Alabama In The American Civil War
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Alabama was central to the
Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
, with the secession convention at Montgomery, birthplace of the Confederacy, inviting other states to form a Southern Republic, during January–March 1861, and develop constitutions to legally run their own affairs. The 1861 Alabama Constitution granted citizenship to current U.S. residents, but prohibited import duties (tariffs) on foreign goods, limited a standing military, and as a final issue, opposed emancipation by any nation, but urged protection of African slaves, with trial by jury, and reserved the power to regulate or prohibit the African slave trade. The secession convention invited all slaveholding states to secede, but only 7 Cotton States of the
Lower South The Deep South or the Lower South is a cultural and geographic subregion in the Southern United States. The term was first used to describe the states most dependent on plantations and slavery prior to the American Civil War. Following the war ...
formed the Confederacy with
Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...
, while the majority of
slave states In the United States before 1865, a slave state was a state in which slavery and the internal or domestic slave trade were legal, while a free state was one in which they were not. Between 1812 and 1850, it was considered by the slave states ...
were in the
Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...
. Congress voted to protect the institution of slavery by passing the
Corwin Amendment The Corwin Amendment was a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution that was never adopted. It would shield "domestic institutions" of the states from the federal constitutional amendment process and from abolition or interference by ...
on March 4, 1861, but it was never ratified. Even before secession, the governor of Alabama defied the United States government by seizing the two federal forts at the
Gulf Coast The Gulf Coast of the United States, also known as the Gulf South, is the coastline along the Southern United States where they meet the Gulf of Mexico. The coastal states that have a shoreline on the Gulf of Mexico are Texas, Louisiana, Mississ ...
( forts Morgan and Gaines) and the arsenal at
Mount Vernon Mount Vernon is an American landmark and former plantation of Founding Father, commander of the Continental Army in the Revolutionary War, and the first president of the United States George Washington and his wife, Martha. The estate is on ...
in January 1861 to distribute weapons to Alabama towns. The peaceful seizure of Alabama forts preceded by three months the bombing and capture of the Union's
Fort Sumter Fort Sumter is a sea fort built on an artificial island protecting Charleston, South Carolina from naval invasion. Its origin dates to the War of 1812 when the British invaded Washington by sea. It was still incomplete in 1861 when the Battl ...
( SC) on April 12, 1861. Alabama was politically divided, voting to secede 61–39%, with most opposition by Unionists in northern Alabama. Citizens would subsequently join Confederate forces, with some Alabamians joining Union forces. Issues of slavery also were divided, with emancipation denied, but slaves protected, allowed trial by jury same as free whites, and African Slave Trade was discouraged in the 1861 Ordinances. Alabama provided a significant source of troops and leaders, military material, supplies, food, horses and mules. At the southern coast, the Alabama ports remained open (with Union blockades, but guarded by forts, floating mines and obstacle paths) for almost 4 years using blockade runners, until the
Battle of Mobile Bay The Battle of Mobile Bay of August 5, 1864, was a naval and land engagement of the American Civil War in which a Union fleet commanded by Rear Admiral David G. Farragut, assisted by a contingent of soldiers, attacked a smaller Confederate fle ...
(Aug 1864) and the
Battle of Fort Blakeley The Battle of Fort Blakeley took place from April 2 to April 9, 1865, in Baldwin County, Alabama, about north of Spanish Fort, Alabama, as part of the Mobile Campaign of the American Civil War. At the time, Blakeley, Alabama, had been the count ...
(April 1865) forced Mobile to surrender the last major Confederate port.


Secession

After the election of
Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...
from the anti-slavery Republican Party in 1860, plus the prior secession declarations of
South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...
,
Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...
, and
Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
, Alabama delegates also voted to secede from the United States, on January 11, 1861, in order to join and form a slaveholding Southern republic, mostly of the Cotton States. The Alabama Secession Convention invited delegates from the fourteen slaveholding states to join at Montgomery, on February 11, 1861, when seven Cotton States of the
Lower South The Deep South or the Lower South is a cultural and geographic subregion in the Southern United States. The term was first used to describe the states most dependent on plantations and slavery prior to the American Civil War. Following the war ...
formed the new republic, with Montgomery as Confederate capital and former Mississippi U.S. Senator
Jefferson Davis Jefferson F. Davis (June 3, 1808December 6, 1889) was an American politician who served as the president of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1865. He represented Mississippi in the United States Senate and the House of Representatives as a ...
as President of the Confederacy. In December 1860,
Stephen F. Hale Stephen F. Hale (born Stephen Fowler Hale; January 31, 1816 – July 18, 1862) was an American politician who served as a Deputy from Alabama to the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1862. In July 1862, he died of woun ...
, Alabama's commissioner to Kentucky, wrote a letter to that state's governor about Alabama's justification for secession. In it, he voiced support for the ''
Dred Scott Dred Scott (c. 1799 – September 17, 1858) was an Slavery in the United States, enslaved African Americans, African American man who, along with his wife, Harriet Robinson Scott, Harriet, unsuccessfully sued for freedom for themselves and thei ...
'' decision, condemned the Republican Party for opposing slavery, and stated that the state's secession, which would perpetuate slavery, was the only way to prevent prospective African-American freedmen, whom Hale referred to as "half-civilized Africans" from waging a race war (noting the 1804 Haiti massacre): At the state secession convention in January 1861, one delegate stated that the state's declaring of secession was motivated by slavery: In an 1861 speech delivered by Alabama politician
Robert Hardy Smith Robert Hardy Smith (March 21, 1813 – March 13, 1878) was an American politician who served as a senior officer of the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. Early life and career Smith was born in Camden County, North Ca ...
, he said that the state of Alabama had left the United States over the issue of slavery. In the speech, he praised the
Confederate constitution The Constitution of the Confederate States was the supreme law of the Confederate States of America. It was adopted on March 11, 1861, and was in effect from February 22, 1862, to the conclusion of the American Civil War (May 1865). The Confede ...
for its un-euphemistic protections of the right of its citizens to own slaves: The 1861 Alabama Constitution Ordinance 20 (approved January 28, 1861) insisted the planned Confederacy oppose what it called the "African Slave Trade" and not consider to re-open the issue. Newspapers in Alabama also supported secession to preserve slavery. According to one newspaper in Montgomery, slavery was a benevolent "religious institution" allowing care of slaves who might perish in other regions. Upon its secession Alabama adopted a new state constitution. In it, it forbade the emancipation of slaves by the state itself, or by "any other country", such as the United States of America, which Alabama viewed itself as having left, but also the power to oppose the "African Slave Trade":


