64th Illinois Soldiers from Alabama and Mississippi
Not everyone in the South in 1860 was in favor of secession. There were strong Union sentiments in every one of the new Confederate states, especially in the border states of Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri. Most famous were the northwestern counties of Virginia that left the state and were created by the Federal government as the new state of West Virginia in 1863. Additionally, there were certain northern counties of Alabama and Mississippi that had large populations of Unionists. For these Union sympathizers, life in the South now became very dangerous. They were threatened by their neighbors. Some families fled north. Others fled to Union occupied towns, such as Corinth, Glendale, and Iuka, Mississippi and Decatur, Alabama. Many Union regiments stationed in northern Alabama and Mississippi gained recruits as Southern men signed on to restore the Union. Twenty men from Franklin County, Alabama joined three companies of the 64th Illinois Volunteer Infantry.
| Company D | Company E | Company F |
| Joseph P. Borland | John Conway | John B. Hughs [or Hughes] |
| Henry B. Davis | William Hughs [or Hughes] | |
| Chesley B. Hester | David A. Hughs [or Hughes] | Richard F. Hammond |
| James S. Hester | James C. Hughs [or Hughes] | William B. Morris |
| Allen Morris | Robert P. Hughs [or Hughes] | Henry F. Ricord |
| Archibald Morris | William W. Hughs [or Hughes] | William A. Taylor |
| Henry Neely | ||
| Samuel E. Whisenant |
Additionally, the fourteen men joined Company E while garrisoning Glendale, Mississippi for nearly a year.
| Daniel Bryan | Silmon Long | John B. Smelsor |
| John Claunch | James W. Long | James F. Tanner |
| David F. Ham | Ezekiel Pounders | John W. Tanner |
| Elijah Hammond joined Company D while it was stationed in Corinth, MS | James W. Pounders | George W. Thorn |
| William J. Pounders | Pleasant M. Tucker |
Click on the links to view some of their stories.