Captain Starke H. Oliver, 24th Alabama, in his Confederate officer’s uniform, holding gloves in his left hand, resting his left elbow on a tall covered stand on which lies his kepi.
Oliver was from a noted Mobile, Alabama family and undoubtedly knew Miss Sue Tarleton as well as Patrick R. Cleburne.
Oliver was mentioned in dispatches as having provided personal care to a mortally wounded Union artillery officer during the Battle of Atlanta on July 22, 1864. Oliver eventually became the commanding officer of the 24th Alabama, holding the temporary appointment of Lieutenant-Colonel.
Oliver is mentioned in the Official Records of the War of Rebellion.
The 24th Alabama was organized at Mobile in August, 1861. In April it was ordered to Corinth, and was under fire at Farmington, May 9th, and Blackland, June 4, 1862. It was in the Kentucky campaign, but did not become engaged; lost heavily at Murfreesboro, and was distinguished at Chickamauga, where it lost over 30 per cent of its number, and also at Missionary Ridge.
It was with General Johnston in the campaign of 1864, and fought in most of the battles from Dalton to Jonesboro.
It was at Columbia, Tenn., November 29th; at Franklin, November 30th, and at Nashville, December 15th and 16th. Capt. W. B. Smith and Lieutenant Cooper were killed at Murfreesboro, Capt. Wm. J. O’Brien at Chickamauga, and Capt. John B. Hazard, mortally wounded at Missionary Ridge, was taken prisoner and died at Johnson’s Island.
Its commanders were Cols. William A. Buck and Newton N. Davis, Lieut.-Cols. Benjamin F. Sawyer, Wm. B. Dennett, Geo. A. Jennison and Wm. M. LeBaron, Maj. Junius J. Pierce. Capts. S. H. Oliver and Thos. J. Kimbell were at times in command of regiment. Source: Confederate Military History, vol. VIII, p. 131.
ley spent considerable time in the west. The outbreak of the Civil War found Stanley in Missouri where in 1861 he participated in an early engagement at Wilson’s Creek near Independence, Mo. Appointed a Brigadier General of Volunteers he commanded a cavalry division in the Stone’s River Campaign and was brevetted for gallantry at the Battle of Murfreesboro. Stanley led a corps in the Chickamauga Campaign.The year 1864 found Brigadier General Stanley serving as the Chief of Cavalry for the Army of the Cumberland. On November 30, 1864 at the Battle of Franklin, at a critical moment rode to the front of one of his brigades, reestablished its lines, and gallantly led it in a successful assault. He would later be awarded the Medal of Honor for his gallantry in action. Wounded in this action, he was brevetted a total of four times during the war.
The Battle of Franklin, November 30, 1864 