title: Story of the Tensaw, Blakely, Spanish Fort, Jackson Oaks, Fort Mims.
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' v '.. 5 s A -"o . » * °- < - ■A •'■’’• ^ 'O 4r Sce/r???-, ’ Sr s * * ' - ^ v • Y * ° o V \0 * <* ^ •** O,. *•.’•’ A 0 S '*»»'>'•' ^?> ^ 0 8 / 1 ^ A »“ * ^ <y *■ ; vv a ^ ^ aV ^ ^ <0 * r^> A v ♦ - VV •' / o ^ . % * S' <L v ^ • °- S vl\ MOBILE PUBLIC LIBRARY Not to be taken from this room ::■! • •• U Blakely SpanishFort JacksonOaks r or c * r t - I «• ■Jt < / - V '-Jm tm^W' •AY* Hi Jackson’s Oak at Daphne, Ala. STORY OF THE TENSAW Blakely Spanish Fort Jackson Oaks Fort Mims BY lA* pv - PRESCOTT A 1 '. PARKER. ° ' M * Happy Are They Who Have No History P. A. Parker Montrose, Alabama Price postpaid, 50 cents. r MOBILE PUBLIC LIBRARY I f % / * ♦ \ s THE EXPEBIEHGE OF THE PAST SHOULD O-TJXXDIE THE PRESEPTT XXT BTJXXiXDXXXO THE FTJTXTE6E r He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty ; and he that ruletli his spirit, than lie that taketli a city. Proverbs 16 : 32. What is the history of nations, but a narrative of the fol¬ lies, crimes, and miseries of man ? Noah Webster. A E*n 51 9*4 Co pyZ, PREFACE It is with no desire to extol military exploits that this little volume is published. That which is herein written is a part of the history of our people, and the past should always be a mon¬ itor to the present. Back of the footlights that illumine mar¬ tial pomp are suffering human beings whose losses are irrepara¬ ble upon earth. If the story of our wars fill many pages so also have we many years of peace and plenty, and wars are made i?i times of peace. This is a world of individuals and it is the sum of individual life that guides the world for good or for evil. As we have op¬ portunity so have we also responsibility, and even to the least there is a duty that we cannot evade. Montrose, Alabama, March, 1922. « r With fire and sword the country round Was wasted far and wide ; And many a childing mother there, And new-born baby died ; But things like that, you k^iow, must be At every famous victory. They say it was a shocking sight After the field was won— For many thousand bodies here Lay rotting in the sun; But things like that, you know, must be After a fan foils victory. Robert Southey’s “The Battle of Blenheim.” Siege of Spanish Fort and Blakely Compiled from the Official Records. The year 1865 came to witness the closing scenes of the great est of internecine conflicts. The great battles of the war had been fought—Antietam and Gettysburg, Corinth and Chickamauga were history; the Monitor had met the Merimac; Sherman had marched to the sea; two-thirds of a million of men had been slaughtered; and a large part of the South had become a desert where armies marched, countermarched and devastated. Among other cases the City of Mobile remained to the Confederacy. Since August 5, 1864 Farragut’s ships had rode in the Tower Fleet preventing any intercourse with the outside world: nevertheless, the city at the mouth of a great system of rivers was a valued possession, and the adjacent territory a source of food without which even armies are powerless. Notwithstanding that the Confederates still held considerable territory, the correspondence of the officers shows the demoralized condition of the armies, and that the morale of the people was on the wane. Under date of January 23, Gen. Richard Taylor assumed command of the Confederate forces known as the Army of the Tennessee, “without waiting longer for a response from the President... Gen. Hood left this morning for Richmond.” The next day Gen. Beauregard notified President Davis that Gen. Taylor had but 15,000 men and unless reinforced by Kirby Smith it would be impossible to defend successfully the states of Mississippi and Alabama. The mills refused to deliver goods and the Quartermaster General asked permission to “impress." General Forrest complained of “roving bands of deserters, absentees, stragglers, horse thieves, and robbers, who consume the substance and appropriate the property of citizens without remuneration." March 9, Gen. Beauregard wrote Gen. Taylor: “Desertion from the army is now epidemic. They deserted by hundreds from the cars on the way here (Charlotte, N. C.) The same complaint reaches us here from Lee’s army." February 14, Gen. Taylor wrote the Secretary of War: “Unless something is done promptly to meet the current expenses of this