The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-06-21

Ice in the state troops for the time be- ing.
 My next service in the state militia was in 1872, when a company was or- ganized in my native town of Tuscaloosa, now Company F, Second infantry, Ala bama National Guard I was honored as it's first captain. After organizing and electing officers, l reported the organiza ton to the adjutant general and asked for commissions and arms. The commis- sions were not issued, and my requisi- tion for arms returned, indorsed-"Re- spectfully returned, no arms for issue" This was in reconstruction days. l per sistently requested commissions and arms each quarter but none were ever issued. Still we kept up the organization as best we could under the circumstances Gen. George D. Johnston, another splendid soldier, then commandant of the univer- slty allowed me the use of the cadet guns to instruct my men, but only at the university. He taught me Upton's tactics for 1 was educated in Hardee's tactics only as a Confederate soldier. He took great interest in our company and his kind services were Invaluable to us.
 It was difficult to keep up an organi- zation without arms, as soldiers without arms are not much soldiers, but we did out best, looking for better times ahead; before the better times came I removed to Selma, and shortly afterwards a troop of cavalry was organized-the Dallas Light Dragons, now Troop C. First squadron, Alabama National Guard. I joined as a private and charter mem- Der; was soon appointed sergeant; elected second lieutenant and later first lieuten- ant, in which position l served until the brigade of the Alabama National Guard was formed and I was promoted to be major and quartermaster First brigade, Alabama National Guard, on the staff of that splendid officer, Gen. Louis V. Clark, and have continuously served as such since the brigade was formed, as I remember, in 1895.
 So you see that I am a veteran, and while I do not claim service from the 'muster'in 1859. can consistently claim service dating as far back as 1863 and if this is not granted, then surely from 1872, and before the great majority of the men now serving in the Alabama Nation al Guard were born. leave 1t, with all the facts, to my fellow guardsmen to de- eide just how far back I shall claim as having been in the service of the state militia.
 The Alabama National Guard. as it now stands, is the evolution of the old separate company system In the ante bellum days these separate companies were in existence and were splendid or ganizations. In the large cities and towns there were a number-as a mere boy I remember the old Warrior Guards of Tuscaloosa, with their showy uni forms; their captain then was that splen- did soldier Robert F. Rodes who was afterwards Major General Rodes, and was killed while leading his Confederate sol ders in Virginia. In each of these towns the military company was the toast of the town. Most of these companies went into the Confederate army. and their knowledge of military was invaluable in Is.. ate army. After the terrible war was over, the military spirit in Alabama was subdued somewhat, but enough was left to keep alive the "esprit dm corps" and soon separate organizations began to spring up. It first began in Mobile, which was always full of military spirit, fol- lowed closely by Montgomery, Selma EufaulaS ;. Tuscaloosa and few other places, and then in the post-bellum town of Birmingham, the magic city of the world. nov full of military spirit and the headquarters of the First bragade. Ala bama National Guard with splendid or ganizations of the Alabama National Guard in all of its branches-infantry artillery and cavalry All honor to Bir- mingham sprung from such men as Pow ell, DeBardeleben, Morris, O'Brien and others all Alabama men, and splendidly aided by northern men, friends of Ala bama. like the Woodward brothers and others
 These separate companies organized af- ter the war were certainly patriots and soldiers for the love of it, for they got little encouragement from the state for many years, and none from the United States government Each member paid for his uniform, which was always an ex- pensive one, and no two companies uni formed alike, and all of the companys ex- penses were paid by its members and they cheerfully robbed their pockets to keep up military spirit. Few of the mem- bers of the Alabama National Guard of today know of the trials of the "Old Guard"
 In the course of time these companies were gradually organized into regiments the first being formed with Mobile as headquarers. Soon we had three regi- ments fully organized with a full quota of companies, one battery of artillery and one squadron of cavalry. Then the state authorities finally awoke to the necessity of fully recognizing the state troops. as they were then called Gov. Thomas G. Jones was really the first governor who seemed to recognize the necessity of a well organized citizen soldiery; himself a splendid soldier in the war as well as in peace, he gave every encouragement and really stimulated the first efforts toward genuine organization. SWhile the colonel of a regiment in the Alabama state troops iic Sd W fiOW pfOHlptly the men re- sponed to every call of duty in upholdlng the law and order, and I can truthfully add that, with one exception. the Ala bama National Guard, and their prede- cessors, the Alabama state troops have never failed to respond to a call to duty and I shall not name this exception, for that one company that failed is not now in the service.
 Each governor succeeding Governor Jones encouraged the military, and in their inaugurals and messages to the leg islatures. recommended suitable appropri- ations for their maintenance the last legislature increasing the appropriation over any heretofore made, and I wish to say that know how our present govl ernor, Conner feels, for I have heard ex- pressions from him as being an ardent advocate of encouraging the military, as he discovered the necessity in the late disorder in the Birmingham district and saw the efficiency of the national guard.
 When the Spanish hAmerican war came on and the President called for volun- teers, every one knows how quickly the Alabama national guard responded, and l desire to give a piece of information that all may not know. Soon after the call of the President, on the following Friday. the war department telegraphed all of the governors to know when their first quota of volunteers would be ready Gov. Joseph F. Johnston, then our splen- did governor, replied, Alabama now ready" and when asked where the troops should report He received instructions to have them sent to Mobile, and on Sat- urday afternoon the First Alabama vol unteers, under Col. E. l.. Higdon, were in camp at Mobile-the first regiment of volunteers in the United States to report for tu