Alabama joins the war effort

Antebellum Antebellum, Latin for "before war", may refer to: United States history * Antebellum South, the pre-American Civil War period in the Southern United States ** Antebellum Georgia ** Antebellum South Carolina ** Antebellum Virginia * Antebellum ...
Governor Andrew B. Moore energetically supported the Confederate war effort. Even before hostilities began in April 1861, he seized U.S. forts on the Alabama
Gulf Coast The Gulf Coast of the United States, also known as the Gulf South, is the coastline along the Southern United States where they meet the Gulf of Mexico. The coastal states that have a shoreline on the Gulf of Mexico are Texas, Louisiana, Mississ ...
( Morgan and Gaines) and the arsenal in
Mount Vernon Mount Vernon is an American landmark and former plantation of Founding Father, commander of the Continental Army in the Revolutionary War, and the first president of the United States George Washington and his wife, Martha. The estate is on ...
, in January 1861, sent agents to buy rifles in the Northeast, and scoured the state for weapons. Despite strong resistance in the northern part of the state, Alabama seceded by vote 61-39 and formed the
Confederate States of America The Confederate States of America (CSA), commonly referred to as the Confederate States or the Confederacy was an unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United States that existed from February 8, 1861, to May 9, 1865. The Confeder ...
. Congressman Williamson R.W. Cobb, a Unionist, pleaded for compromise. He ran for
Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...
, but was soundly defeated (he was subsequently elected in 1863 on a wave of anti-war sentiment, with
war-weariness War-weariness is the public or political disapproval for the continuation of a prolonged conflict or war. The causes normally involve the intensity of casualties—financial, civilian, and military. It also occurs when a belligerent has the abil ...
growing in Alabama). The new nation brushed Cobb aside and set up its provisional capital in Montgomery and selected
Jefferson Davis Jefferson F. Davis (June 3, 1808December 6, 1889) was an American politician who served as the president of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1865. He represented Mississippi in the United States Senate and the House of Representatives as a ...
as president. In May the Confederate government left Montgomery before the sickly season began and relocated to
Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...
, after
Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
had seceded in April 1861.


Transportation difficulty

Some idea of the severe logistical problems the Confederacy faced, with the capital city at Montgomery, can be seen by tracing the difficult journey into Alabama which Jefferson Davis made to the Confederacy's provisional capital from his home in Mississippi, the next state over, to assume the presidency on February 16, 1861. From his plantation on the river, he took a steamboat down the Mississippi to
Vicksburg Vicksburg most commonly refers to: * Vicksburg, Mississippi, a city in western Mississippi, United States * The Vicksburg Campaign, an American Civil War campaign * The Siege of Vicksburg, an American Civil War battle Vicksburg is also the name of ...
, boarded a train to
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, where he took another train north to Grand Junction, then a third train east to
Chattanooga, Tennessee Chattanooga ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. Located along the Tennessee River bordering Georgia, it also extends into Marion County on its western end. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, ...
, and a fourth train southeast to
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. Yet another train took Davis west, back to the Alabama border, where a final train took him to Montgomery. He was in a hurry, but it took five days. As the war proceeded, internal transportation became much more difficult. The Union seized the Tennessee and Mississippi rivers, burned trestles and railroad bridges, and tore up track; the frail Confederate railroad system faltered and virtually collapsed for want of repairs and replacement parts. For example, The
Mobile and Ohio Railroad The Mobile and Ohio Railroad was a railroad in the Southern U.S. The M&O was chartered in January and February 1848 by the states of Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Tennessee. It was planned to span the distance between the seaport of Mobile ...
connected the main port at Mobile to points north, ending in
Columbus, Kentucky Columbus is a home rule-class city in Hickman County, Kentucky, in the United States. The population was 170 at the 2010 census, a decline from 229 in 2000. The city lies at the western end of the state, less than a mile from the Mississippi Ri ...
. Historian James Doster reports that when the war ended, "Only a fourth of the rolling stock remained, and that was in bad condition. The repair shops were ruined. The 184-mile roadway from Okolona to Union City was damaged by decay and destruction of bridges, trestlework, crossties, and water stations". The port of Mobile was blockaded by the U.S. Navy, but some small, fast blockade runners got through at first, carrying out cotton and bringing in luxuries, food and munitions.


