A check of the microfilm copies of "The Southern Champion", a newspaper published at Claiborne carries little news of any unit by name with the exception of the Claiborne Guards who were at Ft. Morgan as part of the 2nd Alabama. I read the copies from January 1861 until May 1861 this afternoon....some are missing. There is one reference to the troops that went to Pensacola in a column entitled "Latest From Pensacola". It does not name the Monroe Guards or the 5th Alabama but did reference the number of troops that arrived from Alabama and Mississippi during the week. There were several illnesses reported and the death of a soldier (illness) from Suggsville. Suggsville in in Clarke County and close to Claiborne.
Steve Stacey