~~ 6th Alabama Infantry Regiment ~~ Elias Register Family Letters .

Our forebear, Elias A. "Bud" Register, is the first person in the family line of which we have much personal information. The reason that we can define some of his character is because of letters that have passed through the generations. These letters were written by and about him during his Civil War military service.

Elias A. "Bud" Register was born in Alabama about 1833. He married Tempa Hughes, a neighbor. She was born in Walton County, Georgia, in July of 1835. They were married on June 15, 1853.

Tempa's grandparents were John Hughes and his wife, Mary. John was born in South Carolina in 1785. Mary was born in South Carolina in 1788. Her parents were Joseph Hughes who was born in South Carolina in 1817 and Elizabeth Clark who was born in South Carolina about 1815. They were married on September 28, 1834 in Walton County, Georgia. After the birth of Tempa, Mr. and Mrs. Hughes moved to Sumter County, Georgia and finally to Dale County, Alabama. Tempa's death certificate shows her death as February 15, 1923.

ELIAS A. REGISTER and Tempa had six children of which three lived to adulthood. The oldest of these three is Carter Braxton "Brack" Register (July 29, 1858 7 July 27, 1932). Alice V. Ellen Register was born about 1856 and died on February 20, 1916. Elias Raymond "Bud" Register was born on November 11, 1861 and died in January 1937. Another son was named Archibald. Born about 1859, he died as an infant. Nothing is known of the other two children. It is assumed that they too died as infants.

ELIAS A. REGISTER lived in the Big Creek area of Dale County when he was elected to the Alabama House of Representatives in 1856. He served one two-year term of 1857-1858. At least one of the legislative bills that he proposed is found in the JOURNAL, STATE OF ALABAMA.

He answered the call of the Confederacy for volunteers and joined a company being organized in Abbeville, Henry County, Alabama. He enlisted on May 11, 1861. He left behind his family, including his pregnant wife. ELIAS A. REGISTER would never see any of them again.

On May 16, 1861, he was mustered into service for the Confederate cause. His company selected the name "Henry Greys" and was designated officially Company "A", Sixth Alabama Infantry Regiment. From Montgomery the regiment traveled by railroad boxcar to Corinth, Mississippi by way of West Point and Atlanta, Georgia and Chattanooga Tennessee, and Huntsville, Alabama.

On Friday, June 6, 1861, the Sixth was ordered to move by railroad boxcars to northern Virginia by way of Lynchburg, Virginia. On June 11, 1861, the regiment was in the vicinity of Manassas Junction, Virginia.

The first letter from ELIAS A. REGISTER is to Tempa. In the letter several names are mentioned. S. S. Curry was an attorney in Abbeville. Frank appears to be a close personal friend. Panther and Toby are farm animals. Mrs. Cobb must have been a neighbor.

The second letter was written from Fairfax Station, Virginia. Fairfax Station was a railroad station on the Orange and Alexander Railroad. It was located eight miles east of Manassas Junction toward Washington, DC. The Sixth had arrived at Fairfax Station about June 22, 1861.

In the following letter to Tempa, he refers again to Frank. Jim Jordan must be a neighbor. Brown is ELIAS A. REGISTER's brother. Mike Cooley is a friend who had also married Tilmon's widow. A. C. Gordon was the Company Commander of Company "A".

Fairfax Station, Virginia
July 1^st 1861

Dear Wife:
I am permitted through the blessing of kind
providence to write you again. I have been very unwell
for two or three weeks and a soldier's life is a hard one.
I can't it appears to me get well. Oh I thought time after
time of sweet home where I could get a bed and some-
thing I could eat.
I assure you it is mighty bad fair we have to
lie on the damp chilly ground and cover up with blankets
something you know I never could stand and the eating
is extremely severe. In fact I eat nothing only as I buy
it myself and have it fixed up to my notion. I am satisfied
with soldering, but I can't get off. It was my determination
to come home in July, but I can't get off. All the fight you
hear so much talking of-don't believe half of them. I had
much rather the risk of the fight than the sickness I fell in.
I hope I will get home one more time. If I do I will never
leave you and my sweet babies so long again. I am fifteen
hundred miles from home. I am fifteen miles of Washington.
Our army and the Yankees are 5 or 6 miles of each other
but every time we attack them they run and don't seemed
inclined to fight us. Wish I could hear from home how
things are.
Is the crop good if so let me know. I want Frank
to pull the fodder and save everything. I also want him to
take up what of those shouts that lived and get Jim Jordan
to spay and sell. Get Brown or your paw or Mike Cooley to
buy them at a fair price to eat the pinders. Give Frank my
respects and tell him if he forsakes me I am ruined and to
attend to matters well for the sake of his best friend. It
would be great satisfaction for me to see him and you
and my children, Mother, Brown and home. Tell Frank I never
knew what a hard life was before but I know now what it is.
Tell him to give Toby good attention and brake him to ride.
Also keep Panther in good order. Keep the oxens and wagon
close and in a word attend to all things well. I know you all
are well but is more than I can say at this time. Don't
wait an hour to answer my letter after you receive it and
write how all things are. Don't fail to write direct your letter
Elias Register, Fairfax Station, Virginia. Get mother to write
for you in care of Capt. A. C. Gordon.

