Hayes Lowe
Artillery captured at Sipsey River
Tue Dec 5 16:47:07 2000


I'm not positive of the source without going through my file, but I believe that the claim of capture of two pieces of artillery comes from the report of Gen. Wirt Adams. Gen. Croxton makes no mention of it in his report.

It is known that Gen. Wilson, of whose forces Gen. Croxton and his brigade were detached, came into Alabama with thirty-six 12-pounders.

And, it is documented that Croxton captured two brass cannons at Tuscaloosa. Residents of Tuscaloosa claimed that Croxton placed them in the center of the *covered* bridge (which was very long covered bridge), and burned the bridge. Croxton's report does not mention this act of leaving the cannons on the burning bridge. After reviewing all the evidence (including drawings, from the time, of the bridge), I conclude that it would have been impossible for the residents to have known what, if anything, Croxton's troops left in the center of the bridge. I think that it was a myth or embellishment.

Croxton did not have an artillery unit under his command. The 18th Arkansas Light Artillery Battery (U.S.) was assigned to Wilson's army. However, they were at Selma with Wilson. The 18th Indiana Battery of Light Artillery was part of Wilson's Corps, too. However, it was also with Wilson at Selma and Montgomery, under Gen. LaGrange.

My theory is that the cannons that Gen. Adams captured were actually those two brass Confederate cannons from Tuscaloosa.