Hayes Lowe
Skirmish at Vance.
Sat Mar 3 17:02:40 2001


The above mentioned skirmish at the Tuscaloosa-Northport bridge is not the one for which you are looking. There were several (at least 3) skirmishs as Croxton's Brigade moved from Elyton (modern day Birmingham) to Tuscaloosa.

Vance was not called Vance at that time, so you won't find information on a skirmish by that town's name. It was renamed in the 1870's or 1880's for one of my cousins, Dr. William Vance (1st cousin, about 3 times removed). I'll have to find my notes to find the earlier name.

The skirmish near Vance did not involve any home guard or militia. Croxton's Brigade ran into the rear guard the cavalry of Gen. Red ? [again, I'll have to find my notes, I can't remember his last name off the top of my head]. Croxton's Brigade, unwittingly, rode between the main body of Gen. Red ?'s cavalry and his train. Croxton had the opportunity to capture the entire train (which, as I recall, was headed to Selma), but blew the opportunity. At any rate, this was the the Confederate unit that participated in the skirmish.

However, there was another skirmish in Bibb County about this same time. This involved the rest of Union Gen. Wilson's Corps (minus Croxton's Brigade). I don't know much about this skirmish, and home guard may have been involved. One of the Confederate units involved was either the 2nd or 7th Tenn. Cav. [Again, off the top of my head, I don't remember for sure.]

• Vance — Roger Brothers, Sun Mar 4 09:43