Special Report

1780 - 1821
Townsmen form bands to protect their homes from Indian attacks. A formal military organization was established after Alabama became a state in 1819. Many regiments and battalions were founded under military legislation enacted in 1821.

1835
Alabama soldiers saw their first action when they went to help Texans fight for their independence from Mexico. Most of the men were killed under the orders of Santa Anna at the execution at Goliad, Texas.

One of those regiments was from Montgomery. Some of the men were “of the rougher element,” said Brig. Gen. John H. Napier III of the Alabama State Defense Force recently. “The community wasn’t too sorry when they didn’t come back.”

1846-1860
A company from Montgomery and one from Mobile went to Mexico to fight in the Mexican War. Over the next 10 years, more companies were chartered as tension increased between the North and South.

1860-1865
In February 1860, the Legislature created the Alabama Volunteer Corps with more than 8,000 men. When the American Civil War began in 1861, all the Alabama troops were transferred to the Confederate Army.

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“More than 75,000 served,” Napier said. “One-third didn’t come home.” These numbers are an estimate, Napier said, because many of the records and statistics were destroyed in the war.

1870-1890
Volunteer soldiers were used as law enforcement within the state. The soldiers were occasionally called out for riot control during labor strikes.

1897
The Alabama National Guard was formally founded when America was on the brink of the Spanish-American War. Alabama did not provide much military support — only one-third of the total 1,800 enlisted men volunteered for active duty. Two white regiments and one black unit, commanded by white officers, were sent to Florida, where they suffered heavily in the swamps.

“Black units were recruited because they thought that they’d be immune to malaria and yellow fever,” Napier said.

1917
The United States declared war on Germany. The Alabama Guard split and reassembled under different units. The 4th became the U.S. 167th and merged with other regiments to form the 42nd “Rainbow” Division. Other regiments from Alabama and other

Southern states merged to form the 31st “Dixie” Division.