Weakening economy

At the outbreak of war, the state's economy was weak; during the war it declined further. Before the war, most people worked in agriculture. The largest industry was the railroads, followed by gristmills then sawmills. Perhaps 17% of the state's White population was in military service, but this was skewed to a much larger percentage of the economically valuable young men. The full crops planted in 1861 were harvested by those left behind, but the 1862 planting was smaller. Further, many counties suffered a drought in 1862, which further reduced harvest production. In Coosa County, corn production was down by 150,000 bushels from 1861. Twenty counties (of 67) were unable to produce any surplus of corn. This brought hunger to families left behind by many Confederate soldiers. Wartime conditions made it difficult to move food from areas of surplus to those that were suffering. Poverty became widespread as shortages drove up
food prices Food prices refer to the average price level for food across countries, regions and on a global scale. Food prices have an impact on producers and consumers of food. Price levels depend on the food production process, including food marketing an ...
. During the war, the legislature provided almost twelve million dollars in poverty relief funds. In 1861, the state recorded 7% of White families as indigent. In 1862 the figure was 34%, it rose to 39% the following year. Harsh conditions at home encouraged many soldiers to desert. A November 1864 list shows some 7,994 men had left their units. Later, bread riots hit Mobile in both April and September 1863. By 1864, roving bands of "corn women" wandered the state begging and stealing.


Military endeavors

The state raised five regiments for the U.S. Army, four of them for Black troops (Union
U.S.C.T. The United States Colored Troops (USCT) were regiments in the United States Army composed primarily of African-American (colored) soldiers, although members of other minority groups also served within the units. They were first recruited during ...
). In addition, there were Confederate troops in sixty-five infantry regiments, plus sixteen cavalry and three of artillery, that fought against the government. A large number of irregular units were also organized locally. Alabama was protected by Confederate troops against most major military operations, except the
Battle of Mobile Bay The Battle of Mobile Bay of August 5, 1864, was a naval and land engagement of the American Civil War in which a Union fleet commanded by Rear Admiral David G. Farragut, assisted by a contingent of soldiers, attacked a smaller Confederate fle ...
(August 1864) and final conflicts of the War at Spanish Fort and Fort Blakeley (April 9, 1865), the last major battle of the Civil War. The state contributed about 120,000 Confederate troops, nearly all the white population capable of bearing arms. Most were recruited locally and served with men they knew, which built esprit and strengthened ties to home. Medical conditions were severe; about 15% died of disease, and 10% from battle. Alabama had few well-equipped hospitals, but it had many women who volunteered to nurse the sick and wounded. Soldiers were poorly equipped, especially after 1863, and often resorted to pillaging the dead for boots, belts, canteens, blankets, hats, shirts and pants. Uncounted thousands of slaves worked with Confederate troops; they took care of horses and equipment, cooked and did laundry, hauled supplies, and helped in field hospitals. Other slaves built defensive installations, especially those around
Mobile Mobile may refer to: Places * Mobile, Alabama, a U.S. port city * Mobile County, Alabama * Mobile, Arizona, a small town near Phoenix, U.S. * Mobile, Newfoundland and Labrador Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Mobile ( ...
. They graded roads, repaired railroads, drove supply wagons, and labored in iron mines, iron foundries and even in the munitions factories. As they were enslaved, the labor of slaves was involuntary, their unpaid labor was forcibly impressed from their unpaid masters. About 10,000 slaves escaped and joined the
Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...
, along with 2,700 white Alabamian men who joined Union forces. Thirty-nine Alabamians attained the ranks of general or admiral, most notably Admiral
Raphael Semmes Raphael Semmes ( ; September 27, 1809 – August 30, 1877) was an officer in the Confederate Navy during the American Civil War. Until then, he had been a serving officer in the US Navy from 1826 to 1860. During the American Civil War, Semmes wa ...
.
Josiah Gorgas Josiah Gorgas (July 1, 1818 – May 15, 1883) was one of the few Northern-born Confederate generals and was later president of the University of Alabama. As chief of ordnance during the American Civil War, Gorgas managed to keep the Confederate ...
was the Chief of Ordnance for the Confederacy. He located new munitions plants in
Selma Selma may refer to: Places *Selma, Algeria *Selma, Nova Scotia, Canada *Selma, Switzerland, village in the Grisons United States: *Selma, Alabama, city in Dallas County, best known for the Selma to Montgomery marches *Selma, Arkansas *Selma, Cali ...
that employed 10,000 workers until Union raiders in 1865 burned down the factories. The Selma Arsenal made most of the Confederacy's ammunition. The Selma Naval Ordnance Works manufactured artillery, turning out a cannon every five days. The Confederate Naval Yard built ships and was noted for launching the CSS ''Tennessee'' in 1863 to defend
Mobile Bay Mobile Bay ( ) is a shallow inlet of the Gulf of Mexico, lying within the state of Alabama in the United States. Its mouth is formed by the Fort Morgan Peninsula on the eastern side and Dauphin Island, a barrier island on the western side. The ...
. Selma's Confederate Nitre Works procured
niter Niter or nitre is the mineral form of potassium nitrate, KNO3. It is a soft, white, highly soluble mineral found primarily in arid climates or cave deposits. Historically, the term ''niter'' was not well differentiated from natron, both of w ...
for gunpowder from limestone caves. When supplies were low, it advertised for housewives to save the contents of their chamber pots, as urine was a rich source of organic nitrogen. Alabama soldiers fought in hundreds of battles. The state's losses at Gettysburg were 1,750 dead plus even more captured or wounded; the famed " Alabama Brigade" took 781 casualties. In 1863 Federal forces secured a foothold in northern Alabama in spite of spirited opposition from Confederate cavalry under General Nathan B. Forrest. A notable Confederate officer from Alabama was Col. William Calvin Oates. He was an instrumental commander during the attack at
Little Round Top Little Round Top is the smaller of two rocky hills south of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania—the companion to the adjacent, taller hill named Big Round Top. It was the site of an unsuccessful assault by Confederate troops against the Union left fla ...
during the
Battle of Gettysburg The Battle of Gettysburg () was fought July 1–3, 1863, in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, by Union and Confederate forces during the American Civil War. In the battle, Union Major General George Meade's Army of the Po ...
.


