Hilliard's Legion
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Hilliard's Legion or Hilliard's Alabama Legion was a
Confederate A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...
unit which fought in the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
. Unlike most Civil War formations, it was a
combined arms Combined arms is an approach to warfare that seeks to integrate different combat arms of a military to achieve mutually complementary effects—for example, using infantry and armoured warfare, armour in an Urban warfare, urban environment in ...
force, with infantry, cavalry and artillery components.


History

On April 24, 1862,
Henry Washington Hilliard Henry Washington Hilliard (August 4, 1808 – December 17, 1892) was a unionist U.S. Representative from Alabama and a colonel in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. In later life, he became a proponent of abolitionism i ...
was made a colonel and authorized to raise a legion, consisting of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Battalions (infantry), 4th Battalion (artillery) and 5th Battalion (cavalry). It was organized in Montgomery, Alabama, on June 25 of that year, with a strength of almost 3000 men. The cavalry battalion eventually was detached and assigned to the 10th Confederate Cavalry Regiment; and Company C, 4th Artillery Battalion, was separated as the Barbour Light Artillery. The Legion was sent to eastern Tennessee to participate in the ultimately successful siege of
Cumberland Gap The Cumberland Gap is a Mountain pass, pass in the Eastern United States, eastern United States through the long ridge of the Cumberland Mountains, within the Appalachian Mountains and near the tripoint of Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee. At&n ...
. Hilliard resigned on December 1, 1862. Lieutenant Colonel Jack Thorington, commander of the 1st Battalion, was promoted to colonel and placed in charge. In April 1863, the unit was attached to General Gracie's Brigade and fought in the
Battle of Chickamauga The Battle of Chickamauga, fought on September 18–20, 1863, between the United States Army and Confederate States Army, Confederate forces in the American Civil War, marked the end of a U.S. Army offensive, the Chickamauga Campaign, in southe ...
, where it suffered heavy losses: 45% of its 902 men. In the 1st Battalion alone, 169 of 239 soldiers were either killed or wounded. On November 25, the Legion was disbanded at Charleston, Tennessee, and the remaining men reassigned to the
59th The 59th Quartermaster Company is a bulk petroleum company designed to provide semi-portable storage for of fuel and to provide distribution of fuel to military units within a specified geographic area while deployed overseas. Its secondary missi ...
and 60th Alabama Regiments. The 2nd Battalion and the 4th Artillery Battalion became the 59th Alabama. Four companies of the 1st Battalion and the 3rd Battalion became the 60th Alabama, and the remaining three companies of the 1st Battalion became the 23rd Alabama Battalion Sharpshooters.Sifakis, Stewart. ''Compendium of the Confederate Armies: Alabama''. New York: Facts on File, 1992, pp. 89-90, 129-130


See also

*
List of Alabama Civil War Confederate units {{Requested move notice, 1=List of Alabama units in the Civil War: Confederate, 2=Talk:List of American Civil War units by state#Requested move 29 May 2025 This is a list of Alabama Civil War Confederate Units. Infantry *Alabama Brigade (Americ ...
*
List of American Civil War legions This is a list of American Civil War legions, legions being defined as combined arms units of infantry and cavalry and, often but not always, artillery. The popularity of this type of unit had declined by the time of the American Civil War owing to ...


Further reading

* Shaver, Lewellyn Adolphus. ''A history of the Sixtieth Alabama regiment: Gracie's Alabama brigade''. Montgomery: Barrett & Brown, 1867. * Sifakis, Stewart. ''Compendium of the Confederate Armies: Alabama''. New York: Facts on File, 1992.


References

Units and formations of the Confederate States Army from Alabama Legions of the American Civil War 1862 establishments in Alabama {{AmericanCivilWar-unit-stub