I am trying to determine which Alabama unit my GG-grandfather served in. My theory is the 53rd Alabama Partisan Rangers based on various factors. The only government documentation of his service that I have been able to locate is the 1866 Alabama state census which lists him in Lauderdale County along with his father and brothers. An “x” is in the column for having died during the war. He was my paternal grandmother’s grandfather. Family lore is that as he was leaving for war, he told his pregnant wife (Catherine Springer Sledge) to name the baby after him if it was a boy. She delivered Sterling Green Sledge, III in March, 1863. My grandmother said Sledge never saw his son. Reportedly, he was shot in the leg and was lain in a yard but died before receiving treatment. She also said he was buried a short distance off the road to Nashville (Hwy 31) and when I asked if she was referring to Franklin she said yes. In the Alabama section of the McGavock Confederate Cemetery at Carnton Plantation in Franklin, there is grave #110 with the initials “SGS”. I have been told there are at least 35 casualties from the first Battle of Franklin in April, 1863 that are buried with those from the better known second battle of November, 1864. The date of the child’s birth fits with the date of the battles in Thompson Station, Franklin and Brentwood around April 1863, which included the 53rd Alabama Partisan Rangers. I’ve been searching for over 40 years for his unit. All help is greatly appreciated.