Editing Selma, Alabama (section)

===Selma during the Civil War===
{{Main|Selma, Alabama, in the Civil War}}

During the [[American Civil War|Civil War]], Selma was one of the South's main military manufacturing centers, producing many supplies and munitions, and building Confederate warships such as the [[Ironclad warship|ironclad]] [[CSS Tennessee|''Tennessee'']]. The Selma iron works and foundry, where a young [[William Kehoe (businessman)|William Kehoe]] made bullets, was considered the second-most important source of weaponry for the South, after the [[Tredegar Iron Works]] in [[Richmond, Virginia]]. Half the cannon and two thirds of the fixed ammunition used by the Confederacy in the last two years of the war were made there.<ref>[[Walter L. Fleming]], ''Civil War and Reconstruction in Alabama'', [https://archive.org/details/civilwarreconstr00flemuoft/page/151/mode/1up?view=theater p.151] (New York: [[Columbia University Press]], 1905) (retrieved November 9, 2024).</ref> This strategic concentration of manufacturing capabilities eventually made Selma a target of Union raids into Alabama late in the [[American Civil War|Civil War]].<ref name=alabama/>

Because of its military importance, Selma had been fortified by three miles of earthworks that ran in a semicircle around the city. They were anchored on the north and south by the [[Alabama River]]. The works had been built two years earlier,{{clarify|reason=Earlier than what?|date=August 2020}} and while neglected for the most part since, were still formidable. They were {{convert|8|to|12|ft|m}} high, {{convert|15|ft|m}} thick at the base, with a ditch {{convert|4|ft|m}} wide and {{convert|5|ft|m}} deep along the front. In front of this was a {{convert|5|ft|m}}-high picket fence of heavy posts planted in the ground and sharpened at the top. At prominent positions, earthen forts were built with artillery in position to cover the ground over which an assault would have to be made.
[[File:Ruins of Confederate States Naval Foundry at Selma.jpg|thumb|right|Ruins of the Confederate States Naval Foundry at Selma in 1865]]

The North had learned of the importance of Selma to the Confederate military, and the US military planned to take the city. Gen. [[William Tecumseh Sherman]] first made an effort to reach it, but after advancing from the west as far as [[Meridian, Mississippi]], within {{convert|107|mi|km}} of Selma, his forces retreated back to the Mississippi River.{{clarify|reason=When?|date=August 2020}} Gen. [[Benjamin Grierson]], invading with a cavalry force from [[Memphis, Tennessee]], was intercepted and returned.{{clarify|reason=When?|date=August 2020}} Gen. Rousseau made a dash in the direction of Selma, but was misled by his guides and struck the railroad forty miles east of [[Montgomery, Alabama|Montgomery]].{{clarify|reason=When?|date=August 2020}} <ref name=hardy>{{Cite book |last=Hardy |first=John |title=Selam: Her Institutions and Her Men |publisher=Bert Neville and Clarence DeBray |year=1879 |url=http://scuba-doc.com/Batlsel.htm |access-date=February 1, 2010 |archive-date=October 1, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131001151426/http://scuba-doc.com/Batlsel.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

====Battle of Selma====<!--This section needs to be better cited. It reads as if it was lifted verbatim from another source-->
[[File:James Wilson (soldier).jpg|thumb|right|180px|Union General [[James H. Wilson]]]]
{{Main|Battle of Selma}}
On March 30, 1865, Union General [[James H. Wilson]] detached Gen. [[John T. Croxton]]'s brigade to destroy all Confederate property at [[Tuscaloosa, Alabama|Tuscaloosa]]. Wilson's forces captured a Confederate courier, who was found to be carrying dispatches from [[History of Confederate States Army Generals|Confederate General]] [[Nathan Bedford Forrest]] describing his scattered forces. Wilson sent a brigade to destroy the bridge across the [[Cahaba River]] at Centreville, which cut off most of Forrest's reinforcements from reaching the area. He began a running fight with Forrest's forces that did not end until after the fall of Selma.

On the afternoon of April 1, opening what would be the final full month of the war, and after [[skirmisher|skirmishing]] all morning, Wilson's advanced guard ran into Forrest's line of battle at Ebenezer Church, where the Randolph Road intersected the main Selma road. Forrest had hoped to bring his entire force to bear on Wilson. Delays caused by flooding, plus earlier contact with the enemy, resulted in Forrest's mustering fewer than 2,000 men, many of whom were not war veterans but home militia consisting of old men and young boys.

