Confederate States of America. Army. Alabama Infantry Regiment, 3rd

Variant names

Biographical notes:

The Third Alabama Infantry Regiment was organized at Montgomery in April, 1861. It was the first Alabama command that was sent to Virginia. Mustered into service at Lynchburg, 4 May, the regiment was ordered to Norfolk. There it was in a temporary brigade with the 1st and 12 VA, under Col. Jones M. Withers, who was soon after succeeded by Col. William Mahone.

For 12 months, the 3rd remained at Norfolk and there reenlisted (but saw no active service). Norfolk was evacuated, 5 May 1862, and the regiment fell back with the army. At Seven Pines, it was held in reserve the first day and was badly cut up the second, losing 38 killed and 122 wounded. Two weeks later it was attached to General Robert E. Rodes' Brigade, which now consisted of the 3rd, 5th, 6th, 12th and 26th AL regiments.

The brigade, led by Col. John B. Gordon of the 6th, participated in the week of battle before Richmond, as part of General Daniel H. Hill's Division. The 3rd lost 207 out of 345 men and officers at the repulse at Malvern Hill and mustered with only 180 men shortly after that. They recruited quickly to bring up the complement to 300 men. Hill's Division was not engaged at Cedar Run or 2nd Manassas, but it moved with the army, and the 3rd Alabama was the first to plant the "stars and bars" in Maryland.

At Boonsboro, the fighting was prolonged and desperate, as it was at Sharpsburg. The 3rd moved back into Virginia with the army, and it was in line of battle at Fredericksburg. At Chancellorsville, it was in General Stonewall Jackson's Corps in the assault on Hooker, and in the two days, lost 24 killed and 125 wounded. In the second Maryland campaign, the 3rd moved with General Richard S. Ewell's Corps, to which it now belonged, as far as Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. It lost heavily at Gettysburg, fighting both days with credit, and sharing in the privations of the retreat. After the return to Virginia, it skirmished at Mine Run and wintered at Orange Courthouse.

Now under Brig. General Cullen A. Battle, the regiment bore a conspicuous part in the battles of The Wilderness and Spotsylvania, losing many. In the fighting at 2nd Cold Harbor, it charged the enemy and again lost heavily. It was with General Jubal Early in the Valley, and in Maryland, taking part in the demonstration against Washington, DC, and in the pursuit of Union General David Hunter. At Winchester, its losses were heavy, and it suffered again at Cedar Hill, as it protected the rear of the retreating army. Placed in the trenches at Petersburg, the 3rd dwindled away by attrition until only about 40 men surrendered at Appomattox. Of the 1,651 names on the roll, about 260 were lost in battle, 119 died in the service, and 605 were discharged or transferred.

Company C (Swanson's Company) of the Third Alabama Infantry Regiment was originally recruited in Macon County, organized at Montgomery in April 1861, and mustered into service at Lynchburg, Virginia, 4 May 1861.

From the guide to the Confederate States Army, Third Alabama Infantry Regiment, Company C (Swanson's Company) muster roll MSS. 0351., 1861 May 4, (University Libraries Division of Special Collections, The University of Alabama)