William W. Allen - Civil War Service

Civil War Service

After Alabama passed its Ordinance of Secession and Fort Sumter was fired upon, Allen enlisted in the newly raised Confederate army and was elected as a lieutenant in Company A, Montgomery Mounted Rifles. The following year, when the state organized the 1st Alabama Cavalry, Allen became its first major on March 18, 1862, and saw action at the Battle of Shiloh in April along the Tennessee River. He was subsequently promoted to colonel of the regiment before the Kentucky Campaign, and led the 1st Alabama Cavalry at the Battle of Perryville, where he received a slight wound. Later that year, he was severely wounded in the Battle of Murfreesboro while in command of a brigade.

Out of action for several months while recuperating, Allen returned to field duty in early 1864. On February 26 of that year, he was promoted to brigadier general and took command of a brigade of cavalry at Dalton, Georgia. His brigade was composed of the 1st, 3rd, 4th, 9th, 12th, and 51st Alabama Cavalry regiments, and they served in the corps of Joseph Wheeler in the Army of Tennessee. Allen led the brigade throughout the Alabama Campaign. In August, a Georgia cavalry brigade was added to Allen's force, and later, Anderson's Brigade. Allen, now in charge of a full division, participated in the Atlanta Campaign in the summer, as well as contesting Sherman's March to the Sea.

In early 1865, Allen's Division fought in the Carolinas Campaign, during which President Jefferson Davis appointed him as a major general. Allen and his men surrendered at Salisbury, North Carolina, on May 3.