James was 26 years old when he enlisted 15 May 1861 at Clayton, Barbour County Alabama. in Co A [New] Promoted to 2nd Lieut. in old Co K 5th Regt. Ala Inf. on 18 July 1861. He died at Charlottesville, Virginia of Typhoid Fever on 20 Sept. 1861.

Charles Edwin Denison was a distant cousin. Born circa 1838 in Otsego Co., NY, he emigrated sometime after 1850 to Alabama; in the 1860 U.S. Census he is identified as a painter living in Gainesville, AL. In the spring of 1861 he joined a company composed of young men and boys from Sumter County organized at Gainesville. It was named 'North Sumter Rifles.' In December 1861 this unit and three others became the 5th Alabama Infantry Battalion, assigned to the 5th (Archer's) Brigade, Army of Northern Virginia. The battalion participated in most of the major battles fought by the ANV. Reduced to only three companies after Gettysburg, however, the battalion spent the remainder of the War on provost duty in A. P. Hill's 3rd Corps.

Charles Edwin Denison was wounded and captured 3 July 1863 during the assault on Cemetery Ridge (Pickett's Charge); he was admitted 19 July 1863 to USA General Hospital, Chester, PA, before being sent 2 October 1863 to Point Lookout, MD. He was sent 5 December 1863 to General Hospital, Johnson's Island, Ohio. On 16 September 1864 he was sent to Fortress Monroe, VA, for exchange. On 22 September 1864 he was admitted to General Hospital No. 9, Richmond, VA; the following day, he was transferred to General Hospital No. 4. On 9 October 1864 he was furloughed and returned to Alabama to convalesce. He was paroled 12 May 1865 at Meridian, MS.

Sources: Military service records from the National Archives, including Rosters of the 5th Battalion Alabama Volunteers; Registers containing Rosters of Commissioned Officers; Company Muster-in Roll dated June 23, 1861; multiple Company Muster Rolls (1861-1865); List of killed, wounded and missing in Archer's Brigade, July 2 and 3, 1863; Inspection Report dated Jan. 31, 1865; and, Prisoners of War records.

William Frierson Fulton, Jr., was my g-granduncle. Born 12 Nov. 1840, in Sumter Co., AL, he was a student in his third year at Oglethorpe Univ. in Georgia at the outbreak of the War. He enlisted 26 May 1861 at Gainesville, AL, joining the 'North Sumter Rifles,' a unit that would be designated as Company A, 5th Alabama Infantry Battalion, and assigned to the 5th (Archer's) Brigade, Army of Northern Virginia. The battalion participated in most of the major battles fought by the ANV. Reduced to only three companies after Gettysburg, however, it spent the remainder of the War assigned to provost duty in A. P. Hill's 3rd Corps. William Frierson Fulton served for the War's duration, being paroled 9 April 1865 at Appomattox Court House, VA.

Sources: Military service records from the National Archives, including Company Muster-in Roll dated June 23, 1861; Receipt Roll for clothing; Roster of the 5th Battalion Alabama Volunteers; multiple Company Muster Rolls; and, List of Prisoners of War belonging to the Army of Northern Virginia

Augustus W. Bryant enlisted in the 5th Alabama Infantry Battalion, Company B (Calhoun Sharpshooters) on August 19, 1861. He was 19 years old when he joined and served in Virginia from 1861-1865. A.W. Bryant participated in the following engagements: the Seven Days Battles, Snicker's Gap, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, and the Wilderness. The only battles of his unit that he missed were Second Manassas and Harper's Ferry. He was then sick with a fever in Chimborazo Hospital Number 5 in Richmond. Private Bryant was shot in the foot at Chancellorsville and received a severe gunshot wound in the left shoulder (his collar bone was broken) during the Pickett-Pettigrew-Trimble charge at Gettysburg on July 3, 1863. The 5th Ala. Battalion lost almost half of the 200 troops engaged at Gettysburg and for the rest of the war the unit served as Genenarl A.P. Hill's Provost Guard. Private Bryant was promoted to Corporal on September 1, 1863 and to Sergeant on January 1, 1864. He surrendered with the Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox Couthouse, Virginia on April 9, 1865 where 125 soldiers of the 5th Ala. Battalion were present. He then walked to Spartanburg, South, Carolina to visit family and the place of his birth and from there was able to take a train to Atlanta. He then walked home to Alexandria, Alabama in Calhoun County. Augustus W. Bryant married Sarah Jane Hardwick in 1866, later moved to Southside, Alabama (known by its Creek Indian name Smokeneck in the 19th century), and had a long career as a farmer. In his later years, he retired from farming and moved to Gadsden, Alabama. He is remembered in the family as being a quiet, humble, and religious man, and well respected in his community. A tie to the 21st century is that my grandmother used to take my uncle to visit him when he was a baby. Augustus Bryant died in Gadsden on December 2, 1922 and was buried at Pilgrim's Rest Cemetery in Southside. He was my great great grandfather.

James D. Bryant (age 22) enlisted in the 5th Alabama Infantry Battalion, Company B (Calhoun Sharpshooters) in August 1861 and served in Virginia on into 1862. Due to illness or injury he was discharged and returned to Alabama that year. He then enlisted as a private in the 51st Alabama Cavalry, Company D, which was in Joe Wheeler's command in the Army of Tennessee. James Bryant was wounded at Chickamauga, but recovered and served with this unit for the rest of the war. He was the brother of Augustus W. Bryant in the 5th Alabama Battallion (they went to Virginia together) and he later served with his younger brother Alfred Bryant in the 51st Alabama Cavalry. After the war, James Bryant returned to his home in Alexandria in Calhoun County, Alabama, married, and had a long career as a farmer. He died there on June 20, 1923.

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Humphrey Hardwick enlisted in the 5th Alabama Infantry Battalion, Company C at White Plains Alabama on March 8, 1862. He was 51 years old. He was then sent to Virginia and saw action in the Seven Days battles, 2nd Manassas, and Harpers Ferry. Private Hardwick was seriously wounded at Harpers Ferry on September 16, 1862 and sent home by train to Alabama. He died from complications of his wounds on September 20, 1862 in White Plains, Alabama. Humphrey Hardwick's niece Sarah Jane Hardwick married Sergeant Augustus W. Bryant (5th Ala. Inf. Bat., Co. B) in 1866.