Mobile Bay

From 1861 the
Union blockade The Union blockade in the American Civil War was a naval strategy by the United States to prevent the Confederacy from trading. The blockade was proclaimed by President Abraham Lincoln in April 1861, and required the monitoring of of Atlantic ...
shut Mobile Bay, and in August 1864 the outer defenses of Mobile were taken by a Federal fleet during the
Battle of Mobile Bay The Battle of Mobile Bay of August 5, 1864, was a naval and land engagement of the American Civil War in which a Union fleet commanded by Rear Admiral David G. Farragut, assisted by a contingent of soldiers, attacked a smaller Confederate fle ...
. On April 12, 1865, three days after the surrender of Robert E. Lee at Appomattox Courthouse, the city of Mobile surrendered to the Union army to avoid destruction following the Union victories at the
Battle of Spanish Fort The Battle of Spanish Fort took place from March 27 to April 8, 1865, in Baldwin County, Alabama, as part of the Mobile Campaign of the Western Theater of the American Civil War. After the Union victory in the Battle of Mobile Bay, Mobile ...
and the
Battle of Fort Blakeley The Battle of Fort Blakeley took place from April 2 to April 9, 1865, in Baldwin County, Alabama, about north of Spanish Fort, Alabama, as part of the Mobile Campaign of the American Civil War. At the time, Blakeley, Alabama, had been the count ...
. The
Magee Farm The Magee Farm, also known as the Jacob Magee House, is a historic residence in Kushla, Alabama, United States. Built by Jacob Magee in 1848, the -story wood-frame structure is an example of the Gulf Coast Cottage style. The house is best kn ...
, north of Mobile, was the site of preliminary arrangements for the surrender of the last
Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...
east of the
Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...
. Confederate General Richard Taylor negotiated a
ceasefire A ceasefire (also known as a truce or armistice), also spelled cease fire (the antonym of 'open fire'), is a temporary stoppage of a war in which each side agrees with the other to suspend aggressive actions. Ceasefires may be between state act ...
with Union General
Edward Canby Edward Richard Sprigg Canby (November 9, 1817 – April 11, 1873) was a career United States Army officer and a Union general in the American Civil War. In 1861–1862, Canby commanded the Department of New Mexico, defeating the Confederate Gene ...
at the house on April 29, 1865. Taylor's forces, comprising 47,000 Confederate troops serving in Alabama,
Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...
and
Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...
, were the last remaining Confederate force east of the
Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...
.


Union occupation of northern Alabama

After the
Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...
and
Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is a historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th century until 1974. From 19 ...
rivers were taken, Union forces temporarily occupied Northern Alabama until the fall of
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(February 1862) allowed permanent occupation of counties north and west of the Tennessee River, while the
Union blockade The Union blockade in the American Civil War was a naval strategy by the United States to prevent the Confederacy from trading. The blockade was proclaimed by President Abraham Lincoln in April 1861, and required the monitoring of of Atlantic ...
applied pressure in the southern part of the state.


