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The Civil War in the East
Battles
4th Alabama Infantry:
The 4th Alabama Infantry Regiment mustered 1,422 men during the Civil War, of whom 240 died in battle and nearly 100 of disease.
1861:
May 2 Organized at Dalton, Georgia, under Colonel Egbert J. Jones and Major Charles Lewis Scott and sent to Viginia
May 7 Mustered into sevice at Lynchburg for twelve months and sent on to Harpers Ferry Early July Attached to General Barnard Bee’s Third Brigade (2nd and 11th Mississippi and 1st Tennessee)
July 21 Battle of Manasas (Bull Run)
Captain Lewis E. Lindsay and 37 enlisted men were killed, Colonel Jones was mortally wounded and Major Charles L. Scott and 206 other men were wounded out of 750 engaged.
From General Beauregard’s report:
The Fourth Alabama also suffered severely from the deadly fire of the thousands of muskets which they so dauntlessly confronted under the immediate leadership of Bee himself. Its brave colonel (E. J. Jones) was dangerously wounded and many gallant officers fell, slain or hors de combat… It was now that General Johnston impressively and gallantly charged to the front with the colors of the Fourth Alabama by his side, all the field officers of the regiment having been previously disabled. The brave Bee was mortally wounded at the head of the Fourth Alabama.
September 3 Colonel Jones died of his Manassas wound.
November 8 Thomas Goldsby of Company A was promoted to lieutenant colonel.
1862:
January Regiment reenlisted for three years under Colonel Evander McIvor Law
April Lt. Colonel Goldsby resigned
May 2 Major Owen Kenan McLemore (USMA 1856) was transferred from the 14th Alabama and promoted to Lieutenant Colonel of the 4th Alabama.
May 31-June 1 Battle of Seven Pines
Captain Gustavus B. Martin and 7 enlisted men were killed and 19 were wounded
June 15 Sent to join Jackson in the Shenandoah Valley, but returned with him to the Richmond area
June 27 -28 First Battle of Cold Harbor (Gaines’ Mill)
Captains Hesley Armistead and 21 enlisted men were killed, Captain Alfred C. Price was mortally wounded, Lt. Colonel McLemore, Captains Frank C. Robbins and W. H. Robinson, Adjutant Robert T. Coles and 103 eniisted men were wounded out of 500 engaged.
From General Whiting’s report:
Lieut.-Col. O.K. McLemore, Fourth Alabama, received a painful wound early in action, the command devolving on Capt. L. H. Scruggs, who conducted the regiment through.
July 1 Battle of Malvern Hill
Captain William Lee and 1 enlisted man were killed and Major D. Sterrett, Captain Lawrence Houston Scruggs and 11 enlisted men were wounded
August 22 Major Scott resigned. Captain Pinckney D. Bowles was promoted to major
August 29 – 30 Second Battle of Manasses
Lieutenant C. C. Ferris and 19 enlisted men were killed and 43 were wounded
September 15 Battle of Boonesboro (South Mountain)
Lieutenant Colonel McLemore was mortally wounded. Captain Lawrence H. Scruggs took over command of the regiment.
September 17 Battle of Sharpsburg (Antietam)
The regiment was commanded by Captain Scuggs.
Colonel Law reported,
The Fourth Alabama pushed into the wood in which the skirmish had taken place the evening previous and drove the enemy through and beyond it …. Captain Scruggs commanding the Fourth Alabama received wounds while discharging his duty.
Captain James Sullivan and 7 enlisted men were killed and, and 42 enlisted men were wounded in addition to Captain Scruggs. Captain William M Robbins took command after Scruggs was wounded.
From the first of two brigade tablets on the Antietam battlefield:
September 16, 1862.
On the evening of the 16th, Law’s Brigade advanced from the fields in front of the Dunkard Church to a position in the East Woods, on either side of the Smoketown Road, where it supported the skirmishers of Wofford’s Brigade in resisting the advance of Seymour’s Brigade.
The engagement ceased at dark. At 10 P. M. the Brigade was relieved by Trimble’s Brigade of Ewell’s Division, and withdrawn to the woods west of the Dunkard Church.
