History of the 15th Alabama

Basic Facts

Date of Organization: July 3rdm 1861

Gettysburg After Action Report

Gettysburg after battle report:

Report of Col. William C. Oates, Fifteenth Alabama Infantry.

August 8, 1863.
Sir: I have the honor to report, in obedience to orders from brigade headquarters, the participation of my regiment in the battle near Gettysburg on the 2d ultimo. My regiment occupied the center of the brigade when the line of battle was formed. During the advance, the two regiments on my right were moved by the left flank across my rear, which threw me on the extreme right of the whole line. I encountered the enemy's sharpshooters posted behind a stone fence, and sustained some loss thereby. It was here that Lieut. Col. Isaac B. Feagin, a most excellent
and gallant officer, received a severe wound in the right knee, which caused him to lose his leg. Privates [A.] Kennedy, of Company B, and [William] Trimner, of Company G, were killed at this
point, and Private [G. E.] Spencer, Company D, severely wounded.

After crossing the fence, I received an order from Brig.-Gen. Law to left-wheel my regiment and move in the direction of the heights upon my left, which order I failed to obey, for the reason
that when I received it I was rapidly advancing up the mountain, and in my front I discovered a heavy force of the enemy. Besides this, there was great difficulty in accomplishing the maneuver at that moment, as the regiment on my left (Forty-seventh Alabama) was crowding me on the left, and running into my regiment, which had already created considerable confusion. In the event that I had obeyed the order, I should have come in contact with the regiment on
my left, and also have exposed my right flank to an enfilading fire from the enemy. I therefore continued to press forward, my right passing over the top of the mountain, on the right of the line.

On reaching the foot of the mountain below, I found the enemy in heavy force, posted in rear of large rocks upon a slight elevation beyond a depression of some 300 yards in width between the base of the mountain and the open plain beyond. I engaged them, my right meeting the left of their line exactly. Here I lost several gallant officers and men.

After firing two or three rounds, I discovered that the enemy were giving way in my front. I ordered a charge, and the enemy in my front fled, but that portion of his line confronting the two companies
on my left held their ground, and continued a most galling fire upon my left.

Just at this moment, I discovered the regiment on my left (Forty-seventh Alabama) retiring. I halted my regiment as its left reached a very large rock, and ordered a left-wheel of the regiment, which was executed in good order under fire, thus taking advantage of a ledge of rocks running off in a line perpendicular to the one I had just abandoned, and affording very good protection to my men. This position enabled me to keep up a constant flank and cross fire upon the enemy, which in less than five minutes caused him to change front. Receiving re-enforcements, he charged me five times, and was as often repulsed with heavy loss. Finally, I discovered that
the enemy had flanked me on the right, and two regiments were moving rapidly upon my rear and not 200 yards distant, when, to save my regiment from capture or destruction, I ordered a retreat.

Having become exhausted from fatigue and the excessive heat of the day, I turned the command of the regiment over to Capt. B. A. Hill, and instructed him to take the men off the field, and reform the regiment and report to the brigade.

My loss was, as near as can now be ascertained, as follows, to wit: 17 killed upon the field, 54 wounded and brought off the field, and 90 missing, most of whom are either killed or wounded. Among the killed and wounded are 8 officers, most of whom were very gallant and efficient men.
Recapitulation.--Killed, 17; wounded, 54; missing, 90; total, 161.

I am, lieutenant, most respectfully, your obedient servant,

W. C. OATES,
Col., Comdg. Fifteenth Alabama Regt.

Lieut. B. O. Peterson,
Acting Assistant Adjutant-Gen.

Source: Official Records: Series I. Vol. 27. Part II. Reports. Serial No. 44

Quotes from the Men

One soldier noted, "The spirit of devotion to our Southland bound us together as comrades in a holy cause."

Poem by Pvt. Brannon. 15th Alabama

"In spirit we go back today
When all of us were young and strong;
When we were proud to wear the gray, Opposed to what we thought was wrong;
When every man stood at his post, To do, to dare, to obey-
To prove he loved his country most, Resigned to give his life away.

The weary march, who can forget- so tired, hungry, sleepy, too;
Trudging along in cold and wet, trying to find those men in blue.

But after all, we now delight to bring once more to memory's door
the beating drum, the march, the fight, and comrades brave who've gone before;
The cannon's boom, the screeching shell, the fierce contention on the field,
The bayonet and the rebel yell
before which everything would yield.
In silent graves, where now do sleep, The cold remains of those who died;
where memory shall her vigils keep while truth and honor shall abide.

The Southern soldier has no cause to be ashamed of anything.
The world may now withhold applause, But unborn poets yet shall sing
in glowing language of his name, Will tell the story of his past,
Will write it on the scroll of fame To live as long as time shall last.

My dear, beloved soldier friends, we soon shall hear the last tattoo
which time shall beat as it descends To hide us all from mortal view.
But there's a land I hope we'll see, Where there's no sorrow, and no wars;
Where there's an endless reveille which angels sing beyond the stars.

Good-bye, once more, a last good-bye; Together here no more we'll meet. Our friendship, though, shall never die-
a soldier's love knows no deceit. There is a bond as strong as steel
that binds us as the day to night; That is, that we shall always feel
that we did was for the right."

-Private Brannon 1902