(Source: Reproduction of family letters)

On July .1 7, 186 1, General Irvin McDowell started the Union forces on the offensive. At that time, the Sixth was ordered to follow the railroad west toward Manassas Junction and take up positions on the south side of Bull Run Creek on the extreme right of Union Mills Ford in preparation for this Union offensive.

The Battle of Bull Run was fought on July 21, 1861. ELIAS A. REGISTER was on the confederate right of the battle line. The Sixth marched to join the battle, but it was over before they arrived. They then returned to Union Mills Ford.

When ELIAS A. REGISTER wrote his final letter on August 21, 1861, he refers to his intention to come home in November. This November reference is about the anticipated birth of his child.

 There were two Elias Registers in the Sixth Alabama. Our Elias has the middle initial "A". The other is an Elias who has the middle initial "D". Another distinction is that ELIAS A. REGISTER can write and ELIAS D. REGISTER signs his name by mark (X) on payroll records. I believe that ELIAS D. REGISTER (a.k.a. "Little Elias") is a cousin. Frank is mentioned again. Jack (Register) is assumed to be a cousin. Jack died on August 13 1861.

On September 1, 1861, ELIAS A. REGISTER signed the payroll at Sangster's Cross Roads, Virginia. Company "A" records show that he died near Sangster's Cross Roads on September 13, 1861 of  Nostalgia.

Diarrhea, dysentery, measles and many other diseases were prevalent in the Army at this time. His real cause of death is unknown.

Sangster's Cross Roads is not shown on modern maps. It is now known as Butts Comer.

We do not know precisely where ELIAS A. REGISTER was buried. As deaths were very frequent during the War, most were simply buried in a shallow grave with perhaps a wooden marker. All evidence of ELIAS A. REGISTER's burial site is long gone.

The following letter is written from a small village on Pensacola Bay, Florida. It is written by ELIAS A. REGISTER's brother John to their Mother. John, at this time, is a private in the First Florida Infantry Regiment.

Bud is ELIAS A. REGISTER's nickname. Barrett and Wood must be neighbors. Mary Jane is either the Mary Jane who was married to Tilmon Register and who later married Mike Cooley, or Matilda Jane Page (Register) who we believe was John's wife.

John was discharged from the First Florida Infantry Regiment on April 4, 1862. We believe he is the same John Register who enlisted in the 38^th Georgia Infantry Regiment and died as a Union prisoner in Frederick, Maryland on September 16, 1862. This was just prior to the major Battle of Antietam.

There is another Register by the name, of Jackson Mallory. As he is about the same age and lived close to the family above, it is possible that, as some think, he is ELIAS A. REGISTER's brother. I have no documentation of that. He died in the C.S.A Army at Knoxville, Tennessee in 1862.

Tempa lived until 1923 at first her residence was a small log cabin, and in later years she lived with a daughter, Alice V. Ellen Register Watford, and her husband, Green Watford.

At the time of ELIAS A. REGISTER's death, he and Tempa owned one slave, Eli Hughes (born about 1846). Eli had been given to ELIAS A. REGISTER and Tempa by Tempa's parents. He remained a much loved member of the family until his death. Some of us had the opportunity to meet him before his death.

As I was bom in 1938, and Tempa died in 1923, 1 never knew her. Others have told me that she was a dainty lady in later years; that she was very short, perhaps five feet tall; and that she smoked a corn cob pipe.

Other stories have been told. One is that she hated Yankees all of her life and that for years after the war she kept a pot of boiling water on her stove to throw on any Yankee that made the mistake of coming to her house. However, I don't see how a widow with children and livening in poverty could devote time to this hatred.

Another story is that local- Confederate forces killed a number of guerrillas fighting for the Union and laid them out on her porch. I wish I knew more of the story.

It is also said at each time that the stagecoach stopped at Big Creek, family members were waiting for news of loved ones..... and each time there was terrible sadness and crying.

So the war passed. Poor Ann Register, mother of ELIAS A. REGISTER, had lost at least four children between 1861 and the end of 1865. She must have died in the 1860s. Most of us would understand if she simply died of a broken heart.

This is intended to be a brief history..... an overview. Some facts used here are contradictory to those used elsewhere. For instance, there has been confusion between Elias A. Register and Elias D. Register. Our forebear is Elias A. Register.

The tombstone of Alice V. Ellen Register Watford shows her birth date as 1846. This would have her birth as occurring when Tempa was only 11 years old and prior to the 1853 marriage. I believe the 1880 Dale County census is closer to accurate in showing a birth date of 1856.

Much information in my files is not included, as it would make this short history to laborious to read. Also, family history of later periods has not been included for the same reason.

In both instances, I'll be glad to assist anyone having further interest.

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by James D. Allen
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