Unionists in northern Alabama

There was a small loyalist element in northern Alabama that needed Union military support to survive. On the one hand, with Union troops present, Southern Unionists were finally able to come out of hiding, join the Union Army if desired, and care for their families, who were now protected from Confederate partisans. On the other hand, Union troops doubled the amount of regional foraging compared to the Confederates. Federal foragers in Northern Alabama were, for the most part, an adventurous group that were aided by loyal Unionists, and they took all they needed for their vast forces, often raiding farms and homes previously struck by the Confederates. Before the arrival of Federal troops, local Unionist resistance networks were based on underground cells that aided pro-Union Loyalists by means of finances, contacts, supplies, and much needed local intelligence. Recruits from Alabama who had joined Union regiments used their familiarity with the social network and physical geography of the homefront to locate, rescue, and recruit beleaguered Unionists still behind Confederate lines. Loyalists were given assurance of safety and a job if they were to give the U.S. forces supplies, information, contacts, and money. Some Loyalists were drafted, and some were volunteers. White Unionists used the army as a tool to defeat the forces threatening to destroy the old Union, and their families and neighborhoods along with it. The most well-known unit composed entirely of Alabama Unionists was the 1st Alabama Cavalry Regiment (Union). Of the 2,678 white Alabamians who enlisted in the Union Army, 2,066 served in it. Union partisans were motivated by a sense of duty and obligation to the Union cause and a need to protect their family and Unionist friends. They were also motivated by a desire for vengeance for all the wrongs they had suffered at Confederate hands throughout the war. Unionist guerrilla bands were typically fairly compact, numbering between twenty and a hundred men. They were independently organized, but were loosely associated and actively supported by occupying Union forces. Their missions included acting as spies, guides, scouts, recruiters behind enemy lines, and anti-guerrilla fighters to protect Union forces and infrastructure.


Women

Not only did the
U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...
's blockade shut down exports, it blocked essential imports, except with blockade runners. Women had charge of making do. They cut back on purchases, brought out old spinning wheels and enlarged their gardens with peas and peanuts to provide clothing and food. They used
ersatz An ersatz good () is a substitute good, especially one that is considered inferior to the good it replaces. It has particular connotations of wartime usage. Etymology ''Ersatz'' is a German word literally meaning ''substitute'' or ''replaceme ...
substitutes when possible, but there was no real coffee, and it was hard to develop a taste for the
okra Okra or Okro (, ), ''Abelmoschus esculentus'', known in many English-speaking countries as ladies' fingers or ochro, is a flowering plant in the mallow family. It has edible green seed pods. The geographical origin of okra is disputed, with su ...
or
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substitutes used. The households were severely hurt by inflation in the cost of everyday items and the shortages of food, fodder for the animals, and medical supplies for the wounded. Women had to manage the estates which the men had left behind. Another role the women played was managing the slaves while their husbands were away at war. Jonathan Wiener studied the census data on plantations in black-belt counties, 1850–70, and found that the War did not drastically alter the responsibilities and roles of women. The age of the groom went up as younger women married older planters, and birth rates dropped sharply during 1863-68 during
Reconstruction Reconstruction may refer to: Politics, history, and sociology *Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company *'' Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Unio ...
. However he finds that plantation mistresses were not more likely to operate plantations than in earlier years, nor was there a lost generation of women without men. The women of the Alabama Unionists helped with long-distance communication networks, and they were able to move freely from town to town because of their gender. When these women lost their Unionist husbands, it was often a struggle to survive, as they were completely ostracized by the pro-Confederate women. Storey finds that their intense loyalty to kin, neighbors, and nation strengthened the Unionists against Confederate ideological pressures so much that they preferred to abandon the slave system and their high socioeconomic status in order to remain true to the Union.


Slaves

According to historian Margaret M. Storey, "Regardless of the Union's ambivalence toward slaves and slavery, black men and women in Alabama" saw the Union occupation as the surest path to freedom. With regard to Union foraging and the practicing of hard war, while some slaves and free blacks "viewed the loss of goods as negligible in light of the security and opportunities", for others the "Federal occupation brought them loss of even small property ndmeant increased vulnerability to whatever white people won the war."


Confederate partisans

Many of the Confederate guerrillas in northern Alabama were detached cavalry units that were used to great advantage in protecting the home front, as opposed to serving in the main army. The primary mission of the pro-Confederate guerrillas was to attempt to keep intact the Confederate social and political order. They assisted the war effort in their own backyards by hunting down and arresting Unionists, conscripts, and deserters. In addition, they terrorized Unionists by destroying their property and threatening their families. Confederate guerillas were made up of four types of fighters–the first half of these were under Confederate supervision, being either detached cavalry or enlisted men fighting close to home. The other units either fought disguised as noncombatants or were simply outlaws looking for blood-letting opportunities. These men were not under Confederate control and were as interested in profit as helping the Southern cause.


Unionists in southern Alabama

Not all Union partisans were confined to the Union-occupied areas of Alabama. In the southeast Alabama counties of Dale,
Coffee Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulant, stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world. S ...
and
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(which included present-day Houston County and Geneva County, as well), for instance, guerrillas led by local Unionist John Ward operated virtually at will during the last two years of the war, finding refuge in the vast
pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accep ...
forests that covered this region. These renegades sometimes worked with regular
U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
forces based in
Pensacola, Florida Pensacola () is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle, and the county seat and only incorporated city of Escambia County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 54,312. Pensacola is the principal ...
, and their depredations led several leading citizens of these counties to petition the governor, T.H. Watts, for military assistance against them. Some local citizens, such as
Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...
minister
Bill Sketoe William Sketoe, Sr. (June 8, 1818 – December 3, 1864) was a Methodist minister from the south Alabama town of Newton, whose lynching there on December 3, 1864 gave birth to one of Alabama's best-known ghost stories. While locally-told storie ...
of
Newton Newton most commonly refers to: * Isaac Newton (1642–1726/1727), English scientist * Newton (unit), SI unit of force named after Isaac Newton Newton may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Newton'' (film), a 2017 Indian film * Newton ( ...
, were even hanged by
Home Guard Home guard is a title given to various military organizations at various times, with the implication of an emergency or reserve force raised for local defense. The term "home guard" was first officially used in the American Civil War, starting wi ...
elements for alleged acts of collaboration with these guerrillas.


