April 1, 1865

Cavalry forces under the commands of Confederate Maj. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest and Union Maj. Gen. John H. Wilson met in the Battle of Ebenezer Church in present-day Stanton. Forrest hoped to delay Wilson’s raiders from reaching the Selma Ordnance and Naval Foundry long enough for reinforcements to arrive and positioned his 4,000 defenders at an intersection of two roads near Ebenezer Church. Wilson discovered Forrest’s plans, however, and quickly dispatched his 9,000 cavalrymen to Forrest’s position, where they broke through Confederate lines and repulsed a counterattack. Today, a small cemetery at Ebenezer Church contains the graves of the battle’s Union dead and a monument to the Confederate dead erected in 1977.

Read more at Encyclopedia of Alabama.

Portrait of Nathan Bedford Forrest, c. 1863-1870. (Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division)

James H. Wilson (1837-1925) was a Union general during the Civil War. Originally a topographical engineer, Wilson joined the cavalry in 1864, and in March 1865 was sent with more than 13,000 horsemen, known as Wilson’s Raiders, through Georgia and Alabama to disrupt production centers. His cavalrymen captured Confederate President Jefferson Davis in May 1865. (From Encyclopedia of Alabama, Library of Congress)

For more on Alabama’s Bicentennial, visit Alabama 200.