department it will be useless to attempt to hold the country comprising it... Without cash payments, railroads, steamboats, citizens, and soldiers will no longer work, sell or fight. Something must be done immediately." The same day Gov. Clark of Mississippi wrote to Gen. Taylor: “In many counties, subsistence cannot be had except by purchase or impressment, and the militia are generally poor men who have not the money to advance." There is a great lesson in the story of the Civil War: The South lived within itself. After four years of war, there was plenty of food where the country had not been overrun, but it had to be bought. The most fortunate nation is the one which can stand alone—the nation which lives within itself; the one with the least commerce and whose people are not dependent upon others. Maj. Gen. Dabney H. Maury, commanding at Mobile, reported that “the only practical purpose the (submarine) St. Patrick was serving was to keep Halligan and her crew of six able-bodied men from doing military duty... Halligan had been absent from her two weeks, and had taken with him several essential parts of her machinery. After some search, Halligan was found comfortably established at the Battle House.” February 3, Gen. Maury reported that he had placed the submarine in command of Lieut. Walker of the C. S. Navy; upon the night of January 27, Lieut. Walker attacked the flagship Octorara but the torpedo missed fire. Some part of the submarine was damaged but she would be ready to go out the next dark moon. March 10. Gen. Maury reported an aggregate of 28,194 men, of whom 735 officers and 9,205 men were present for duty. The Alabama River empties into Mobile Bay by two principal rivers, the Mobile River being upon the western side of the delta and the Tensas, or Tensas, being the eastern outlet. The Tensas River itself has four outlets known as Raft River, Tensas River, Apalachee River, and Blakely River. At the time of the Civil War the Mobile & Montgomery Railroad, now the Rouisville & Nashville, ended at Hurricane Bayou on the Tensas River and had only steamboat connection with Mobile. Blakely, on the eastern bank of the Tensas, where the Tensas and Blakely rivers separate, was the only stopping point for boats on the way to Mobile. The town of Blakely was established in 1817 by people from New York and New England and was the county seat of Baldwin County until the Civil War. At Blakely a line of fortifications two and a half miles long consisting of nine redoubts connected by strong earthworks had been constructed. At the point where the Apalachee River left the main stream, two batteries had been constructed, the one upon the north side of the Apalachee being known as Battery Tracy and that upon the south side as Battery Huger (u-gee). About five miles below Blakely at the entrance to Bay Minette Bay and Creek was Spanish Fort. Spanish Fort already had a history and took its name from the fact that it was built by the Spaniards during their occupation in the eighteenth century. January 7, 1781, it was attacked by a force of British and Germans. Several unsuccessful attempts were made to carry the place by assault. The losses were heavy upon both sides and included the British commander. This engagement was the last attempt of Great Britain to maintain supremacy in this section by force of arms against Spain. After the fight they returned to Pensacola and in May of the same year surrendered to Galvez, the Spanish commander. The task of reducing the defenses of Mobile was entrusted by the Federal authorities to Maj. Gen. Edward Richard Sprig Canby, then in command of the Federal forces in New Orleans, and who was destined to fall a few years later by the hand of that treacherous chieftain. Captain Jack of the Modocs. January 26, 1865, Gen. Halleck, Chief of Staff, wrote Gen. Canby: “Gen. A. J. Smith with about 18,000 men and a cavalry force of about 5,000 has been ordered to report to you at New Orleans. The objective is Selma or Montgomery, including the capture of Mobile or not, as you may deem best. Commodore Thatcher will take command in Mobile Bay with additional vessels to cooperate. In order to make your campaign successful while Sherman is occupying the enemy in Georgia and South Carolina, will require much energy of preparation and activity of execution. February 8, Gen. Smith reported from Cairo his arrival to Secretary Stanton and added: “I am now without a heading or identity for my command. Unless I receive a number or a name for my command, I must style myself the Wandering Tribe of Israel.” “Continue on in your exodus as the Wandering Tribe of Israel. On reaching the land of Canby you will have a number and a name,” was the answer. But the old adage, “The more haste the less speed” still held. Through the mistake of a cipher clerk Smith’s troops were landed at Vicksburg and the steamboats were discharged. March 7, Gen. Canby wrote Gen. Halleck: “For the last forty days we have had but seven of favorable weather. During all the rest of this time heavy, easterly and southeasterly gales and dense fogs have prevailed, rendering the transportation of troops and supplies both tedious and dangerous. Twelve sound steamers selected for service in Mississippi Sound and Mobile Bay have been at the passes of the Mississippi since the 26th ultimo, but have been unable to cross the bar.” March 13, Gen. Grant wrote Gen. Halleck: “Were orders sent placing Steele in command of the Thirteenth Corps? I received a letter from Canby today of the 1st of March. At that time he said nothing about starting for Mobile. Although I wrote to him he must go in command himself, I have seen nothing from him indicating an intention to do so. In fact, I have seen but little from Canby to show that he intends to do or have anything done.” March 13, Maj. A. M. Jackson reported to headquarters that a plan was on foot for the blowing up of gunboats and that the Confederates had a submarine at Houston and four at Shreveport. The submarines were described as follows: “The boat is forty feet long, forty-eight inches deep and forty inches wide, built entirely of iron and shaped similar to a steam boiler. The ends are sharp pointed. On the sides are two iron flanges (called fins) For the purpose of raising and lowering the boat in the water. The boat is propelled at the rate of four miles an hour by means of a crank worked by two men. The wheel is on the propeller principle. The boat is usually worked seven feet under water, and has four deadlights for the purpose of steering or taking observations. Each boat carries two torpedoes, one at the bow attached to a pole twenty feet long; one on the stern fastened to a plank ten or twelve feet long. The air arrangements are so constructed as to retain sufficient air for four men to work and four idle two or three hours. March 13. February 27th, Gen. Grant wrote a pleasant letter to Gen. Canby urging all speed, but it was one thing to urge and another to execute. The weather of the winter months of 1865 is reflected in the dispatches from all commanders. The cavalry expedition from Vicksburg that was to cooperate with Gen. Canby was given up as the country was impassable. The navy was to furnish transportation, but there were many excuses and few boats. It is 18 miles from Fort Morgan to Bon Secour; the road is very sandy and never injured by rain, but after leaving the peninsula the country for several miles is flat and wet, and to this day has no road over it. In his desperation Gen. Canby ordered material to repair the railroad from Pensacola, probably with the intention of joining Gen. Steele at that place. The requisition was referred to Gen. Grant, who answered the same day or rather at midnight: “You need not send an article of railroad material or a man to Canby.” But it does not always rain and even in March, 1865, there was a lull and on the 17th the expedition left Navy Cove. Bertram’s brigade closely followed by other troops of the Thirteenth Corps moved by land. Col. Moore’s brigade of the Sixteenth Corps was landed at Cedar Point on the west side of Mobile Bay and occupied Mobile Island with as much display of force as possible. They met the Confederate skirmishers and drove them to the Narrows of Fowl River, and on the 22nd embarked for Fish River. From March 17, to the 24, was occupied in the march to Danville’s Mills, now River Park, upon Fish River. There were 321 regimental wagons and 5 batteries. The reports of those days tell of the most fatiguing labor. The men worked in hourly shifts building corduroy roads or hauling by hand the teams and guns, or lifting the animals from the mud and quicksands. Even the general officers took their turn at the ropes. Day and night the work went on, the blazing turpentine orchards furnishing light by night. Several regiments took the wrong road only to find they were cut off by the Bon Secour River and Bay John. Small bodies of Confederate cavalry were always on the alert, at one time capturing 8 men and 14 mules from the supply train of Gen. Veatch’s division. March 19, Gen. Frederick Stetle with 12,000 men left Pensacola for Blakely. The road from Pensacola was not more difficult than that from Fort Morgan but there was more of it. A hundred miles of marching and forty miles of corduroy, in many places the heavy trains being moved entirely by the men. Forty-eight hours of continuous rain and nowhere to lay down. The heavy rains formed a bar at the mouth of the Escambia River; the steamers with supplies could not come up and for several days there was only quarter rations. There were skirmishes at Cotton Creek, Mitchell’s Creek, and an engagement at Bluff Springs where Gen. Clanton (Confederate) and 18 commissioned officers and 111 enlisted men were captured. Spurling’s command (Steele) As far as Pollard, following the railroad as far as Pollard, capturing both north and south bound trains, destroying considerable stores, and bringing in 120 prisoners, 200 negroes and 250 horses and mules. March 31, Steele’s troops reached Stockton where they found corn and beef. Spurling’s troops also came in on the 31st. April 1, Spurling was sent ahead. About four miles from Blakely he found the road barricaded and charged, capturing the flag of the Forty-sixth Mississippi and seventy-four prisoners and the Confederates were driven into Blakely. But to return to Gen. Canby whom we left at River Park. On March 25, all the various commands, about 32,000 men, having arrived, the Sixteenth Army Corps, Maj. Gen. A. J. Smith, commanding, coming from Dauphin Island by transport, the entire army except Bertram’s brigade moved by the direct road to Deer Park where they encamped for the night. Bertram’s brigade moved by the Montrose road, crossing Flying Creek at the upper ford and camping on the south side of Rock Creek. On March 26, the Sixteenth Corps moved to the south branch of Bay Minette Creek, threatening both Spanish Fort and Blakely. Gen. Granger, with Veatch’s and Benton’s divisions moved toward Spanish Fort. Bertram moved up the bay road halting at the lower crossing of D’Olive’s Creek. The Confederates were in order of battle north of the creek but owing to the flank movement of the Sixteenth Corps fell back into Spanish Fort and Blakely, destroying the lower bridge on Bay Minette Creek cutting off their own communication except by water. O11 the 27th Garrard’s division established an entrenched camp to cover the right and rear of the army and the investment of Spanish Fort was completed in the following order : Carr’s div¬ ision, resting upon Bay Minette Creek occupied the extreme right, then McArthur, Benton, Veatch and Bertram, the latter’s left resting on the impassable marsh that borders upon D’Olive’s Creek. These movements were sharply contested and the cas¬ ualties were considerable, particularly in the Sixteenth Corps, the right of which was exposed to the fire of the gunboats and of Huger and Tracy. On the 26th the Engineer Brigade under Gen. Bailey left Navy Cove going by transport to Stark’s Landing, near Jackson Oaks. At this place a depot was established for the handling of all supplies for the army. Six wharves from 300 to 500 feet long were built and over these the sick and wounded were re¬ moved to New Orleans and all prisoners were sent to Ship Island. On the 30th Veatclie’s division was withdrawn from the line r 0 12 STORY OF THE TENS AW of investment and sent to Holyoke with 75 wagon loads of sup¬ plies for Gen. Steele. April 2, a strong attack was made by the Confederates upon the troops investing Blakely, but was repul¬ sed by the colored troops, and Andrew’s division having come up, Veatcli was ordered in from Holyoke. April 3, Garrard was ordered to complete the investment of Blakely on the left, and Lucas’ and Johnson’s cavalry brigades were charged with the duty of covering the rear of the army. April 5, the lower bridge on Bay Minette Creek was reestablished and Spanish Fort; and Blakely were both included in the same general line of investment. The inner line was about 17 miles and the outer line about 22 miles in length. The country within these lines is very broken, with many small streams and ravines and much impassable