Today marks 150 years since Selma fell to Union Gen. J.H. Wilson
near the end of the War Between the States.
The historic markers near the Riverside Park entrance show the city's fortifications
and tell how the brief battle ended. Selma was a major producer of supplies
and munitions, including Confederate
warships. Its naval foundry, army arsenal,
shipyard and powder works were destroyed by the Union soldiers after the battle.
Much of the town was also burned.
Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest defended Selma for the Confederacy, but despite
his success in many other battles, he was unable to save the city
with men and supplies so depleted in the final days of the war.
Another marker will be unveiled at Arsenal Place this afternoon,
and a Brooke Cannon that was manufactured here during the war
will be fired at the same time the battle began.
Linking to Signs, Signs
2 comments:
Thanks for helping me learn a new word, redoubt. Tom The Backroads Traveller
150 years later, and so close to the end of it all. Whatever else he was, Forrest was a military genius, but even that didn't help this time.
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