Battles in Alabama

* Battle of Athens * Battle of Day's Gap *
Battle of Decatur The Battle of Decatur was a demonstration (military), demonstration conducted from October 26 to October 29, 1864, as part of the Franklin-Nashville Campaign of the American Civil War. Union Army, Union forces of 3–5,000 men under Brigadier ...
*
Battle of Fort Blakeley The Battle of Fort Blakeley took place from April 2 to April 9, 1865, in Baldwin County, Alabama, about north of Spanish Fort, Alabama, as part of the Mobile Campaign of the American Civil War. At the time, Blakeley, Alabama, had been the count ...
*
Battle of Mobile Bay The Battle of Mobile Bay of August 5, 1864, was a naval and land engagement of the American Civil War in which a Union fleet commanded by Rear Admiral David G. Farragut, assisted by a contingent of soldiers, attacked a smaller Confederate fle ...
* Battle of Newton * Battle of Ebenezer Church *
Battle of Selma The Battle of Selma, Alabama (April 2, 1865), formed part of the Union campaign through Alabama and Georgia, known as Wilson's Raid, in the final full month of the American Civil War. Union Army forces under Major General James H. Wilson, tot ...
* Battle of Munford *
Battle of Sulphur Creek Trestle The Battle of Sulphur Creek Trestle, also known as the Battle of Athens, was fought near Athens, Alabama (Limestone County, Alabama), from September 23 to 25, 1864 as part of the American Civil War. In September 1864, General Nathan Bedford ...
*
Battle of Spanish Fort The Battle of Spanish Fort took place from March 27 to April 8, 1865, in Baldwin County, Alabama, as part of the Mobile Campaign of the Western Theater of the American Civil War. After the Union victory in the Battle of Mobile Bay, Mobile ...
* Siege of Bridgeport * Battle of Cherokee Station * Skirmish at Paint Rock Bridge *
Streight's Raid Streight's Raid (19 April – 3 May 1863) took place in northern Alabama during the American Civil War. It was led by Union Army Col. Abel Streight and opposed by Confederate Brig. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest. Streight's goal was to destroy par ...
*
Wilson's Raid Wilson's Raid was a cavalry operation through Alabama and Georgia in March–April 1865, late in the American Civil War. Brig. Gen. James H. Wilson led his Union Army Cavalry Corps to destroy Southern manufacturing facilities and was opposed ...
The Battle of Columbus, on the Alabama-Georgia border (part of Wilson's Raid, April 16th 1865), is widely regarded as the last battle of the war, being the final engagement before the dissolution of the Confederacy on May 5th.


Losses

Alabama soldiers fought in hundreds of battles; the state's losses at Gettysburg were 1,750 dead plus even more captured or wounded; the famed "Alabama Brigade" took 781 casualties. Governor Lewis E. Parsons in July 1865 made a preliminary estimate of losses. Nearly all the white men had served, some 122,000 he said, of whom 35,000 died in the war and at least another 30,000 were seriously disabled. The next year, Governor Robert M. Patton estimated that 20,000 veterans had returned home permanently disabled, and there were 20,000 widows and 60,000 orphans. With cotton prices low, the value of farms shrank, from $176 million in 1860 to only $64 million in 1870. The livestock supply shrank too, as the number of horses fell from 127,000 to 80,000, and mules from 111,000 to 76,000. The overall population of Alabama remained nearly the same, as the growth that might have been expected was neutralized by death and emigration.Walter Lynwood Fleming, ''Civil War and Reconstruction in Alabama'' (1905). pp. 251-
online edition
/ref>