marsh. April 5, a salute of a hundred shotted guns was fired in honor of national victories. April 8, there were in position against Spanish Fort 53 siege guns (including ten 20-pounder rifles and sixteen mortars) and 37 field pieces. The battery upon Bay Minette Hill operating against Batteries Huger and Tracy consisted of two 10-pounder and four 30-pounder rifles. Three gunboats, the Milwaukie, Osage, and Rondolph were the toll of the torpedoes at the mouth of the river. Spanish Fort was defended by less than 2,000 men commanded by Brig. Gen. Randall L. Gibson (afterward U. S. senator from Louisiana); his account is the best we have of an utterly hopeless and useless defense in a cause that fate had already deserted. Gen. Gibson says: "For the first ten days my artillery, aided by well-trained sharpshooters, was able to cope with that of the enemy, sometimes silencing his guns, and often broke up his working parties; but after this time it was evident from his overwhelming resources in men and guns, that it would be impossible with the means at my disposal to arrest his gradual advance. While he was steadily digging up to our front and flanks, his fleet kept up a well-directed and heavy fire in our rear, and mortars dropped over the entire surface shells of the largest size; his batteries in rear of his right flank bombarded Batteries Huger and Tracy... I found by the 8th of April that my artillery was about silenced... Not an officer or a man had taken any unbroken rest, except such as they could snatch while on duty in the main works. When There was no fighting there was cutting, digging, moving ammunition, taking down and putting up heavy guns, and repairing damages. Shortly after dark, while the firing was heavy from all points, and especially upon the flanks, the enemy broke through the lines upon the extreme left, completely turned the flank of the main works, and captured some of the men in them. My standing orders from Maj. Gen. D. H. Maury, commanding District of the Gulf, had been not to hold Spanish Fort after the garrison was in danger of capture. For a week, the sappers at Blakely had dug slowly toward the Tennessee River. How different from the charge, charge! Charge! Here a little more good sense is shown, and a regard for human life; and the end approaches much more rapidly. From "Diary of an Artillery Officer." Quoted in Maj. Gen. C. C. Andrew's "The Mobile Campaign." STORY OF THE TENS AW The Tensaw. Early in the morning four more 30-pounder Parrots were mounted on Bay Minette Hill to play upon Blakely Landing and the Tensaw to cut off communication with Mobile. During the day all troops were maneuvered into position and at 5:30 p.m. the assault was ordered. The Ninety-seventh Illinois deployed as skirmishers led the center and following, 35 regiments, more than 16,000 men rushed over the torpedoes, abatis and slashings, and in less than 20 minutes resistance was over. The Seventy-sixth Illinois charged Redoubt No. 3, just north of the Stockton Road entering by the south salient and suffered greatest loss, 16 killed and 82 wounded; 5 men were killed and 15 wounded inside of the redoubt. The total Federal loss in the assault was 127 killed and 527 wounded; many mortally. The Confederate loss at Blakely is unknown; at Spanish Fort, was 93 killed and 350 wounded. The total loss of the Federal army in the campaign was 232 killed and 1,403 wounded. But Huger and Tracy still held more guns were mounted on Bay Minette Hill; as fast as they could be unspiked, the guns of Spanish Fort were turned to the north; the Octorara crossed the bar and men went ashore and beat down the cane-brake until the gunners could see Huger; knowing that they must evacuate, the garrisons were lavish in the use of ammunition. April 11, the firing was furious—it was the last day of the great guns in the Civil War and their roar was instinct with hatred and death; only in the graves was there peace. At nightfall the garrisons embarked for Mobile and before morning the signal for evacuation went up from the marsh in front of the city. On the 12th, Gen. Granger with the First and Third Divisions of the Thirteenth Corps crossed the bay landing below the city; they soon met Mayor R. H. Slough carrying a flag of truce and upon their arrival in the city he signed the surrender, saying: “I trust gentlemen, for the sake of humanity, all the safeguards which you can throw around our people will be secured to them.” Note.