Many Southerners considered it a joyous occasion to go to war in the early spring of 1861. A sense of chivalry prevailed in defending the country, along with a certain mystique associated with the glory of combat. Young ladies' hearts beat faster when they thought of their young men achieving victory on the battlefield. For young men eager to engage the Yankee soldier, the horrors of war lay in the future. Their only frame of reference to judge warfare were stories of the Mexican War or tales of the Revolutionary War. The coming war was viewed by the typical southerner as a very noble cause. Many re-ferred to the anticipated event as the Second War for Independence. Volunteers were eager to reach the front because they feared the fighting would be over in a few months. Most of the first volunteers literally thought that one southern soldier was worth ten Yankees.

Four brutal years later the survivors returned to war ravaged homes. Long since gone were the visions of glory. Among these were the five infantry regiments of Law's Alabama Brigade.

Law's Alabamians  played a key role in many of the battles fought by Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. To them fell the task of wresting Little Round Top from the Federals; only to end in a heartbreaking repulse. They experienced the exhilarating charge through the Federal center at Chickamauga and the awful cold and hunger in East Tennessee. They were the ones who fought alone and unsupported over three hours in the Wilderness and in doing so bought Lee and Longstreet sufficient time to launch the counterattack that stopped the Federal jugganaught.

This site is devoted to the history of this brigade: