HISTORICAL TIME LINE - 38th Alabama Infantry

March 11, 1862, Charles T. Ketchum advertised in Mobile Advertiser and Register for men to enlist and muster for his regiment. They will be paid a $50 bounty.

April and May 1862, men enlisted and mustered at various locations.

April 1862, the regiment is posted at Mobile and were be in several camps during their stay. Many men died of disease. Early on Camp Holt at the old race course on Dauphin Way is mentioned as their location. In about July they moved to Camp Cummings on the south side of Dearborn St. One two week trip is made to Columbus, MS. in the Fall of the year 1862.

Returned to Mobile on Oct. 21, 1862, from Columbus.

April 1863, the 38th was transferred to the Army of Tennessee and sent to Tullahoma, TN. They are assigned to Major General A. P. Stewart’s Division, General Henry D. Clayton’s Brigade. 830 men left Mobile in the 38th Alabama. (There are 1498 men in the service records.)

June 24, 1863, first heard enemy gunfire at Hoover’s Gap, TN.

September 17, 1863, they begin the march from LaFayette, GA to Chickamauga.

September 19, 20, 1863. Battle of Chickamauga. Clayton’s Brigade loss 629 men or 43% in dead, wounded and missing.

November 24, 1863. Battle of Lookout Mountain.

November 25, 1863. Battle of Missionary Ridge. Clayton’s Brigade with heavy loss. The 38th almost wiped out. Many men captured and sent to Rock Island Prison Barracks.

Winter of 63-64 at Crow Valley north of Dalton, GA. The Army of Tennessee goes into winter quarters. Great Religious revival in the Army of Tennessee.

December 27, 1863. General Braxton Bragg was replaced as Commander of Army of Tennessee by Major General Joseph Johnston.

Spring 1864, began the Atlanta Campaign or 100 day battle.

Rocky Face
Resaca
Cassville
New Hope Church

July 7, 1863, General James T. Holtzclaw becomes Brigade commander when General Clayton is promoted to Division Commander.

July 18, 1863, General Joe Johnston replaced by General John Bell Hood as commander of Army of Tennessee.

July 22, 1864, Battle of Atlanta. Many of the captured men are sent to Camp Chase Prison in Columbus, Ohio.

July 28, 1864, Clayton’s Division moves from trenches north east of Atlanta toward East Point.

August 30, 1864, Moved from East Point to Jonesboro, GA.

August 31, 1864, Battle of Jonesboro, GA.

September 1, 1864, ordered back to Atlanta, passing through to McDonough on September 3, and on to Lovejoy Station on September 4.

September 8, 1864, US General W. T. Sherman agrees to exchange prisoners on hand but requires removal of all civilians in Atlanta.

September 12, 1864, removal of refugees commenced.

September 19, 1864, the Army of Tennessee Headquarters is established at Palmetto, GA.

September 25, 1864, Confederate President Jefferson Davis arrives at Palmetto.

September 26, 1864, The President addresses the Army.

September 27, 1864, President Davis leaves for Montgomery.

September 29, 1864, The Army of Tennessee marched north finally passing through Decatur, Alabama and on to Tuscumbia, Alabama arriving about October 31.

November 16, 1864. The Confederate President sets the day aside for prayer and fasting with all military duties suspended for the day.

Holtzclaw’s Brigade moved across the Tennessee River to Florence, Alabama, by November 7.

November 20, 1864, left Florence marching north.

November 27, 1864, skirmish with the Federals at Columbia, TN.

November 29 -30, 1864, Battle of Franklin, TN. The 38th has rear guard and missed the action. Six Confederate Generals are killed in the fight and three others receive mortal wounds.

December 15-16, 1864, Battle of Nashville, TN.

The Army of Tennessee withdrew and marched to the Tennessee River reaching there on December 25, 1864.

Clayton’s Division moved with the Army of Tennessee to North Carolina but Holtzclaw’s Brigade containing the 38th, 18th, 32nd, 36th and 58th Alabama Infantry Regiments was transferred to the District of the Gulf under General Dabney Maury.

January 27, 1865, left Meridian, MS. to report to the Eastern Shore of Mobile Bay at Spanish Fort, Alabama.

March 26, April 8, 1865. Battle of Spanish Fort, Alabama.

May 4, 1864. Lt. General Richard Taylor surrenders his army to US Major General E. R. S. Canby at Citronelle, AL. The troops are at Meridian, Mississippi, Demopolis and Livingston, Alabama. They sign paroles and are released from the Army. About 70 men are left in the ranks at the surrender. Some prisoners are not released until June.