Editing Huntsville, Alabama (section)

===Civil War===
[[File:Huntsville Alabama 1862.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|A [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] officer of [[Ormsby M. Mitchel|General Mitchell]]'s army sketched Huntsville during the 1862 occupation]]

Huntsville initially opposed [[secession]] from the Union in 1861, but provided many men for the [[Confederate States of America|Confederacy's]] efforts.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Cole |first=R.T. |title=From Huntsville to Appomattox: R.T. Coles's History of 4th Regiment, Alabama Volunteer Infantry, C.S.A., Army of Northern Virginia. |publisher=University of Tennessee Press |year=1996 |isbn=978-1-57233-340-6 |editor-last=Stocker |editor-first=Jeffrey D. |location=United States |language=en |oclc=149517107}}</ref> The 4th Alabama Infantry Regiment, led by Col. Egbert J. Jones of Huntsville, distinguished itself at the [[First Battle of Bull Run|Battle of Manassas/Bull Run]], the first major encounter of the [[American Civil War]]. The regiment, which contained two Huntsville companies, were the first Alabama troops to fight in the war. They were also present when General [[Robert E. Lee]] surrendered to [[Ulysses S. Grant|Grant]] at [[Old Appomattox Court House|Appomattox Court House]] in April 1865. Nine generals of the war were born in or near Huntsville; five fought for the Confederacy and four for the Union.<ref>{{Cite book |title=North Alabama Civil War generals: 13 wore gray, the rest blue |collaboration=Tennessee Valley Civil War Round Table |publisher=Tennessee Valley Civil War Round Table |year=2014 |isbn=978-1-63318-182-3 |location=Madison, Alabama |language=en |oclc=1141202898}}</ref> Other Huntsville residents joined the Union Army and helped establish the Union Army's [[1st Alabama Cavalry Regiment (Union)|1st Alabama Cavalry Regiment]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ross |first=Steve |title=History of the First |url=http://www.1stalabamacavalryusv.com/1sthistory.aspx |access-date=December 18, 2022 |website=1st Alabama Cavalry}}</ref>

On the morning of April 11, 1862, Union troops led by General Ormsby M. Mitchel seized Huntsville in order to sever the Confederacy's rail communications and gain access to the [[Memphis & Charleston Railroad]]. Huntsville was the headquarters for the Eastern Division of the Memphis & Charleston.<ref>{{cite book|title=Alabama Railroads|last=Cline|first=Wayne|publisher=The University of Alabama Press|year=1997|location=Tuscaloosa|page=4}}</ref>

During the first occupation, Union officers took over many of the larger homes in the city while the enlisted soldiers camped in tents mainly on the outskirts. Union troops searched for Confederate troops hiding in the town and weapons. There was not much resistance, and they treated Huntsville residents in a relatively civil manner. However, residents of nearby towns reported harsher treatment.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last1=Rohr |first1=Nancy M. |title=Incidents of the war: the Civil War journal of Mary Jane Chadick |last2=Chadick |first2=Mary Jane |publisher=SilverThreads Publishing |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-9707368-1-9 |location=Huntsville, Alabama |language=en |oclc=62675679}}</ref> Union troops were forced to retreat a few months later. In the fall of 1863, they returned to Huntsville, using it as a base of operations for the war in the South until the last months of 1864. According to the journal of a nearby resident, Union troops burned many homes and villages in the surrounding countryside in retaliation for the active [[guerrilla warfare]] in the area. Many houses and buildings were burned,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kvach |first1=John F. |last2=Ethridge |first2=Charity |last3=Hopkins |first3=Michelle |last4=Leberman |first4=Susanna |title=Huntsville (Images of America) |year=2013 |orig-date=April 1, 2013 |publisher=Arcadia Publishing |isbn=978-0-7385-9891-8 |page=9 |url=https://www.arcadiapublishing.com/Products/9780738598918 |access-date=May 28, 2022}}</ref> although most of Huntsville was kept intact as it housed both Union officers and troops.<ref name=":2" />