--The works at Blakely were commanded by Brig. Gen. St. John R. Liddell. Battery Huger, by Major Washington Marks, Twenty-second Louisiana Artillery. Battery Tracy, by Capt. A. A. Patsmier, of the same regiment. Montrose, by Capt. William C. Wipston. STORY OF THE TENSAW The Civil War was a consequent of individual wrong doing; the resultant of a low moral condition that follows the very general belief that virtue is inconsistent with gain. The ships of New England hovered about the African coast and slaves made a profitable cargo; Northern and English manufacturers desired cheap cotton and were indifferent as to the manner of production; the Northern states abolished slavery within their borders, but individuals sold their slaves in the South — the sore-fested and broke, and the American nation paid the extreme penalty. The present generation has seen a war in which practically the whole world engaged which resulted in merely an armed truce. The sole cause of that war was the belief that has grown into the minds of the people that human welfare is dependent upon trade and barter, or as it is too often phrased “commercial supremacy”; the manipulation, and not the production of goods. After the Civil War, the South, although wasted by four years of war, was self-supporting as soon as a crop could be raised, but the World War is followed by years of starvation because the despotized nations are trying to recover by trading, by borrowing, and by printing worthless money instead of producing food. The tillage of the soil is the primal occupation of man. There is no substitute for food. People in the cities of Europe are starving all they have seemingly reached the goal for which they have striven for centuries. Land is free, but who wants land? The people rule, and their crazy governments are trying to feed them by negotiating foreign loans; by “stabilizing exchange”; and by appeals to charity. In America, we are destroying in peace what Europe destroyed by war. Public and private indebtedness is appalling. A majority of our people are merely wage workers and it matters not to them whether the work is constructive or destructive as long as it brings food. We are destroying our natural resources to keep them employed, and while they toil, pur rivers, with their millions of foot tons of perpetual motion flow unharnessed to the sea. “Be not deceived, God is not mocked; for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” Jackson Oaks and Fort Mims Written in 1912 Mobile Bay has been the scene of many stirring events in American history. Here were the first French settlements upon the Gulf Coast. Occupied successfully by France, Great Britain and Spain, it has now been for a hundred years a part of the American union. It was once the lair of the pirates of the Caribbean. It witnessed the greatest naval struggle of modern times. It bears the commerce of the second largest system of rivers in the United States, and is destined to become the gateway of American trade through the west to the East. At the head of the bay on the western side of the delta is the City of Mobile. Occupying a similar position on the eastern side of the bay and delta, at the mouth of the Tensaw, is Jackson Oaks. As Mobile is easily accessible from the Tensaw, its mouth is a strategic point and Jackson Oaks with its level ground so suitable for military maneuvers, because of its giant oaks and the pure water of its streams has been the ideal camping ground for military forces: For these reasons Jackson Oaks was the most important settlement upon the eastern shore in colonial days and until the War of 1812 was called The Village. Oct. 20, 1763 as one of the results of the Seven Years War, the British troops occupied Mobile and the French retired to New Orleans; as the British also came into possession of West Florida by the same treaty, The Village became the eastern terminal of the ferry over which traffic passed to Pensacola and the east. For sixteen years Mobile was ruled by an English governor but March 1, 1780 it was invested by a Spanish force under Bernardo de Galvez, Captain-General of Caracas; on March 14, although reinforcements from Pensacola had arrived at The Village, Captain Dunford surrendered to the Spanish commander. The British reinforcements having returned to Pensacola the Spaniards fortified a hill north