Wilson's Raid through Alabama

"By eighteen sixty-five, Sherman had made his march through Georgia and South Carolina, and now Wilson, a general who had been trained at West Point, and known for his re-organization of the Union cavalry, was given a task of fitting out a cavalry force of at least five thousand men to make a sweep through Alabama and destroy the iron furnaces, and also burn the University of Alabama, which was classified as a military school. The he had orders to go on to Selma and destroy the last arsenal in the Confederacy. Wilson said that he would need at least seventeen thousand men to get the job done properly, and he set out to mount four divisions. He had to use every livery stable horse, streetcar horse, private carriage and riding horses, and even circus horses, but still he was able to mount only three divisions.

Bringing the three divisions out of northeast Mississippi and into north Alabama, they destroyed the furnaces around Elyton; at that time Birmingham was called Elyton. Now Wilson with two divisions moved on toward Montevallo and Selma. Croxton, who was in charge of the First Division, was ordered to go to Tuscaloosa, destroy the university, and join Wilson at Centerville, where the Tuscaloosa-Selma Road crosses the Cahaba River. But these plans did not work out. And Wilson had repulsed an attack by Forrest, and reached Selma, before Croxton had ever got his troops to Tuscaloosa.

Croxton's strategy was to cross the Warrior River north of Tuscaloosa, come down on Northport side under the cover of darkness, and attack the bridge. All went well, until Croxton was setting up camp on Watermelon Road. And then he heard the home guards tearing up the flooring of the bridge. He decided to attack at once. The Cadets and the home guards were forced to retreat, and in the skirmish a fifteen-year old boy, John Carson, was shot, and remained an invalid the rest of his life. The Union troops soon replaced the flooring and crossed over into Tuscaloosa.

Romance never seemed to die when war came. It continued to flower, and even as the Union troops were coming into Tuscaloosa, Emily, the daughter of Dr. Sewell Leach, was being married to Captain James Slaughter, a Confederate officer from Kentucky. Soon after dark, the Leach home on Fourth Street was bustling with activity. The streets were filled with carriages belonging to the assembled guests. After the ceremony an elegant bridal dinner was being served when firing was heard toward the river. The crowd realized that war had finally reached Tuscaloosa. The Union soldiers had been ordered by Wilson not to destroy private property, but they rushed into the Leach home, helped themselves to the food, the ladies' jewelry, and arrested the Confederate officers, including the groom. It was a sad sight on that night as the bride tearfully begged that her husband not be taken away. And when the arrested officers were taken to Croxton's tent, he immediately recognized the groom as an old classmate of his, his, and he promised that he could go back to the house and spend that night with his bride if he would give his word that he would not attempt to escape. That he did, and he returned to the bride.

The two days that Croxton stayed in Tuscaloosa will long be remembered by those who lived there. The university, the cotton mills, the foundries, the tanning yard, cotton warehouses, the hat factory, all were burned. The hat factory made gray felt hats for the Confederate army, and the next morning every Negro in town wore a gray felt hat.

I wish that everyone had the opportunity to read the book, Reconstruction in West Alabama. This book was reviewed at our historical society by Judge Robert Hugh Kirksey, and it's a book that was written by John L. Hunnicutt, a native of Gordo, Alabama. And he told it just as he saw it, because he was a boy in Tuscaloosa on the day that Croxton's Raiders came through, and they took his new boots, and left him over there barefooted to get back to Gordo. It wasn't long before his father was killed in battle, and that gave John L. Hunnicutt a very, very deep sense of loyalty to the South and hatred toward the Yankees.

As Croxton's troops left Tuscaloosa they crossed the river and burned the bridge behind them, and from Northport Croxton and most of his troops moved south into the southern part of Pickens County, where they spent the night at King's Store. Remember that the War really reached Pickens County in eighteen and sixty-five. Croxton had ordered General Sutherland with two officers and seventy-five enlisted men to go toward Columbus, gather any information they could, try to locate Nathan Bedford Forrest, and join him around Epes.

After the night at King's Store Croxton took the road to Pleasant Ridge and Vienna. He came upon Lanier's Mill, which was a three-story mill built down on Sipsey River. It ground corn, wheat, and cured meat for the people in the county. T.C. Lanier who owned the mill was in Virginia for the Yankees. And Croxton's men loaded their wagons with the meal, the flour, and the bacon, and then set the torch to the mill and left it burning as they rode away.

