During the Civil War, John M. Martin was a Private in the 10th Alabama Infantry Regiment, Company "D" (Alexandria Rifles).

This regiment was organized at Montgomery, June 4, 1861, and went to Virginia a month later. When it arrived at Winchester it was brigaded under Gen. E. K. Smith, with the Ninth and Eleventh Alabama, Nineteenth Mississippi, and Thirty-eighth Virginia. It saw no active service for several months, and lay near Manassas and Centerville, with Gen. Wilcox in command of the brigade. It was doing some detached duty when attacked at Drainsville, where it lost 21 killed and 64 wounded. The regiment marched to the peninsula, and was shelled at Yorktown. It fought at Williamsburg, and there lost 85 killed and wounded. Held in reserve at Seven Pines, it suffered lightly. The Tenth took a conspicuous part in the battles of Gaines' Mill and Frazier's Farm, and emerged from these terrible conflicts with a loss of over 200 men killed and wounded. The Tenth was at the second battle of Manassas and about 30 of its men fell on that field. Under fire at Harper's Ferry, it marched rapidly to Sharpsburg (Antietam), and of the 200 men with which it entered the battle, over half were left dead or wounded there. During the winter of 1862-'3, the Tenth was on the Rappahannock, and saw some active duty, suffering lightly at Hazel River and Fredericksburg. It sustained the shock of Sedgewick's corps at Salem, and of its 400 men engaged, 120 were killed and wounded while the brigade lost 441 casualties, and that exact number of the enemy's dead were counted in its front. At the battle of Gettysburg, 175 of the men of this regiment were killed or wounded, out of the 450 engaged. The Tenth spent the winter of 1863-'4 near Orange C. H., and was hotly engaged at the Wilderness and Spottsylvania, losing about 50 killed and wounded in the former, and about 60 in the latter battle. It participated at the second conflict at Cold Harbor, where it lost about 20 killed and wounded. In the months of August and June, 1864, the Tenth took part in the fierce struggles around Petersburg, suffering severely in the majority of them. At Hatcher's Run it lost 15 or 20 disabled, and about 30 at High Bridge and Farmville, on the retreat to Appomattox. At Lee’s surrender at Appomattox, Virginia on April 9, 1865, the regiment furled its colors forever, ten commissioned officers and 208 men being present. Of 1,429 names on its rolls, nearly 300 fell in battle or died of wounds, about 180 died of disease, and 249 were discharged or transferred.

There is a book, written by Bailey George McClelen, about the 10th Alabama, Company "D". The book is titled "I Saw the Elephant". In it, Bailey McClelen tells the story of Co. "D", and the battles they were in until he was wounded at Gettysburg. The phrase “I saw the elephant” was used by soldiers from the North and South to mean that they had experienced actual combat.

My Grandmother, Maggie Martin Poole, told several stories about her Grandfather, John M. Martin. During a charge in one battle (probably Sharpsburg), John saw a young soldier cowering behind a fallen tree. John told the young private, in no uncertain terms, to get up and charge the enemy with the rest of the men. As soon as the young boy stood up, his head was blown off by a cannon shell. In his book, Baily McClelan mentions passing by a young soldier who had been decapitated by a shell during Company D’s advance at Sharpsburg. As John Martin later told it, he said that it was the last time he ever urged a soldier into battle. After the surrender at Appomattox, John and several of his friends were traveling back to their homes in Calhoun County. About three days after the surrender, they were sitting around a campfire when a Yankee sniper, apparently unaware that the war was over, shot at them. The bullet passed through John's neck and out through his mouth but did not seriously injure him. Although his friends thought at first that he had been killed, he survived to tell his grandchildren the story and died in 1927 at the age of 87.

OBITUARY - John Mark Martin, Sr. - February 1927
JOHN MARTIN LAID TO REST AT BETHLEHEM. FINAL RITES ARE HELD FOR BELOVED RESIDENT OF CALHOUN COUNTY. John M. Martin one of the oldest residents of Calhoun County and beloved throughout this section. Who died at his home at Hebron near Peak's Hill at 5:30 o'clock Monday morning, was laid to rest in Bethlehem cemetery this morning.The funeral services were held from Bethlehem church at 11 o'clock with the Masonic lodge of Ohatchee, with which Mr. Martin was long affiliated, in charge. Mr. Martin who lived to the ripe age of 88, died Monday after a illness of just a few days. He was taken sick last Wednesday. Mr. Martin had a host of friends both in Calhoun County and throughout this section. The greatest part of his long and fruitful life was spent in Calhoun County, coming here when he was nearly two years old. He was born in Mississippi. Mr. Martin lived in the house in which he died for 87 years. He served throughout the Civil War with the Confederate army being wounded three times during the conflict. He was with the Tenth Alabama regiment, Company D. Aside from being a member of the Masonic lodge at Ohatchee, Mr. Martin was a member of Kathram Gretie. He was also an active church member. He is survived by one daughter, Miss Lizzie Martin, and six sons, Jack, Gregg, Pleas, Sam, Julius, and Jim, all of Peak's Hill. He is survived by one brother Eulis, of Greenwood, Tex.