The outnumbered and outgunned Confederates fought for more than an hour as reinforcements of Union cavalry and artillery were deployed. Forrest was wounded by a saber-wielding Union captain, whom he shot and killed with his revolver. Finally, a Union cavalry charge broke the Confederate militia, causing Forrest to be flanked on his right. He was forced to retreat.
[[File:Nathan Bedford Forrest.jpg|thumb|left|180px|Confederate General [[Nathan Bedford Forrest|Nathan B. Forrest]]]]

Early the next morning, Forrest reached Selma; he advised Gen. [[Richard Taylor (Confederate general)|Richard Taylor]], departmental commander, to leave the city. Taylor did so after giving Forrest command of the defense. Selma was protected by fortifications that circled much of the city; it was protected on the north and south by the [[Alabama River]]. The wall was high and deep, surrounded by a ditch and picket fence. Earthen forts were built to cover the grounds with artillery fire.

Forrest's defenders consisted of his Tennessee escort company, [[Henry Eustace McCulloch|McCullough]]'s Missouri Regiment, Crossland's Kentucky Brigade, Roddey's Alabama Brigade, [[Frank Crawford Armstrong|Frank Armstrong]]'s Mississippi Brigade, General [[Daniel W. Adams]]' state reserves, and the citizens of Selma who were "volunteered" to man the works. Altogether this force numbered less than 4,000. As the Selma fortifications were built to be defended by 20,000 men, Forrest's soldiers had to stand 10 to {{convert|12|ft|m}} apart to try to cover the works.

Wilson's force arrived in front of the Selma fortifications at 2&nbsp;pm. He had placed Gen. Eli Long's Division across the Summerfield Road with the Chicago Board of Trade Battery in support. Gen. [[Emory Upton]]'s Division was placed across the Range Line Road with Battery I, 4th US Artillery in support. Altogether Wilson had 9,000 troops available for the assault.

The Federal commander's plan was for Upton to send in a 300-man detachment after dark to cross the swamp on the Confederate right; enter the works, and begin a flanking movement toward the center moving along the line of fortifications. A single gun from Upton's artillery would signal the attack to be undertaken by the entire Federal Corps.

At 5&nbsp;pm, however, Gen. [[Eli Long]]'s ammunition train in the rear was attacked by advance elements of Forrest's scattered forces approaching Selma. Both Long and Upton had positioned significant numbers of troops in their rear for just such an event. But, Long decided to begin his assault against the Selma fortifications to neutralize the enemy attack in his rear.

Long's troops attacked in a single rank in three main lines, dismounted and shooting their Spencer's carbines, supported by their own artillery fire. The Confederates replied with heavy small arms and artillery fire. The Southern artillery had only solid shot on hand, while a short distance away was an arsenal which produced tons of canister, a highly effective anti-personnel ammunition.
[[File:St. Paul's Episcopal Church Selma.jpg|thumb|300px|[[St. Paul's Episcopal Church (Selma, Alabama)|St. Paul's Episcopal Church]] burned following the Battle of Selma and was rebuilt in 1871.]]

The Federals suffered many casualties (including General Long) but continued their attack. Once the Union Army reached the works, there was vicious hand-to-hand fighting. Many soldiers were struck down with clubbed muskets, but they kept pouring into the works with their greater numbers. In less than 30 minutes, Long's men had captured the works protecting the Summerfield Road.

Meanwhile, General Upton, observing Long's success, ordered his division forward. They succeeded in overmounting the defenses and soon U.S. flags could be seen waving over the works from Range Line Road to Summerfield Road.

After the outer works fell, General Wilson led the [[4th U.S. Cavalry]] Regiment in a mounted charge down the Range Line Road toward the unfinished inner line of works. The retreating Confederate forces, upon reaching the inner works, united and fired repeatedly together into the charging column. This broke up the charge and sent General Wilson sprawling to the ground when his favorite horse was wounded. He quickly remounted his stricken horse and ordered a dismounted assault by several regiments.

Mixed units of Confederate troops had also occupied the Selma railroad depot and the adjoining banks of the railroad bed to make a stand next to the Plantersville Road (present day Broad Street). The fighting there was heavy, but by 7 p.m. the superior numbers of Union troops had managed to flank the Southern positions. The Confederates abandoned the depot as well as the inner line of works.

In the darkness, the Federals rounded up hundreds of prisoners, but hundreds more escaped down the Burnsville Road, including generals Forrest, Armstrong, and Roddey. To the west, many Confederate soldiers fought the pursuing Union Army all the way down to the eastern side of Valley Creek. They escaped in the darkness by swimming across the Alabama River near the mouth of Valley Creek (where the present day Battle of Selma Reenactment is held.)

The Union troops looted the city that night and burned many businesses and private residences. They spent the next week destroying the arsenal and naval foundry. They left Selma heading to Montgomery. When the war ended three weeks later, they were en route to [[Columbus, Georgia|Columbus]] and [[Macon, Georgia]].