Alabama in the American Civil War

• 1. The Secession Vote

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  On the 11th of January 1861, delegates gathered in Montgomery to vote on leaving the United States. The result was a 61 percent majority for secession against 39 percent opposition. This decision came after South Carolina, Mississippi, and Florida had already declared their departure from the Union. Alabama's governor Andrew B. Moore acted quickly to seize federal forts Morgan and Gaines before hostilities officially began. He also took control of an arsenal at Mount Vernon to distribute weapons to local towns. Stephen F. Hale wrote a letter to Kentucky explaining that slavery was the core reason for this break. He described African Americans as half-civilized and warned of potential race wars if emancipation occurred. Newspapers in Montgomery called slavery a benevolent religious institution necessary for care. The state constitution adopted on the 28th of January 1861 explicitly opposed any form of emancipation by other nations.

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• 2. Railroads And Blockades

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  Jefferson Davis traveled five days to reach Montgomery from his home in Mississippi. His journey involved multiple steamboats and trains across four different states. By April 1861, the Union Navy had seized control of the Tennessee and Mississippi rivers. Confederate railroads suffered severe damage as bridges were burned and tracks torn up. The Mobile and Ohio Railroad lost most of its rolling stock by the end of the war. James Doster reported that only one fourth of the equipment remained in bad condition. Repair shops were ruined while water stations and trestles fell into decay. The port of Mobile stayed open for nearly four years using blockade runners. These fast ships carried cotton out and brought in food and munitions. When the Battle of Mobile Bay began in August 1864, the last major Confederate port finally surrendered.

• 3. Poverty And Hunger

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  Corn production in Coosa County dropped by 150,000 bushels between 1861 and 1862. Twenty counties failed to produce any surplus corn during this period. Families left behind by soldiers faced widespread hunger due to these shortages. Poverty rates rose from 7 percent of white families in 1861 to 39 percent the following year. The state legislature provided almost twelve million dollars in relief funds to help struggling citizens. Bread riots occurred in Mobile during both April and September 1863. Roving bands of corn women wandered the state begging and stealing food. Salt became scarce so Alabama constructed salt works in Clarke County to harvest it from local springs. Inflation drove up prices for everyday items while medical supplies ran low. A November 1864 list showed that 7,994 men had deserted their units due to harsh conditions at home.

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• 4. Selma Arsenal And Industry

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  Josiah Gorgas located new munitions plants in Selma employing 10,000 workers before Union raiders burned them down in 1865. The Selma Arsenal produced most of the Confederacy's ammunition throughout the war. The Naval Ordnance Works manufactured artillery turning out one cannon every five days. The Confederate Naval Yard built ships including the CSS Tennessee launched in 1863 to defend Mobile Bay. Niter works procured gunpowder ingredients from limestone caves across the region. When supplies were low they advertised for housewives to save chamber pot contents as a source of nitrogen. Thousands of enslaved people worked in these factories grading roads and repairing railroads. They hauled supplies and labored in iron mines while their unpaid labor was forcibly impressed by masters. About 10,000 slaves escaped and joined the Union Army during this period.

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• 5. Guerrilla Warfare Divisions

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  Unionist guerrillas operated virtually at will in Dale County and Henry County during the last two years of the war. John Ward led bands that found refuge in vast pine forests covering southeast Alabama. These groups sometimes worked with regular U.S. forces based in Pensacola Florida. Citizens petitioned Governor T.H. Watts for military assistance against these renegade bands. Methodist minister Bill Sketoe of Newton was even hanged by Home Guard elements for alleged collaboration. Confederate partisans hunted down Unionists conscripts and deserters to protect the social order. They terrorized families by destroying property and threatening loved ones. Some units fought disguised as noncombatants or acted as outlaws seeking blood-letting opportunities. The most well-known unit composed entirely of Alabama Unionists was the 1st Alabama Cavalry Regiment. Of 2,678 white Alabamians who enlisted in the Union Army 2,066 served within it.

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• 6. Final Battles And Surrender

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  The Battle of Mobile Bay took place in August 1864 when a Federal fleet captured outer defenses. Three days after Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox Courthouse on the 9th of April 1865 Mobile surrendered to avoid destruction. The Magee Farm north of Mobile hosted preliminary surrender arrangements for the last Confederate States Army east of the Mississippi River. Confederate General Richard Taylor negotiated a ceasefire with Union General Edward Canby at that house on the 29th of April 1865. Taylor commanded 47,000 troops serving across Alabama Mississippi and Louisiana. Land mines at Fort Blakeley exploded against Union troops even after the battle ended. The Battle of Columbus on the Alabama Georgia border is widely regarded as the final engagement before May 5 dissolution of the Confederacy. Governor Lewis E. Parsons estimated nearly all white men had served with some 122,000 total casualties including 35,000 deaths.

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