In November 1861 Clanton had raised and commanded the 1st Alabama Cavalry as a Colonel, a regiment that served with distinction at the bloody Battle of Shiloh (April 1862).

The 6th was subsequently involved in several skirmishes with elements of the Federal XV and XIV Corps near Decatur, Danville and the Paint Rock River with small loss.

[1] In the savage fighting of the Atlanta-Dalton campaign in May–June 1864 the regiment lost quite a number of men during the several weeks they were attached as part of Ferguson's and Armstrong's brigades.

This flag received conservation treatment and was prepared for display by Textile Preservation Associates, Inc. of Sharpsburg, MD in March 1999.

[4] There are many references of a Rudolph Riddell with the 61st New York capturing the flag of the 6th Alabama Cavalry on April 6, 1864, at the Battle of Sailor's Creek during the Appomattox Campaign, in Virginia.

At the end of the war the remnant of the 6th fought Maj. Gen. James H. Wilson's column and laid down their arms at Gainesville, AL, fewer than 200 men.