Tallageda Camp of Instruction

Do you have information on individuals who appear on the rolls at Talladega Camp of Instruction or other camps in Alabama.  We are trying to compile a complete history of the men who appear on the rolls, who they were and their genealogy.  Please help by sending what you have or know to Margie Daniels. margie@majorinternet.net

Location

CAMP BUCKNER (Talladega, AL)
[Camp of Instruction Two.]
A Camp of Instruction, or Conscript Camp, was situated between East and West Streets, traversed by the present Sloan Ave., including the Edward R. Wren Memorial Hall property. Tents were placed all through the grove of oak trees. It was commanded by Major W. J. Walthall.

Source: http://www.tarleton.edu/~kjones/ALcamps.html 

Resources

http://docsouth.unc.edu/imls/csstat62/csstat62.html

Talladega was one of two camps of instruction established in Alabama for collecting recruits. The Confederacy was faced with a serious manpower shortage in the winter of 1862, and Congress determined on a compulsory military service law which went into effect in April 1862. Most men between the ages of 18 and 35 would be obliged to enroll, with exceptions for certain professions and other situations. Talladega and Notasulga were selected as camp sites to collect recruits, which had been volunteers up to this time. Enrolling officers in each county collected men and took them to camp, where they were enrolled and eventually assigned to a front-line unit.

Camp Two at Talladega. It was called Camp Buckner and commanded by Major W. J. Walthall. Camp One was at Notasulga, commanded by Major E. S. Ready, and called Camp Watts. There is a microfilm entry for Ready's Battalion.
Drill instructors had commissions from the Provisional Army (P.A.C.S., usually as 2nd lieutenants. A few were 1st lieutenants; captains serving in this position were rare. Drill instructor service records are located in the microfilm for General & Staff Officers.

Col. Inzer mentions the arrival of a group of men from Camp of Instruction being sent to his brigade on Missionary Ridge. Men from Talladega were sometimes sent after deserters with varying degrees of success. A battalion from Notasula went to Mobile in December 1864. The camp at Talladega was mentioned by David Evans in "Sherman's Horsemen: Union Cavalry Operations in the Atlanta Campaign" as part of his description of Rosseau's Raid.

Microfilm doesn't include all the men that passed through that camp. Enlistment data for other units which refer to Talladega or Notasulga -- particularly when Camp Buckner or Camp Watts is listed as a place of enlistment -- specify that the individual in question had been enrolled there and later assigned to a front-line unit. There are men who later belonged to the City Guards who were collected at Talladega and eventually assigned to various Alabama companies in the Army of Tennessee when that unit was broken up in early 1864.

General Bragg's intentions with regard to Camp Buckner. He sent an officer to Talladega with orders to dismount Lewis' Cavalry and return with every man that could be found in camp there, which would have effectively shut that place down. A directive from the War Department countermanded Bragg's orders.

More men who were just passing through than those stationed there by far. For instance, all of the "City Guards" appear on Talladega records, even though they left the post in March 1863 and never returned.

Talladega was only a temporary site for recruits. Most men who were there should also have a record in an Alabama Confederate military unit. There are no photographs of the camp or the men there, collectively or individually. I'm sure there are descriptions of the camp and its operation in local histories of Talladega. But you should see other discussions as noted above.

There is a roll of microfilm listing those found on rolls and receipts at Talledega Camp of Instruction. There's not too much more information, that I have found, than this. There is likely to be a little information in some of the books on Croxton's/Wilson's Raid through Alabama near the end of the war, as Croxton "captured" Talledega and the camp. There was a skirmish outside of Talledega that likely involved the men stationed at the camp. I do know that it involved the home guard, which I think was called the Talledega City Guard. I think that it is unlikely that the men from the Camp of Instruction would not have been involved.

The instructors were usually seasoned veterans who had been reassigned due to "infirmity". This was either wounds or age.

From what I've been able to ascertain, the men who were trained here, at least later in the war, were those who came from home guard and reserve type units. The camp was also referred to as "conscript camp", leading me to believe that most of the trainees were drafted into service.

Members of the Alabama Corps of Cadets from the University were used as instructors at Talladega from time to time as well.

During the war, a man could either join a unit directly, be conscripted, or volunteer for service with an enrolling officer. If he came into the service in the latter 2 methods, he was sent to a Camp of Instruction then assigned to a unit as needed or expedient. Also, sometimes newly formed companies were sent to these camps for instruction

Source:  Alan J. Pitts- Alabama CW message board