At the start of the Civil War, Dent was a 1st lieutenant of the Eufaula Rifles, which became Company B of the 1st Alabama Infantry; he was eventually promoted to captain and commanded Dent's Battery (formerly Robertson's Battery). Dent wrote this...
During the Civil War, Tracy had served as a lieutenant colonel of the 19th Alabama Infantry, C.S.A., and then as a brigadier general of the Confederate Army. He was killed at Vicksburg.