Tom...

Alex Chisolm survived the war and some of his letters are on file at Dartmouth College. He corresponded with a Union officer after the war, who was opposite his position at the Battle of Antietam. I do not know if he was related to John Chisolm.

I wouldn't say that the 9th Alabama was "disorganized" during the Battle of Gettysburg- at least no worse than any other regiments. They were running out of officers, and it would get worse after the second day's battle. Quite a few junior Lieutenants were moved into positions of more authority, regardless of their previous company assignments. It was also not as important anymore if companies were being mixed together- most companies were down to 50 men or less-the biggest problem on the second day were the regiments overlapping during the attack on the Union position along Cemetery Hill.

I had read Patterson's account of the second day at Gettysburg, and had paid no attention to the name of W.J. Cannon- I'll have to drag the book out and read that section again! It's easy to skip over a name when they mean nothing to you. That's what I like about this message board- it puts real people into the names.

John