Civil War: Alabama Militiamen meet a Tragic Fate

Civil War era church in Campbellton

One of the most tragic episodes involving Alabama's Civil War militia or, as they are often termed, "home guards," took place along the Florida state line on September 27, 1864.

As the war had progressed and larger and larger numbers of men and boys went away to fight on the main fronts, Alabama turned for much of its defense to a state militia organization. Companies were organized in counties across the state, with regiments formed from every few counties. These operated under the command of regimental officers, while the local commanders were elected by the men themselves.

Original Salt Kettle at St. Andrew Bay, Florida

In the fall of 1864, detachments of militiamen from Dale County were assigned to guard oxcarts carrying salt from the works on St. Andrew Bay in Florida back to Alabama. Salt was a vital commodity both for the Confederate military and for the civilian population as well. A necessity for use in preserving meat in those days before refrigeration, it was vital to survival for people from all walks of life.

On September 27, 1864, as Union troops under Brigadier General Alexander Asboth attacked the Florida city of Marianna, a detachment of Dale County militiamen were making their way nearby with an oxcart loaded with salt. They had somehow missed the Federal column as it made its way to Marianna that morning, but things took a tragic turn when they reached the stateline town of Campbellton that afternoon.

Lt. Col. A.B. Spurling, 2nd Maine

As the Dale County men came into Campbellton, they saw gray-uniformed soldiers ahead. But these men were not what they seemed. The "Confederates" turned out to be disguised Union soldiers led by Lieutenant Colonel Andrew B. Spurling of the 2nd Maine Cavalry. Spurling had been detached with a small group of men from the main Union column four days earlier, with instructions to pursue a body of Confederate cavalrymen who had eluded capture at Eucheeanna in Walton County, Florida.

Spurling and his men donned Confederate uniforms and took off into the stateline country. Please click here to read more about his brief visit to Geneva, Alabama.

They reached Campbellton at the same time as the Dale County men and, according to an account of Spurlings operations, captured an "army wagon" and three Alabama militiamen.

Tragically, these three men disappear from the record and are never heard from again. Local tradition in Dale County holds that they went off to "get salt at the bay and never came home." Their fate seems to have been dark.

Spurling and his men were operating undercover, behind enemy lines. Because they were wearing Confederate uniforms, they knew that if they were detected they would face immediate execution as spies. Carrying along prisoners could prove fatal to the colonel and his men if they stumbled across a Confederate patrol.  This left them with only two options:  1) release the men, and 2) kill them.

Since the men never returned home, the only logical conclusion is that they were taken into the woods and killed by the undercover Federals. Their bones likely rest somewhere near the state line in Jackson County, Florida, to this day.

To learn more about the 1864 Marianna Raid and Spurling's undercover activities, please consider my book: The Battle of Marianna, Florida: Expanded Edition .

It is also available as an instant download for Amazon Kindle and iBooks devices. You can also read more about the raid at www.battleofmarianna.com.

The Ghost of Sketoe's Hole - Dale County, Alabama

One of the most fascinating ghost stories in Alabama surrounds an incident that took place on the banks of the Choctawhatchee River at Newton during the Civil War.

Rev. Bill Sketoe, a Methodist minister and farmer, was arrested by the men of Captain Joseph R. Breare's company and accused of either desertion or assisting a band of deserters in their devastating raids on homes and farms in Dale County.  Although Breare's men are usually described as "home guards," they actually were members of a regular Confederate unit that patrolled South Alabama to enforce the conscription or draft.

Whatever his actual charges, Sketoe was hanged from a tree across the river from Newton by Breare and a detachment of his men. Eyewitnesses later described how, because Sketoe was a tall man, his feet touched ground after the wagon or buggy on which he was standing was driven out from under him. One of the soldiers, who had been wounded in an earlier battle, used his crutch to dig out a hole under the man's feet so that he would hang and die.

The hole dug that day survived for more than 100 years and, as the story goes, was mysteriously swept clean each night by some mysterious force. Many local residents came to believe that the ghost of old Bill Sketoe still hung from that tree opposite Newton and it was his feet that kept the hole clean.  The legend became one of Alabama's favorite ghost stories and was featured in Kathryn Tucker Windham's popular book, 13 Alabama Ghosts and Jeffrey.

Is it true?  What are the real facts behind the legend? Find out by visiting www.exploresouthernhistory.com/sketoe.