of The Village commanding the river. In January, 1781, the fort was attacked by a force of British and Germans from Pensacola; on the 7th several attempts were made to carry the fort by assault. The losses were heavy on both sides and included the British commander. STORY OF THE TENNESSEE The British returned to Pensacola and in May surrendered to Galvez thus ending the rule of Great Britain in the South. For thirty-three years Mobile was a Spanish colony. Let us go back a hundred years. France was an empire and her Corsican emperor was on the way to Moscow with no thought of St. Helena. Little was known of the Oldest Continent beyond the tales told by the traders who bargained under the guns of their own ships. The Dark Continent had a few settlements upon its coast. Upon the Western Continent a new and lusty nation had sprung into being and all else was desert. A boat propelled by steam was upon the Hudson, and Ben Franklin had caught some electricity in a bottle. The United States and Great Britain were at war. The Indians, ever jealous of the white man’s encroachments and too often the victim of his intrigue and duplicity, were committing depredation and murder along the southwestern frontier. Fort Mims, a stockade upon Boatyard Lake in the Tensaw settlement, was selected for a general assault. The fort was garrisoned by about 150 men under Maj. Daniel Beasley of the Mississippi Volunteers; in the fort were also 24 white families and about 100 negroes. The garrison had been repeatedly warned of danger but it was not considered immediate. There was plenty to eat and more to drink. The fiddle squeaked and the dance went round. The sentries nodded at their posts. Aug. 30, 1813 they awoke to find the Creeks within 30 yards of the open gate. The inmates took refuge within the inner enclosure, the blockhouse and dwellings. The fight raged for hours but when it was over the work of the torch, the tomahawk and the scalping knife was complete. Less than thirty of the inmates escaped. A few days later an expedition under Captain Kennedy left The Village in a flatboat to bury the dead; but there was too much whisky aboard and the crew was soon helpless in a hostile country. The captain put the man who brought the whisky in a barrel for safe keeping; upon the recovery of the crew they went to the fort where they buried. 247 bodies. The massacre at Fort Mims was the death warrant of the Creek nation. Gen. Claiborne entered their country from the southwest. Gen. Floyd came from Georgia. From the Tennessee came Andrew Jackson. It was a war of extermination. The final massacre of the Creeks was by the troops of Jackson and Coffee at Horseshoe Bend on the Alabama River Mar. 27, 1814, and the scattered remnants of the tribe were placed upon the peninsula at the lower end of Mobile Bay. Jackson’s troops then came to Mobile. The British were making free use of the Spanish port of Pensacola and Jackson’s remonstrance was ignored. Although we were not at war with Spain, Jackson took the responsibility of an attack. Crossing to The Village with 3,000 troops he arrived at Pensacola on the 6th of November. The Spanish governor wished to negotiate but Jackson had not come to talk, so the British blew up the fort, went aboard their ships and put to sea. Two days later Jackson was back to The Village. The great oak under which Jackson’s tent was pitched has for a century been known as Jackson’s Oak, and the village which strangely enough had been all but nameless through so many years of turbulent history came to be known as Jackson Oaks. The road leading across Baldwin County to Pensacola has long been known as the Jackson Trail. But we do not always war and The Village saw many years of peace and plenty, but peace and plenty have in history. In 1803, Louis Dolive (D’Olive) settled upon the bluff north of Yancy’s Creek; he was a progenitor of many people now living in this vicinity. Win. Yancy, a survivor of Fort Mimé, and an authority upon local history died here aged 97. In the Dolive Burial Ground are Louis Dolive, 1769-1841; his wife Louise Le Fleau, 1782-1840; a son Marone, 1803-30; a son Medrick, 1812-84; a daughter Louisa, 1864, and her husband Maj. Lewis Stark, 1799-1872, and others. One is a double grave—mother and son: Son Enfant EDWARD El deceda le premier March, 1837, age 18 months Ici Repose ANNEYS LAURENDIN El deceda le trois March, 1837 age de 30 ans