From the second brigade tablet:
September 17, 1862
Law’s Brigade advanced from the woods at the Dunkard Church at 7 A.M. and relieved Trimble’s Brigade across the Smoketown Road south of this point. Gradually gaining ground to the left, its center on the open ground and its right in the East Woods, it assisted in repulsing the advance of Ricketts’ Division, First Corps. Supported on the right by the 21st Georgia of Trimble’s Brigade and the 5th Texas of Wofford’s Brigade, it advanced to the northeast corner of Miller’s Cornfield and the woods adjacent, from which it was dislodged by the advance of the Twelfth Corps. It withdrew to the fields south of the Dunkard Church and was not again engaged.
September 30 Lieutenant Colonel McLemore died on September 4 in Winchester. Major Bowles was promoted to lieutenant colonel and Captain Lawrence Houston Scruggs of Company I was promoted to major
October 3 Lieutenant Colonel Bowles was promoted to colonel, Major Scruggs to lieutenant colonel and Captain Thomas K. Coleman of Company D to major
November 14 General Chilton’s inspection report details, Fourth Alabama, Col. P. D. Bowles: Arms mixed, in tolerable order, 12 wanting; 50 men needing clothes and shoes; 2 barefooted; camp in tolerable order.
December 13 Battle of Fredericksburg
Captain James H. Keith and 4 enlisted men were killed and 17 were wounded
1863:
January 19 Transferred to Law’s Alabama Brigade in Hood’s Division of Longstreet’s Corps per Lee’s Special Orders No. 19
April 11 – May 6 Suffolk Campaign
July 1 – 3 Battle of Gettysburg
The regiment was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Lawrence H. Scruggs. Captain W. W. Leftwich and 14 enlisted men were killed and 72 men were wounded. Lieutenant John P. Breedlove was wounded and captured.
A marker for the 4th Alabama is on the Gettysburg battlefield on South Confederate Avenue . It is the only Confederate regimental marker on the Gettysburg battlefield:
July 2. Left New Guilford 25 miles distant at 3 a.m. Arrived here and formed line about 4 p.m. and under fire from Smith’s Union Battery on Rocky Ridge and the Sharpshooters in Plum Run Valley. Advanced at once against the Union Position on Little Round Top. The Regiment encountered the 83d Penna. and right wing of the 20th Maine. The conflict lasted until night-fall.
July 3. Occupied breastwork on western slope of Round Top with firing on skirmish line. At 5 p.m. intercepted near the Slyder house and aided in repulsing the Union Cavalry under Brig.-Gen. Farnsworth and pursued it into the forest south of the valley. About 11 p.m. the regiment under orders resumed position near here and lay inactive the next day and night.
July 5. About 5 a.m. began the march to Hagerstown.
Present officers and men about 275. Killed and wounded 87.
September The regiment was transferred by rail to the west with Longstreet and two divisions.
September 20 Battle of Chickamauga
Lt. Colonel Lawrence H. Scruggs was wounded, Major Thomas K. Coleman was mortally wounded, Captains Martin T. Billingsley and Reuben Vaughan Kidd and 11 enlisted men were killed and 53 enlisted men were wounded out of 300 engaged
October 3 Major Coleman died in Marietta of his wound from Chickamauga.
November 17 – December 4 Siege of Knoxville
Suffered 5 killed and 24 wounded, including Captains Henry H. Moseley and Frank C. Robbins, who were wounded and captured
1864:
April The regiment returned to the Eastern Theater with Longstreet’s two divisions.
April 27 Captain John D. Ogilvie died in service
May 5 – 7 Battle of the Wilderness
Captain Bayless C. Brown and 14 enlisted men were killed and Major William Mack Robbins, Captains James H. Brown, James W. Darley and James Taylor Jones and 55 enlisted men were wounded out of 250 engaged
May 8 – 12 Battles of Spottsylvania
Lost 4 killed and 11 wounded
May 23 – 26 Battle of Hanover Junction
Captain Jason M. West was wounded
May 30 – June 12 Second Battle of Cold Harbor
June 3 Colonel Bowles commanded the brigade while Lt. Colonel Scruggs commanded the regiment
July 1864 –April 1865 Siege of Petersburg
Captain Capt. A. Murray and 10 enlisted men were killed and 30 were wounded
1865:
April 9, 1865 Appomattox Court House
Surrendered 21 officers and 202 men under Lt. Colonel Scruggs
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