The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1903-03-22
HEROIC RECORD OF THE
OLD TENTH ALABAMA
BY VILLA M TAYLOR.

/ the federalS a ffeueIleh91'i5 -
tiers of history.
In Camp Near Fredericksburg.
Winter was now on, and military oper-
atoms for the time ceased Inc leuei - 80
were eneamped on the north sue u ny
| Rama hannoclk the confederates were en- |
camped on the south side OF int liss''
| extending from Hamilton's Crossing 10
| Chancenersvllle In many places tue
camps of the two armies were in pam
! view of each other The river was tnS
| picket line of both armies, ana the nat
row, shallow stream above fIeueiie No
/ burg invited a degree of familiarity De
/ tween the pickets of the respective
! armies. resulting In the frequent exchange
| of camp commodities.
! The boy in blue" wanted TOBACCO anu
! the boy in gray" wanted conee' anu
both were accommodated by the tA-
| change although at the risk OF severe
! penalties.
! The Tenth regiment was encamped our
| ing the winter in the pine Tickets two
miles above Fredericksburg, and the ola
comrades will recall many events Oh IN
terest, occurring in that memorable
! camp.
The last DAYS of April. 1868 were now
at hand. The federal army under the
command of "Fighting joe Hooker was
| in motion. He crossed the Rappahanneck
and gave two days hard hghtns at
| Charlottesville. only to be crushed ana
| driven behind his entertainments by the
ubiquitous and indomitable Jackson. But
| Hooker was yet hopeful, ana relied on
| General sedgwick with 10000 fresh troops
to retrieve his fortune by an assault on
! Lees rear.
I II was vain reliance, and resulted in
! the defeat and well night destructive
route of Sedgwicks army at Salem
church This splendid triumph of the
Il 1tta
heroic valor of Wilcox's brigade OF Ala
!, bamians, as shown in a communication,
THE Battle of Salem Church. in The
Age-Herald some weeks ago
Guyine the Tenth.
OF the action of the Tenth regiment in
that historic event, little more need be
said since its valor has been abundant
ly maintained on every field, while its
splendid carriage was never questioned.
! But for some weeks after the battle OF
Salem church, there was camp jest
among the boys at the expense of the
! Tenth. The Jest is represented to have
| had its origin with Colonel Williams,
commanding the Ninth Alabama. The
colonel was a man of rather frail phys
/ ique, strdulous voice, but undaunted
| courage. In the alignment of battle the
/ Ninth was In position to support the
! Tenth.
The Tenth was in the most exposed po-
sition, as well as the most accessible
from the enemy's lines. Nor was the
enemy long in throwing an overwhelming
force against Ibis part of our line. The
Tenth wavered and was temporarily
! thrown into confusion by the shock. On
| the first appearance of yielding on the
! part of the Tenth, Colonel Williams
sprang forward, drew his sword and
shouted, STEADY Steady Ninth Ala
bama! You know what regiment you are
put here to support. - And as one man,
the Ninth promptly moved forward to
| take the place of the wavering regiment.
Under the cool leadership of Colonel
/ Forney however the Tenth was rapidly
reformed into line, and again in the
midst of the conflict. Over the nom de
/ plume of "Clericosum." one of the chap
/ lains of the brigade made reference to
! the event in a communication to a Rich
mond paper somewhat rejecting on the
| behavior of the Tenth. This elected
sharp reply from the chaplain of the
! Tenth under the name of Alias Cleri-
| cosum" and that settled it,
But the joke was on the Tenth, and
ON the march to Pennsylvania, which be-
i gan a few weeks later the line was
often enlivened by the jeering cry,
! STEADY, Steady, Ninth Alabama, you
know what regiment you are put here
to support.
On the March TO pennsylvania
! The march to Pennsylvania from Fred
ericksburg began few weeks after the
battle of Salem church, and was with
out particular incident. 1t crossed the
! Blue Ridge at Fort Royal. thence down
| the Shenandoah valley on by BerryNille,
| Charlestown and crossed the Potomac a (
Shepherdstown. The march was continued
through Sharpsburg, where nine months
| before was fought the great draw battle;
/ and thence on through Hagerstown into
! the beautiful Cumberland valley, now
teemng in the exuberant products of a
! thrifty population.
| The products of those farms, sorely 1
tempted the confederate soldiers. who for
/ the past two years had seen only the
! fields of Virginia, devastated by the
! blighting tread of both hostile armies
But the timely order of General Lee, for
| bidding trespassing was largely obeyed
and reduced the soldiers proving to
! the minimum.
Gettysburg.
| Passing through 3hambersburg, late in
June, the army turned to the east and
| encamped at Fayetteville, little hamlet
six miles distant where it remained
| three or four days. From this point. the
march was resumed toward Gettysburg,
where was fought the greatest battle OF
! the century. W
The part borne in that great conflict on
July and 3. 1868, by Wilcoxs brigade,
was heroic, and that command has never
! been accorded full credit In the reports
of that great event The conspicuous
valor of Piclletts division in its famous
! charge, seems in some way to have OBJ
scured the supreme courage of other com
| mands of no less heroic daring. 1t is
| quite certain that Wilcoxs brigade adj
vanced as far as the Virginia division in
! the terrible assault on federal entrench;