The different side of the story

History is usually written from the perspective of the victors, especially when it comes to wars. Never was this truer than in the American Civil War, also referred to as The War Between The States, as it relates to our area.

Displays and recounting of Lucas' raid into Monroe County at the close of the war have been covered in several books and publications and most show that the Union cavalry were met on the Claiborne Road by the Probate Judge and a woman from town and they asked the Union forces to respect individual property rights in Monroeville and that the Union largely honored the request.

Yet a Monroe Journal article from September 1911, nearly fifty years after the raid, tells a different story.

The Confederate military and government was in a state of collapse in the spring of 1865. Lee had surrendered in Virginia and Johnston's men had surrendered to Sherman in the Carolinas in late April.

A wave of humanity started for home as battle worn, shoeless boy-soldiers who were forced to become men too soon straggled with their older companions towards their fire-sides in distant places.

Young men like Pvt. John William McKinley, captured at Murphysboro, Tennessee and sent to Camp Douglas, Illinois and was later exchanged for Union troops was among this group. He was wounded at Chickamauga by exploding ordinance overhead but endeavored to preserve to war's end. McKinley and other's like him now walked home to Monroe County Alabama.

Most of the men of military age were either away in the Confederate Army, dead or were convalescing from war injuries at home. It was during this time that Union General Frederick Steele marched his forces out of Pensacola to cut off any Confederate retreat from Mobile and to feign a move towards Montgomery to confuse Confederate commanders at the port city to the South.

Lucas and his men detached themselves from Steele's main body shortly after the forces left Canoe Station on March 28, 1865. He sent a letter from the Tensas, Alabama Post Office on April 10, 1865 stating that he had learned of several hundred Confederate soldiers and some artillery pieces being stored at Claiborne and that he intended to move upon the old river front town to seize the above referenced men and ordinance.

"There is strong evidence that troops are being sent from Mobile to Claiborne to be sent forward to Montgomery as a number of boats arrived at Claiborne loaded with troops," stated the letter.

A few days later, on April 14, 1865, Lucas sent a dispatch to Lt. Col. C.T. Christensen, Assistant Adjutant General:

"I informed you of my arrival at Montgomery Hill, 10th inst. The following day I left Montpelier at daylight and moved to Little River where we found the stream unfordable and the bridge swept away. I crossed a battalion of 1st Louisiana Cavalry (USA) who swam through, their horses in advance, hoping to capture the Confederate picket at Mt. Pleasant. But having anticipated us, I was unable to surprise them.....reaching 2 miles beyond Mt. Pleasant, my advance came upon a line of enemy skirmishers, who fell back to their line of battle, which was strongly posted in the rear of a piece of swampy ground in the woods. The firing became heavy......"

The skirmish at Little River made its way into the Official Record but not a lot was written about it from the Southern perspective until years after the war.

In the early 1900s the Mobile Register ran the following account of the skirmish, as told by C.H. Driesbach, who was a young Confederate soldier fighting on the north bank of Little River:

"Our Company was guarding a bridge on Little River, between Baldwin and Monroe counties", Mr. Driesbach says, "while the 15th Cavalry, or rather part of it was at Claiborne, Monroe County. On the morning of April 11, 1865, General Lucas and his men were coming up the Highway from Stockton. The Confederate Troops came together at what is now known as Eliska. The federals numbered about 3000 and the Confederates had something like 200. Arrangements had been made between Captain Barlow and Colonel Myers that Capt Barlow's company should make a detour and reach the rear of the enemy and advance in echelon formation. The strength of the enemy was not known at the time. Colonel Myers decided to wait and attack the enemy in front.

"Shortly after Barlow left on his mission, Arrington's company of the

15thCav, used as an advance Guard met the enemy and it was plainly seen they were outnumbered. Col Myers then gave the command to charge and at the same time the 'rebel yell' went up.

We drove the advance guard back to about 1/4 of a mile when we came in contact with the enemy consisting of about 3000 men. The fighting was fierce, continued for about 20 minutes, when we were forced to retire. Harry Davis the flag bearer was shot in about 20 feet of where I was at, and getting off his horse, sat down by a pine tree and was last seen holding the flag aloft".

"Besides several being killed about 50 of our men were captured. In the retreat William HH Greenwood and myself accompanied the few of the Regt., which was left to a rendezvous near Claiborne, AL. About April 20 all troops in south Al were ordered to Gainesville to be paroled. Davis the Flag bearer was buried on what is now known as the home of Capt CA Marriot."

One reason for the lack of Confederate accounts of this battle and others was due to the fog of battle circulating around the last days of the war. One contributor to the Monroe Journal on October 5, 1911 noted that Union accounts of their activities in the region were "ex parte" in that the Southern forces had no way to document into the Official Records of the war as their forces constantly shifted and as the war was ending.

The contributor goes on to state: "Gen. Lucas doesn't report seizing Thompson's Mill, he does not report the capture and confinement as a prisoner the aged Robert Scott, private citizen, who lived on the west side of the river, by inveigling and false pretenses."

"Was this civilized war or deceit?" stated the writer.

Continuing forward he writes, "Nor does Lucas tell of the burning of 250 bales of cotton which was private-not Confederate-property. Nor does he tell of his sudden and hasty departure from Claiborne on report of Forrest descent on them. They had a holy fear of his cavaliers. It was reported Forrest's troopers were crossing the river at Bell's Landing and it caused a panic, a stampede of the Federals.....once they heard "Forrest is coming!" They obeyed and in 20 minutes were in the saddle."

The writer also references, "General Lucas reported 250 negroes had come into his camp. What became of them in his hurried leaving? He thought more of saving his command than of rescuing negroes from bondage."

"Nor did Lucas report the climax of his foraging and plundering raid. Col. Scott (presumably the old man held as prisoner) had his revenge. As the Federals rode hastily away he stood on Seymore's Hotel gallery and gave them a parting sermon, ' You have foraged, burnt and destroyed; you have captured by stratagem and false pretense non-combatants and kept them as prisoners of war; terrorized old men, women and children but when it comes to a fight you run away......We are not all dead yet, the spirit liveth....we will meet again.'"

There's always two sides to a story, yet sometimes those in power get to craft the message we hear and attempt to suppress the ability of both sides to be heard. Always be vigilant in hearing both sides to a matter.

Perhaps the moral of this story is that even though both sides fought one another in a bloody war which stretched across four years and destroyed countless amounts of property, in the end the nation reunited and both sides had great respect for the history and heritage of the other; can we not achieve this same reconciliation today?

Special thanks to Andy Akins for providing the picture for this story.

Coming soon: Shadows and Dust III-view the trailer on Canoe Civic Club's Facebook Page.