For William B. Hughes:

Company "C": Appointed 1st Lieutenant February 23, 1861, and assigned to duty as recruiting agent at Selma, Alabama. Served as Ordnance Officer at Grant’s Pass, Alabama, from September 1, 1861; at Fort Morgan, Alabama, from April 6, 1862. Transferred to Company “B” December 27, 1862.

Company "B": Assigned to duty as 1st Lieutenant December 27, 1862; formerly on duty with Company “C”. Also served as Ordnance Officer. Transferred to Company “F” on March 2, 1863.

Company "F": Assigned to duty as 1st Lieutenant March 2, 1863; formerly serving with Company “B”. Also served as Ordnance Officer at Fort Morgan, Alabama. Promoted Captain September 11, 1863, and assigned to Company “A”.

Company "A": Assigned to duty as Captain September 11, 1863; formerly 1st Lieutenant of Company “F”. Captured at Fort Morgan, Alabama, August 23, 1864. Released at Fort Delaware, Delaware, June 12, 1865.

Notes on this battalion, 1st Alabama Artillery Battalion, Provisional Army of the Confederate States:

On January 19, 1861, the Governor of Alabama was authorized to enlist “a number of troops, not exceeding one thousand non-commissioned officers, musicians and privates.” Officers and enlisted men received under this authority would be considered “regulars”, serving for three years at rates of pay matching those of officers and enlisted men of the United States Army. An enabling ordinance allowing the governor to take steps to protect “the coast defenses of the Gulf of Mexico” passed on January 29, 1861.

Governor A. B. Moore immediately began appointing officers to recruit for the “Army of Alabama”. By April 1, 1861, about four hundred fifty recruits had assembled at the arsenal at Mount Vernon, Alabama, enough to organize six companies. These formed the 1st Alabama Artillery Regiment. However, it soon became evident that recruiting had not produced the requisite number of men to complete a regiment, and the command entered service as an artillery battalion.

Company “B” moved to Camp Hardee at Fort Morgan, Alabama, on April 16, 1861, the others following within a matter of days. Here they drilled as artillery and infantry, the men being equipped with “Muskets & Bayonets of the best pattern.” Officers and men transferred to Confederate service on May 24, 1861, as the 1st Alabama Artillery Battalion, Provisional Army of the Confederate States of America. The governor of Alabama continued to nominate officers whenever a vacancy occurred, and these were usually endorsed by the authorities in Richmond, Virginia.

Members garrisoned the forts and other posts along Mobile Bay and the adjacent gulf shorelines.