In 1864, Graves' command of cavalry was absorbed into regular Confederate Army service. By then, his command had grown to include not only teenaged boys and older men, but also Blount County soldiers who had served out their original hitches in other outfits, and those who were medically discharged, but had recovered sufficiently to return to service. Graves' men were split up between him and another Captain, John C. McKenzie of Talladega County. McKenzie's Company C reported to Major Stewart in Patterson's Brigade, under General Roddy. When Stewart was made Colonel, his former troops were assigned to General Forrest's command. Graves' Company B was assigned to Joseph Barbiere's command (sometimes referred to as Davenport's Battalion). Years later, men serving under Graves reported they were members of Stewart's Cavalry. Pensioners knew their Captain, but some seemed to be unclear about their ultimate chain of command. For pensioners, it took years before Alabama recognized Stewart's Battalion of Alabama Cavalry as a legitimate Confederate Army organization alongside the more familiar cavalry and infantry units.
Graves' and McKenzie's men continued to operate primarily in North Alabama with occasional duty in East Mississippi and Western Georgia. Some continued to round up deserters. Others were assigned courier duty and operated as messengers and conveyed prisoners between the Confederate general staff and various locations around North Alabama. Many of the men under Graves and McKenzie served in defense of Selma during Wilson's Raid in March and April of 1865. Years later, on their pension applications, former members of Graves' command reported swimming across the Alabama river and wading through swamps to escape during Wilson's destruction of Selma.
By then the war was over and Lee surrendered. Days later, Graves was assassinated below Blountsville, allegedly by the Tories he fought in the county during the war.
The Whaley family was well represented in various Blount County Confederate outfits. However, I have been so far unable to determine if Monroe and Alexander Whaley served with Graves. Monroe was born in Jul 1849 and would have been a youthful 15 years old on his birthday in 1864. Difficult to imagine he had two years service under his belt at the end, but that was not unprecedented. Can you specify which documents you cite as reference? Monroe was an application witness for William Milton Whaley's Lawrence County pension.
Likewise, I couldn't find any service record for Alexander Whaley associated with Graves or any other Confederate outfit. That does not mean Alex (and Monroe) didn't serve, it just means no records survive. No muster rolls are known to exist for Graves' Home Guard unit. Stewart's Cavalry has a file in the microfilmed Confederate units from Alabama, but information there is slight. Documentation for pensioners of Graves' or Stewart's Cavalry came from one or two stray paroles from Guntersville, Talladega, or Citronelle which mentioned Stewart's Cavalry. These men in turn provided affidavits of service for some of their comrades. Eventually, this grew into a group of men known as veteran members of Graves' and/or Stewart's Cavalry.
Mr. Pitts, do you concur with this analysis?