Congressional delegations

Deputies from the first seven states to secede formed the first two sessions of the 1861
Provisional Confederate Congress The Provisional Congress of the Confederate States, also known as the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States of America, was a congress of deputies and delegates called together from the Southern States which became the governing body ...
. Alabama sent
William Parish Chilton Sr. William Parish Chilton (August 10, 1810 – January 20, 1871) was an American politician and author who served as a Deputy from Alabama to the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1862. Early life Called Will Chilton, he ...
,
Jabez Lamar Monroe Curry Jabez Lamar Monroe Curry (June 5, 1825 – February 12, 1903) was an American Democratic politician from Alabama who served in the state legislature and US Congress. He also served as an officer of the Confederate States Army in the American C ...
,
Thomas Fearn Thomas Fearn (November 15, 1789 – January 16, 1863) was an American politician who served as a Deputy from Alabama to the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States from February until April 1861, when he resigned from office. Biography ...
(resigned March 16, 1861, after first session; replaced by
Nicholas Davis Jr. Nicholas Davis Jr. (January 14, 1825 – November 3, 1875) was an American politician who served as a Deputy from Alabama to the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States from April 1861 to February 1862. Biography Nicholas Davis Jr. was ...
), Stephen Fowler Hale, David Peter Lewis (resigned March 16, 1861, after first session; replaced by Henry Cox Jones), Colin John McRae,
John Gill Shorter John Gill Shorter (April 23, 1818 – May 29, 1872) was an American politician who served as the 17th Governor of Alabama from 1861 to 1863. Prior to assuming the governorship, Shorter was a Deputy from Alabama to the Provisional Congress of th ...
(resigned November 1861; replaced by
Cornelius Robinson Cornelius Robinson (September 25, 1805 – July 29, 1867) was a politician from Alabama who served in the Provisional Confederate Congress at the beginning of the American Civil War. Robinson was born in Wadesboro, North Carolina. He was the ...
),
Robert Hardy Smith Robert Hardy Smith (March 21, 1813 – March 13, 1878) was an American politician who served as a senior officer of the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. Early life and career Smith was born in Camden County, North Ca ...
, and
Richard Wilde Walker Richard Wilde Walker (February 16, 1823 – June 16, 1874) was an American politician. Biography Walker was born in Huntsville, Alabama in 1823. He was the son of John Williams Walker, the brother of Percy Walker and LeRoy Pope Walker, an ...
. The bicameral
First Confederate Congress The 1st Confederate States Congress, consisting of the Confederate States Senate and the Confederate States House of Representatives, met from February 18, 1862, to February 17, 1864, during the first two years of Jefferson Davis's presidency, a ...
(1862–64) included two senators from Alabama—
Clement Claiborne Clay Clement Claiborne Clay (December 13, 1816 – January 3, 1882), also known as C. C. Clay Jr., was a United States Senator (Democrat) from the state of Alabama from 1853 to 1861, and a Confederate States senator from Alabama from 1862 to 1864. Hi ...
and
William Lowndes Yancey William Lowndes Yancey (August 10, 1814July 27, 1863) was an American journalist, politician, orator, diplomat and an American leader of the Southern secession movement. A member of the group known as the Fire-Eaters, Yancey was one of the m ...
(died July 23, 1863; replaced by Robert Jemison Jr.). Representing Alabama in the House of Representatives were Thomas Jefferson Foster, William Russell Smith,
John Perkins Ralls John Perkins Ralls, Sr. (January 1, 1822 – November 22, 1904) was a physician and representative from the state of Alabama to the Congress of the Confederate States during the American Civil War, not to be confused with John Rawls the 20th-c ...
, Jabez Lamar Monroe Curry,
Francis Strother Lyon Francis Strother Lyon (February 25, 1800 – December 31, 1882) was a prominent Alabama attorney and politician. He served two terms in the Confederate States Congress during the American Civil War after being an antebellum member of the Unit ...
, William Parish Chilton Sr., David Clopton,
James Lawrence Pugh James Lawrence Pugh (December 12, 1820March 9, 1907) was a United States Senate, U.S. senator from Alabama, as well as a member of the Confederate Congress during the American Civil War. Biography Pugh was born in Burke County, Georgia, and ...
, and
Edmund Strother Dargan Edmund Strother Dargan (April 15, 1805 – November 22, 1879) was a U.S. Representative from Alabama, and then a representative to the Confederate States Congress during the American Civil War. Son of William & Frances Dargan, he was born near ...
. Alabama's two senators in the
Second Confederate Congress The 2nd Confederate States Congress, consisting of the Confederate States Senate and the Confederate States House of Representatives, met from May 2, 1864, to March 18, 1865, during the last year of Jefferson Davis's presidency, at the Virginia S ...
(1864–65) were Robert Jemison Jr., and
Richard Wilde Walker Richard Wilde Walker (February 16, 1823 – June 16, 1874) was an American politician. Biography Walker was born in Huntsville, Alabama in 1823. He was the son of John Williams Walker, the brother of Percy Walker and LeRoy Pope Walker, an ...
. Representatives were Thomas Jefferson Foster, William Russell Smith,
Marcus Henderson Cruikshank Marcus Henderson Cruikshank (December 12, 1826 – October 10, 1881) was a Confederate States of America politician who served in the Confederate States Congress during the American Civil War. Cruikshank was born in Autauga County, Alabama. H ...
, Francis Strother Lyon, William Parish Chilton Sr., David Clopton, James L. Pugh, and James Shelton Dickinson. The CSA Congress refused to seat Representative-elect W.R.W. Cobb because he was an avowed Unionist; therefore his district was not represented.


War practices

War practices were controversial, with
land mines A land mine is an explosive device concealed under or on the ground and designed to destroy or disable enemy targets, ranging from combatants to vehicles and tanks, as they pass over or near it. Such a device is typically detonated automati ...
at Fort Blakeley exploding on Union troops even after the battle ended. Almost immediately after the Confederacy surrendered, there were allegations that some Confederate soldiers were shot by the Union colored troops, however these allegations were never proven. Available evidence indicates that some Union soldiers may have fired on Confederates who had surrendered but there was no large scale massacre.


Aftermath

Following the end of the Civil War, Alabama was part of the
Third Military District The Third Military District of the U.S. Army was one of five temporary administrative units of the U.S. War Department that existed in the American South. The district was stipulated by the Reconstruction Acts during the Reconstruction period fo ...
.


