, on May 1, 1863, Colonel CLANTON was ordered by the War Department in Richmond to send cavalry and infantry units to Pollard, where it engaged with a column of the enemy that moved out from Pensacola. By July 13th, the Sixth Alabama Cavalry Regiment's strength was 500-600 men, but the exigencies of war delayed complete organization of the full brigade until September. In a letter to the Adjutant & Inspector General in Richmond dated Sept. 19th, General CLANTON reported: "[In August] and until very recently, owing to the disorganized condition of my command, the greater portion of it being detached and at various times ordered to different points to meet anticipated raids and incursions of the enemy both in Mississippi and Alabama, it has been impossible to receive reports from the detached commands of my brigade. My command, with the exception of the [Sixth] Alabama Regiment Cavalry (detached and at the front on outpost duty), is now concentrated at Pollard, Ala., and all embarrassments being now removed, I hope in a few days to be able to forward complete rolls showing the organization of my brigade."

In early December 1863, the dubious quality of the recruits in the brigade's infantry regiments came back to haunt CLANTON, and permanently changed the mission of all regiments in the brigade. 60 of 300 men - nearly all from the two infantry regiments - laid down their arms while on picket duty near Gonzales (about 15 miles from Pensacola), and refused to fight as part of an orchestrated plan by the 'Peace Society', a secret organization with special identifying handshakes and signals. The so-called 'Peace Men' had earlier roots among officers and enlisted men in units of BRAGG's Army of Tennessee,especially in East Tennessee. CLANTON addressed the problem swiftly and decisively. The military courts that tried the mutineers completely vindicated CLANTON, and the cavalry regiments do not appear to have been involved. However, the reputation of the entire brigade among senior C.S.A. officers was permanently stained, and all regiments remained suspect as to their reliability despite their subsequent peformance on the battlefield. The regimental elements of the brigade seldom fought together as a unified command - they were quickly dispersed to 'temporary' assignments in other commands away from the home territory that had been their original mission and reason for existence.

In February 1864, CLANTON and his brigade were ordered to North Alabama, with headquarters in Gadsden (Etowah County), on the east bank of the Coosa River. Their mission was to protect the coal and iron sections as well as the public works at Selma, and to organize and complete the Eighth Alabama Cavalry. The Sixth Cavalry, which was then at Meridian, MS, was ordered to join CLANTON in Gadsden, where it was subsequently involved - with few losses - in several skirmishes with elements of the 15th and 16th U.S. Army Corps near Decatur, Danville and the Paint Rock River.

In the savage fighting of the Atlanta-Dalton campaign in May-June 1864, the regiment lost quite a number of men during the several weeks that they were attached as part of FERGUSON's and ARMSTRONG's brigades. CLANTON was detached from his command at the time and was assigned to the staff of General LEONIDAS POLK, who had been sent to reinforce General JOHNSTON during the fighting at Resaca, Adairsville and Cassville north of Atlanta. CLANTON reportedly received the thanks of the General and his staff for his services. POLK, who was the Episcopal bishop of Louisiana before the war, was killed on June 14th. By June 30th the regiment was returned to CLANTON's command.

In mid-July, a portion of the Sixth and Eighth Alabama Cavalry regiments resisted ROUSSEAU in Alabama at Ten Islands, on the Coosa River, losing a number killed and captured. The demise of CLANTON's forces came when the Confederates overlooked the need to destroy the ferries and flat boats upstream near Greensport, which allowed a portion of the 8th Indiana Cavalry, commanded by Major HARRISON, to cross the river unnoticed while CLANTON, from a strong defensive position on the east bank of the Coosa, opposed the main Federal force at the ford - the same ford used in 1813 by General Andrew Jackson in his famous campaign against the Creek Indians. On the morning of July 14th, Major HARRISON attacked CLANTON from the rear and flank, completely taking the Confederates by surprise. Federal estimates put Confederate casualties at 15 killed, 40 wounded and 8 taken prisoner, which was more than 30% of CLANTON's total 200-man force that opposed the enemy's 2,300 in the engagement. Included in the Confederate losses was most of CLANTON's staff - Captains ROBERT ABERCROMBIE of Florida (acting Adjutant) and MOORE, and Lieutenant THOMAS JUDKINS of Montgomery, were all killed in action. Lt.Col. W.T. LARY and Major McWHORTER of the Sixth Cavalry were captured, and Capt. BAT. SMITH of Dallas County and Lt. HYER of Florida were wounded.

By January 1865, the inevitable outcome of the war was very clear to everyone. As the war wound down, CLANTON relieved General ALPH. BAKER at Pollard, and beat back a raid of the enemy soon after. Transferred by mid-February to West Flo

We Rode With Forrest!