Melvin's Campfire Cookin'
Melvin's Alabama History

MELVIN’S ALABAMA HISTORY: Introduction

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Melvins Alabama History with Melvin Cane (alias) has been a popular topic of discussion among his relatives for over a hundred years. Melvin was born in north Alabama in 1890 and the family discussions started when Melvin first walked off the family farm around the turn of the century.

Alabama History

HISTORY OF ALABAMA CHAPTER XLII

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Albert James Pickett: HISTORY OF ALABAMA. CHAPTER XLII. BATTLE OF THE HORSE-SHOE — WEATHERFORD SURRENDERS HIMSELF AT FORT JACKSON

March 24-27 1814: Leaving a guard at Fort Williams, General Jackson put his army, which consisted of two thousand men, upon the march. He opened a passage across the ridge which divides the Coosa and Tallapoosa, and, in three days advanced to the immediate neighborhood of the enemy. Cholocco Litabixee — the Horse-Shoe –where the Red Sticks had assembled to make a desperate defence, was admirably adapted by nature for security if well guarded, but equally for destruction if not well defended.

haleyville alabama 911
Haleyville Alabama Home of 911 Historic Red Phone

Little Known Facts About Haleyville Alabama

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The area’s first inhabitants, the Cherokee Nation, lived in the area between Rocky Ravine and City Lake Park. They lived near the “division of the waters.” There is a continental divide in downtown Haleyville where water runs north to the Tennessee, south to the Warrior and west to the Tombigbee. When the Cherokee were forced out in 1836, many refused to go and and later intermarried.

Alabama History

Story of the Sinking of the Alabama The Famous Confederate States Cruiser

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Story of the Sinking of the Alabama
The Famous Confederate States Cruiser
Excerpt from an Interview With Captain John McIntosh Kell
Executive officer of the Alabama,

Given to Alfred Iverson Branham,
Forty-Six Years Ago,
June, 1883. The Interview was Published in The Eatonton, Georgia, Messenger, and The Atlanta Constitution, and in a London, England, Periodical, over the Nom de Plume, “Wood Holt.” The Sinking of the Alabama. After a bountiful and elegant dinner, such a one as used to grace the boards of Southern homes before the war, I cornered Captain Kell on the front porch of his house and said to him:

“Now, Captain, tell me about the Alabama’s last fight.” “After a cruise of two years,” the captain said, “during which the Alabama had driven the commerce of the United States from the seas, our ship was sadly in need of repairs.

barton depot

Barton Alabama

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Between December 1862 and October 1863, several skirmishes took place in Barton as part of the American Civil War. Confederate forces sought to prevent the Union Army from invading the Tennessee Valley from their stronghold in Corinth, Mississippi.

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January 26 1864: Battle of Athens

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Campaign: Operations in North Alabama (1864)

On January 26, 1864, Confederate Lieutenant Colonel Moses W. Hannon’s 600-man cavalry brigade attacked the city of Athens. In a two-hour battle, Union Captain Emil Adams’s 100-man force, although outnumbered and without fortifications, repulsed the invaders. After a two-hour battle, the Confederates retreated. Principal Commanders: Capt. Emil Adams [US]; Lt. Col. Moses W. Hannon [CS]

Forces Engaged: 9th Illinois Mounted Infantry [US]; 1st Alabama Cavalry [CS]

Estimated Casualties: 50 total (US 20; CS 30)

Battlefields And Forts

The Miracle of Mobile Bay

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This story is not fiction. It is an amazing account of an episode in connection with the naval battle in Mobile bay, on August 5 1864, when the monitor Tecumseh was sunk in action. The names in the story, as told by Rear Admiral Goodrich, are real, and with the historic facts set forth are in the records of the great Civil war.