Nothing remains of The Old Village today but the tombs— mute memorials of the past; silent monitors teaching to the STORY OF THE TENS AW Old Blakely Ten miles northeast of Mobile upon the eastern shore of the Alabama River delta is the site of the former Town of Blakely. It is difficult to realize that the wooded slope with its three negro cabins was once a populous town with handsome dwellings, stores, hotels, and a cotton gin, and for more than forty years the capital of Baldwin County. The line of grand old oaks was once known as Washington Avenue and under them overgrown by tangled vines are heaps of bricks—all that remains of the homes of Old Blakely. The traditions tell of the first steamboat upon the Tensaw which was so top-heavy that a huge cypress log was attached to each side and boat and logs made four miles an hour to Mobile. The yellow fever came and the living only buried the dead and waited. Then came The war and Forrest's cavalry came and turned their horses into the corn fields, and the children of Blakely went hungry. A thousand feet up the hill is the Washington Spring and we drink, standing upon the hollow logs that once carried its pure water down to the town. At the top of the hill are the Confederate lines, their lunettes and salients frowning across the ravine at the long lines of sap and parallel where the invader dug slowly toward the Tensaw. Between the lines is the old cemetery, its monument bearing the story of old days, the last record writ with bullets. The inscriptions are as follows: Died in this place Dec. 1, 1822, James W. Peters. 3d son of Gen. Absalom Peters. Aged 31 years. Who, with his partner Russell Stebbins, emigrated from New York to this county in 1816. These two with a few other enterprising young gentlemen from the North commenced in the wilderness and founded the Town of Blakely in 1817. Horatio Butler, son of the Rev. D. Butler of the City of Troy, N.Y. Died at this place Aug. 4, 1820. Aged 28 years. Henry Boyd, son of Gen. William Boyd of the City of New York. Died at this place of malignant fever. Nov. 27, 1822. Aged 21 years. Major Geo. P. Peters of the U.S. Army; 2d son of Gen. Absalom Peters of New Hampshire. Departed this life at Fort Gadsden, E.F. where he was in command. Nov. 28, 1819. Aged 30 years. Mrs. Loraine Hitchcock Peters, Consort of Major Geo. P. Peters. Died at Burlington, Vt., April 22, 1815. Aged 25 years. Ira Hemp stead, son of Isaac Hempstead, Esq., of the City of Albany, N.Y. Died at this place July 20, 1818. Aged 19 years. James Stebbins, 2d son of Nathan Stebbins of Ridgefield. Conn. Died at this place by a fall from a horse. Nov. 10. 1818. Aged 22 years. * I STORY OF THE TENSAW APPENDIX A. Organization of the Union Forces, commanded by Maj. Gen. Edward R. S. Canby, operating against Mobile, Ala., March 17—April 12, 1865. ENGINEER BRIGADE. Brig. Gen. Joseph Bailey. 96th U. S. Colored Troops, Col. John C. Cobb. 97th U. S. Colored Troops : Lieut. Col. George A. Harraount. Col. George I). Robinson. 1st Company of Pontoniers, Capt. John J. Smith. * SIEGE TRAIN. Brig. Gen. James Totten. 1st Indiana Heavy Artillery, Companies B, C. II, I, K, L, and M. Col. Benjamin F. Hays. New York Light Artillery, i8th Battery,Capt. Albert G. Mack. THIRTEENTH ARMY CORPS. Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger. MORTAR BATTERIES. 6th Michigan Heavy Artillery. Company A, Capt. Seldon F. Craig. 6th Michigan Heavy Artillery. Company K, Lieut. Charles \Y. Wood. FIRST DIVISION. Brig. Gen. James C. Veatch. * First Brigade. Brig. Gen. James R. Slack. 99th Illinois (five companies). Lieut. Col. Asa C. Matthews. 47th Indiana, Lieut. Col. John A. McLaughlin. 21st Iowa, Lieut. Col, Salue G. Van Anda. 29th Wisconsin, Lieut. Col. Bradford Hancock. Second Brigade. Brig. Gen. Flias S. Dennis. 8th Illinois, Col. Josiah A. Sheet/, nth Illinois, Col, James II. Coates. 46th Illinois. Col. Benj. Dornblaser. 0 STORY OF THE TENSAW Third Brigade. Lieut. Col. William B. Kinsey. 29th Illinois, Lieut. Col. John. A. Callicott. 30th Missouri (four companies), Lieut. Col. William T. Wilkinson. i6jsi New Y01k, Maj. Willis E. Craig. 23d Wisconsin, Maj. Joseph E. Green. ARTII.LKRY. Capt. George W. Pox. Massachusetts Light, 4th BAttery (D), Lieut. George W. Taylor. Massachusetts Light, 7th Battery (G), Capt. Newman W. Storer. SKCONI> DIVISION. Brig. Gen. Christopher C. Andrews. First Brigade. Second Brigade. 