On April 2, 1865, Union Gen. Ulysses Grant finally made it to the Confederate capital of Richmond, Va., and Gen. J.H. Wilson's cavalry made it to Selma, Ala., where one of the South's biggest and best arsenals was destroyed. It was a Sunday. Spring had arrived. Lady Banksia roses were blooming. But, the beautiful day soon turned to gunshots and smoke. Outnumbered by thousands and outgunned by the Yankees' Spencer repeating rifles, one of the last battles of America's War Between the States was short, and much of Selma burned.
According to Walter M. Jackson in The Story of Selma: "Selma lay in ashes; Selma lay at the feet of her conqueror; many of her finest sons lay from Vicksburg to Gettysburg; Selma stood at the tragic decade of American history; but the spirit of Selma was not dead. Regardless of all of these things, Selma would live again, because the spirit of her people was alive and would live on and on."
The photo was taken at a recent reenactment of the Battle of Selma.
This year's reenactment will be the weekend of April 18.
