Phenix City Battle was the Last Major Engagement of the Civil War

Marker on Summerville Road

One of the least known facts of the Civil War is that its last major battle was fought along the Chattahoochee River in Phenix City, Alabama, and the adjacent city of Columbus, Georgia.

The Battle of Columbus (also called the Battle of Girard) took place on April 16, 1865, an Easter Sunday. General Robert E. Lee had surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia at Appomatox Court House one week earlier and General Joseph E. Johnston would meet with General William Tecumseh Sherman in North Carolina the next day to discuss the surrender of Confederate forces in the Deep South.

It was in the last days of the war that Union Major General James H. Wilson pushed east from Montgomery, battling Confederate forces as he approached Auburn. By the mid-point of the month he was driving east from Auburn, moving fast with thousands of troops to seize the vital bridges over the Chattahoochee and destroy the vast wartime industrial complex in Columbus.

Site of 14th Street Bridge

These bridges linked Columbus with the smaller town of Girard (now Phenix City) on the Alabama side. To protect both the bridges and the major military manufacturing complex of Columbus, the Confederates had ringed Girard with a series of forts, batteries, breastworks and other defenses. These were placed atop encircling ridges and hilltops as the area immediately adjacent to the bridges was overlooked by these hills.  Additional defenses were built on the Columbus side of the river and cannon were positioned so as to command the bridges.

The initial attack developed on the afternoon of April 16, 1865, when part of Wilson's command made a dash for the "lower" or Dillingham Street bridge. This force, carried out by part of Upton's Division, was repulsed.

Surviving Earthworks in Phenix City

The effort to quickly seize a crossing point and outflank the Confederates having failed, Wilson resolved on a night attack down Summerville road directly into the throat of the main Southern defenses and batteries. Recognizing that this was likely to be the point of greatest danger, Confederate General Howell Cobb moved the majority of his force into the trenches there and positioned guns to sweep the road from all directions.

Battery Site at Russell County Courthouse

The attack came at 9 p.m.  Pushing directly down the Summerville Road, Wilson's forces overran an advanced line of Confederate works. Thinking they had captured the main Southern line, they pushed immediately for the "upper" or 14th Street bridge. As they approached the main line, however, the Confederates opened on them from front, left and right. Recognizing their precarious situation, the Federals drove straight forward and slashed through the Confederate main line.

The battle now collapsed into a confusing night fight, but by 10 p.m. the upper bridge had been taken and Columbus had fallen. The impact on the Southern war effort was devastating. Not only were the factories destroyed, but the nearly complete ironclade C.S.S. Jackson was captured and the warship C.S.S. Chattahoochee was burned by its own crew to prevent its capture. No other battle between Union and Confederate forces would be fought on the scale of the action at Phenix City and Columbus.

To learn more about the Battle of Columbus (Girard), please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/battleofcolumbus.

Battle of Selma - Selma, Alabama

The key battle that ended the Confederacy's hopes of holding Alabama took place on April 2, 1865, at Selma. A Union victory, it resulted in the destruction of the city's vast industrial infrastructure and opened the heart of the state to raiding and destruction.

The real last hope of holding Selma had ended the previous day when General Nathan Bedford Forrest led his troops into action at the Battle of Ebenezer Church (for more on this engagement, see post of June 24, 2010). That battle ended in victory for the Federal army of General James H. Wilson when a portion of Forrest's command was unable to cross the Cahaba River as expected and carry out a rear attack on the Union troops.

Forced to fall back into the earthwork forts and defenses that ringed Selma itself, Forrest knew that the fight to defend the city would likely end in defeat for his forces. He simply did not have enough men to defend the miles of works and knew it. Even so, the Southern general opted to fight for Selma with courage and the battle that followed was severe and chaotic.

Advancing in two columns and in overwhelming force against Forrest's spread out troops, Wilson's soldiers pierced the Confederate line where it was intersected by the Summerfield Road despite a hail of cannon and musket fire. Not long after a second breakthrough took place and the Confederates withdrew into the city itself, fighting as they went. By the time the smoke cleared, the Union army was in possession of Selma and over 3,000 men had been killed, wounded or captured. Among them was Rev. Arthur Small, the pastor of the city's Presbyterian Church, who had taken up arms to fight in defense of his community.

Most of the Selma batlefield has been developed into residential and commercial districts and very little remains of the fortifications that once surrounded the city. An annual reenactment festival brings the event back to life, however, and the community is rich in the history of the battle. To learn more, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/selmabattle.

Battle of Ebenezer Church - Stanton, Alabama

It is an often forgotten fact that the famed Confederate "Wizard of the Saddle" fought for the last time on ground of his own choosing at the Battle of Ebenezer Church in western Alabama.

The vast mounted army of Union General James H. Wilson was plunging south from the Tennessee River in April of 1865. With his troops scattered to deal with incursions from various directions, Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest struggled to pull together enough men to oppose the oncoming Federals.

Always thinking of how to take the offensive, even against overwhelming odds, Forrest hoped not only to halt Wilson's Raid, but to destroy the much larger Union army. With this goal in mind, he drew up a plan to trap Wilson before he could get close enough to drive the outnumbered Confederates into the extensive fortifications of Selma.  The Alabama city was a major manufacturing center for the Southern war effort and Forrest knew he did not have enough men to properly man its defenses. The only hope of defeating Wilson was to stop him before he reached Selma.

After viewing the ground and scouting the disposition of the Union army in person, Forrest decided to form his men along high ground at Ebenezer Church, a country congregation located in a sharp bend of Bogler Creek. He hoped that the strong position would give his outnumbered force the chance to hold off Union attacks until 3,000 approaching reinforcements under Brigadier General William H. Jackson could cross the Cahaba River and hit the rear of Wilson's army. At the same time, Forrest expected his main line to be reinforced by additional troops under General James R. Chalmers. Had the plan worked, an officer in Forrest's command noted, the "cavalry battle of the ages" would have been fought at Ebenezer Church.

It was not to be. Both Chalmers and Jackson were delayed and Forrest wound up facing Wilson alone. After a fierce fight, the Confederate lines were broken and General Forrest and his men fell back to Selma. He would never again lay a trap for a Union army on ground of his own choosing.

To learn more about the Battle of Ebenezer Church, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/ebenezerchurch.