Mr. Lanier had moved from South Carolina to Alabama in 1840, and settled in the southern part of the county on the Sipsey River. He accumulated a small fortune prior to the War. He was a man sparing conviction and possessed the courage to stand or fall in their support. Col. Lanier took part in every fight in which the western army took part. He was in the siege of Vicksburg, Lookout Mountain, Missionary Ridge, Noonday Creek, Newhope Church, Kennesaw Mountain, and many other places. In the first election held after the War in Pickens County he was elected to represent the county in the House of Representatives. But in 1868 he moved to Florida, and settled down there to grow roots. He returned to visit his friends every summer until his death.

As Croxton's troops rode away from Lanier's Mill they were suddenly surprised by an attack from Confederate General Wirt Adams and his troops. Adams had been sent to Columbus to guard the railroad. Hearing that Croxton was in Pickens County, he crossed his troops at Pickensville, rested them at the Hinton Place south of Pickensville, and moved on through Bridgeville in time to attack the rear guard of Croxton after he had left the mill. Croxton crossed the Sipsey and turned back toward Northport, with Adams continuing to attack all along the way. At Romulus a severe rainstorm came up, and it forced Croxton to stop. Adams forced Croxton's men to seek protection from the bullets by getting behind stacks of bacon on the wagons. Historians disagree as to the outcome of this battle in Sipsey Swamp, but all agree that it was General Adams and his men that had come over from Mississippi that ran General Croxton out of Pickens County.

Military reports show that Croxton lost two officers, thirty-two enlisted men, and had many wounded. Muskets, ammunition, and broken-down ambulances were left in the field. For years people went out there to dig into the dirt to see if they could find a minie ball or any traces of the battlefield, and many people in the county hold little mementos from that battlefield.
A few Union soldiers were lost in the swamps, and Major William Fidler wandered near the home of Mr. John Horton. Mr. Horton's sons were fighting for the South, and he felt no kindness for a Yankee. So with his hound dogs he captured Major Fidler and two enlisted men. He took them down to Eutaw and placed them in the jail there, and there they remained until Union troops took Eutaw.

During this time General Sutherland had followed the orders of General Croxton and moved on toward Gordo. There he met no opposition, but he did get the report that Nathan Bedford Forrest had crossed the river at Pickensville that morning. This was a mistake; it was General Adams that had crossed the river that morning. The, uh, forces with Sutherland moved on toward Carrollton. Remember at that time it was practically a wilderness from here to Gordo, on little narrow roads all along the way. The bridges were hard to cross across Lubbub, and the other little spots in the road. In Gordo, they were able to get very little information, but they thought they would get more when they reached Carrollton. When they got to Carrollton they captured eight scouts that had been sent here by General Forrest. They took all eight of those scouts as prisoners. After burning the courthouse and Confederate Commissary, the Union forces moved toward Bridgeville. The Confederate Commissary stood where Pate's Mill stands today.

He sent scouts ahead as far as Franconia, and they reported back that Croxton and Adams were fighting in Sipsey Swamp. Mr. Harvey Stapp told me that a few became lost between here and Gordo and wandered down into the Kinney Hill section, where his family lived, and they went into the smokehouse, house at his grandmother's home. She made an attack with a broom and got little result. But she had a sister, Mary Strickland, who emptied her muzzle-loader at them, and they ran. She later heard that they had joined the forces at King's Store.

Sutherland now moved his troops out of Carrollton, down toward, uh, out of Union Chapel, and moved them out toward the Unity Road, and camped that night at King's Store, where Croxton had camped the night before. The next morning a group from Carrollton and Bridgeville surprised them, forcing them to free the thirty-seven men they had taken as prisoners. And Sutherland reported he had one enlisted man taken prisoner out at King's Store, and had one mortally wounded in Carrollton. We suppose this to be Dodd, the Yankee soldier buried in the Carrollton Cemetery."

An interesting story in an old newspaper appeared as a letter, written by a man from Corinth, Mississippi, after the War. He told that he was fighting for the Confederacy, and was taken as a prisoner when Croxton came through Tuscaloosa. He was brought on to Carrollton, horseback, on a sorry horse, and as he stood in the streets out there he saw the Yankee soldiers when they burned the courthouse. A doctor rode up on a horse, and he asked the doctor his name, and he said Dr. Hill. About that time one of the Union officers came and took the horse, and left Dr. Hill standing there in the street. This impressed the Confederate soldier that had been taken as a prisoner, and especially when they told him to lead the horse along behind. After they got out of town they allowed him to ride the horse, and lead his old nag. All day long he lead the horse, and that night when they camped at King's Store, the officers gave him instructions to feed the horse well and tie him up, because he was a very valuable horse. But it worried him that Dr. Hill was left in this little town without a horse to see his patients. So he fed the horse well, but then he turned him aloose, gave him a spank, and hoped that he went back to Carrollton.