July 14, 1864

Raiders under the command of Maj. Gen. Lovell Harrison Rousseau destroyed Janney Furnace near Ohatchee in Calhoun County. Rousseau’s Raid began in Union-controlled Decatur on July 10, 1864, and is considered one of the most successful cavalry operations of the Civil War. The raid aimed to destroy military supplies and the Montgomery and West Point Railroad. At the raid’s conclusion, Rousseau reportedly destroyed more than 30 miles of railroad track, many bridges and buildings, and vast quantities of cotton and commissary goods in Macon and Lee counties. His forces suffered only 50 men killed or captured.

Read more at Encyclopedia of Alabama.

The remaining stone structure of the blast furnace at Janney Furnace Park in Ohatchee, 2015. (dofftoubab, Wikipedia)

Portrait of Maj. Gen. Lovell H. Rousseau, officer of the Federal Army, c. 1860-1869. (Compiled by Hirst D. Milhollen and Donald H. Mugridge, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division)

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