The Camden Rifles were formed 158 years ago in Wilcox County, Alabama

Reginald Hebner Dawson

This month – February 2019 – marks 158 years since the organization of the Camden Rifles, a hometown company of soldiers made up mostly of Camden residents who went off to fight in the War Between the States.

One of the best sources of information on the Camden Rifles is Ouida Starr Woodson’s outstanding 1989 book called “Men of Wilcox: They Wore the Gray.” According to Woodson, the Camden Rifles were organized in Camden in early February 1861, just a few weeks after Alabama seceded from the Union. George Mathews Pharr helped organize this infantry company and was elected to serve as its first captain.

On Feb. 28, 1861, these soldiers boarded a steamboat and departed Wilcox County, headed south on the Alabama River for Mobile. Just before their departure, due to health reasons, Pharr resigned as captain and was replaced by Robert Tait. When they reached Mobile, they were 72 men strong and enlisted in the Confederate Army for a 12-month term of service. After those 12 months, the company broke up and most of the men signed on with other companies.

According to the muster roll for the Camden Rifles, other officers in the company, in addition to Capt. Tait, included First Lt. Reginald Hebner Dawson, Second Lt. John J. Longmire and Third Lt. R.C. Jones. Noncommissioned officers were First Sgt. J.D. Clark, Second Sgt. W.G. Fail, Third Sgt. H.T. Shuler, Fourth Sgt. D.A. McDonald, First Cpl. John T. Cook, Second Cpl. B.M. Avent, Third Cpl. J.W. Rentz and Fourth Cpl. J.W. Spratley.

Privates in the company included W.R. Arthur, Jacob Auchwartz, Abe Baggett, J.S. Barefoot, S.A. Bowen, W. Boyett, Henry A. Brooks, C.C. Brown, A.J. Campbell, P.H. Chandler, J.G. Cook, R.H. Cook, Joshua Engley, W.D. Estes, James Fury, R.G. Gaines, W.A. George, Gus Ghrunhauser, George G. Gullett, Isaac Handley, C.B. Johnson, George W. Jones, Lewis D. Jones, S.J. Jones, Karl Kahn, W.T. Kersey, B. Lewy, Daniel Martin, Harmon Martin, Peter McArthur, Allen McCaskill, D. McCaskill, D.A. McDowell, S.A. Nettles, B. Neugenbauer, W.R. Primm, E.W. Roach, George Rodgers, R.S. Rodgers, C.C. Sellers, B.F. Smith, Simon Stein, Stephen Tarver, Walter Tate, Charles Tebbs, W.B. Thompson, Octavious Victor, George A. Wilson and W. Young.

As you might have imagined, more than a few of these men did not survive the war. Some of those included Abraham “Abe” Baggett, who died at Richmond in 1861, and J.D. Clark, who was killed at Mechanicsville in July 1862. J.S. Barefoot, Henry Brooks, J.G. Cook, S.J. Jones, W.T. Kersey, Peter McArthur all died in various places throughout Virginia in 1862 while E.W. Roach died at Petersburg in 1864.

It would be interesting to know more about what happened to the other men mentioned above. Also, what steamboat did they travel on to reach Mobile in February 1861? What landing did they department from? What became of Capt. Richard Tait? Did he survive the war or fall on some battlefield far from home?

In the end, if you’re interested in reading more about the Camden Rifles and other companies formed in Wilcox County during the early 1860s, I highly recommend Woodson’s “Men of Wilcox: They Wore the Gray.” This book contains a treasure trove of information for Civil War buffs in the reading audience and is a “must read” for anyone interested in local history.