See also

*
List of Alabama Civil War Confederate Units {{Short description, none This is a list of Alabama Civil War Confederate Units. Infantry * Alabama Brigade * 1st Alabama Infantry Regiment ** Perote Guards (Company D) * 2nd Alabama Infantry Regiment * 3rd Alabama Infantry Regiment * 4th Alabama ...
*
Alabama Confederate Soldiers Home Confederate Memorial Park is an Alabama State Park located in Mountain Creek, in rural Chilton County, Alabama, United States. Its address is 437 County Road 63, Marbury, Alabama 36051. It is sometimes found with the same address in Verbena, A ...
*
Confederate States of America The Confederate States of America (CSA), commonly referred to as the Confederate States or the Confederacy was an unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United States that existed from February 8, 1861, to May 9, 1865. The Confeder ...
, which features an animated map of state secession and confederacy *
List of Alabama Union Civil War regiments This is a list of units from the State of Alabama that fought in the U.S. Army during the American Civil War (1861–1865): See also * List of American Civil War units by state * Alabama Civil War Confederate Units * Alabama in the American C ...
*
Mobile, Alabama in the American Civil War Mobile, Alabama during the American Civil War was an important port city on the Gulf of Mexico for the Confederate States of America. Mobile fell to the Union Army late in the war following successful attacks on the defenses of Mobile Bay by the U ...
*
Selma, Alabama in the American Civil War Selma, Alabama, during the American Civil War was one of the South's main military manufacturing centers, producing tons of supplies and munitions, and turning out Confederate warships. The Selma Ordnance and Naval Foundry complex included a naval ...


References


Further reading

* Bergeron Jr, Arthur W. ''Confederate Mobile'' (LSU Press, 2000) * Bleser, Carol, and Frederick Heath. "The Clays of Alabama: The Impact of the Civil War on a Southern Marriage," in Carol Bleser, ed. ''In Joy and in Sorrow: Women, Family, and Marriage in the Victorian South, 1830-1900'' (1991) pp 135–153. * Danielson, Joseph W. ''War's Desolating Scourge: The Union Occupation of North Alabama'' (2012
excerpt
* Dodd, Don. ''The Civil War in Winston County, Alabama, "the free state" '' (1979) * Fleming, Walter L. ''Civil War and Reconstruction in Alabama'' (1905). the most detailed study

* * Hoole, William Stanley. ''Alabama Tories: The First Alabama Cavalry, U.S.A., 1862-1865'' (Tuscaloosa, 1960) * McIlwain, Christopher Lyle. ''Civil War Alabama'' (University of Alabama Press, 2016); 456 pp; a major scholarly survey
excerpt
* Noe, Kenneth W. et al. eds. ''The Yellowhammer War: The Civil War and Reconstruction in Alabama'' (2014); Scholarly articles on specialty topics
excerpt
* Rein, Christopher M.. ''Alabamians in Blue: Freedmen, Unionists, and the Civil War in the Cotton State'' (LSU Press, 2019). 312 pp
online review
* Rigdon, John. ''A Guide to Alabama Civil War Research'' (2011) * Sterkx, H. E. ''Partners in Rebellion: Alabama Women in the Civil War'' (Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1970) * Storey, Margaret M. "Civil War Unionists and the Political Culture of Loyalty in Alabama, 1860-1861." ''Journal of Southern History'' (2003): 71-106
in JSTOR
* Storey, Margaret M., ''Loyalty and Loss: Alabama's Unionists in the Civil War and Reconstruction''. Baton Rouge:
Louisiana State University Press The Louisiana State University Press (LSU Press) is a university press at Louisiana State University. Founded in 1935, it publishes works of scholarship as well as general interest books. LSU Press is a member of the Association of American Univer ...
, 2004. * Towns, Peggy Allen. ''Duty Driven: The Plight of North Alabama's African Americans During the Civil War'' (2012


Primary sources

* Cutrer, Thomas W. ''Oh, What a Loansome Time I Had: The Civil War Letters of Major William Morel Moxley, Eighteenth Alabama Infantry, and Emily Beck Moxley'' (University of Alabama press, 2002). * Hague, Parthenia Antoinette. ''A blockaded family: life in southern Alabama during the Civil War'' (U of Nebraska Press, 2008 reprint of 1888 memoir) * Linden, Glenn M. and Virginia Linden. 2007. ''Disunion, War, Defeat, and Recovery in Alabama: The Journal of Augustus Benners, 1850-1885.'' Macon, GA: Mercer University Press. * MacMillan, Malcolm, and C. Peter Ripley, eds. ''The Alabama Confederate Reader: An Exciting Story of the Civil War in Alabama'' (1992) * Severance, Ben H. ''Portraits of Conflict: A Photographic History of Alabama in the Civil War'' (2012)


External links


National Park Service map of Civil War Sites in Alabama

National Park Service Civil War Soldiers and Sailors website

Alabama Civil War Sites Compiled by Digital Alabama

Alabama Civil War Timeline Compiled by Digital Alabama
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alabama In The American Civil War Alabama in the American Civil War, .American Civil War American Civil War by state
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
Military history of the Confederate States of America, Western Theater of the American Civil War