Rebellion Record: a Diary of American Events: Documents and Narratives, Volume 11.
Frank Moore, Ed.

[655] Miller, and Vail, or to the gallant officers and men under their command. I submit herewith a map of Selma and its defences surveyed and drawn by Capt. H. E. Noys, Second United States cavalry and aid-de-camp.

The immediate fruits of our victory were thirty-one field guns, and one thirty-pounder parrot, which had been used against us; two thousand seven hundred prisoners, including one hundred and fifty officers; a number of colors, and immense quantities of stores of every kind. Generals Forrest, Armstrong, Roddy, and Adams escaped, with a number of men, under cover of darkness, either by the Burnsville and River roads, or by swimming the Alabama river. A portion of Upton's division pursued on the Burnsville road until long after midnight, capturing four guns and many prisoners. I estimate the entire garrison, including the militia of the city and surrounding country, at seven thousand men; the entire force under my command, engaged and in supporting distance, was nine thousand men and eight guns.

As soon as the troops could be assembled and got into camp, I assigned Brevet Brigadier-General Winslow to the command of the city, with orders to destroy everything that could possibly benefit the rebel cause. I directed General Upton to march at daylight with his division, for the purpose of driving Chalmer to the west side of the Cahawba, to open communication with McCook, expected from Centreville, and, in conjunction with the latter, to bring in the train.

The capture of Selma having put us in possession of the enemy's greatest depot in the southwest, was a vital blow to their cause, and secured to us the certainty of going in whatever direction might be found most advantageous. I gave direction to Lieutenant Heywood, Fourth Michigan cavalry, engineer officer on my staff, to employ all the resources of the shops in the city in the construction of pontoons, with the intention of laying a bridge, and crossing to the south side of the Alabama river as soon as I could satisfy myself in regard to General Canby's success in the operations against Mobile. On April fifth Upton and McCook arrived with the train, but nothing definite had been heard of Croxton. McCook had been entirely successful in his operations against Centreville, but on reaching Scottsboro he found Jackson well posted with a force he thought too strong to attack. After a sharp skirmish he retired to Centreville, burned the Scottsboro cotton factory and Cahawba bridge and returned toward Selma, satisfied that Croxton had taken care of himself and gone in a new direction.

On the sixth of April, having ordered Major Hubbard to lay a bridge over the Alabama with the utmost despatch, I went to Cahawba to see General Forrest, who had agreed to meet me there under flag of truce for the purpose of arranging an exchange of prisoners. I was not long in discovering that I need not expect liberality in this matter, and that Forrest hoped to recapture the men of his command in my possession. During our conversation he informed me that Croxton had had an engagement with Wirt Adams near Bridgeville, forty miles southwest of Tuscaloosa, two days before. Thus assured of Croxton's success and safety, I determined to lose no further time in crossing to the south side of the Alabama. I had also satisfied myself in the meantime that Canby had an ample force to take Mobile, and march to central Alabama. I therefore returned to Selma and urged every one to the utmost exertions. The river was quite full and rising, the weather unsettled and rainy, but by the greatest exertion night and day on the part of Major Hubbard and his battalion, General Upton, General Alexander, and my own staff, the bridge, eight hundred and seventy feet long, was constructed, and the command all crossed by daylight of the tenth. So swift and deep was the river that the bridge was swept away three times. General Alexander narrowly escaped with his life, boats were capsized and men precipitated into the stream, but the operation was finally terminated by complete success.The report of Major Hubbard, transmitted herewith, will give additional details of interest. Before leaving the city General Winslow destroyed the arsenals, foundries, arms, stores, and military munitions of every kind. The enemy had previously burned two thousand five hundred bales of cotton.

Having the entire corps, except Croxton's brigade, on the south side of the river, and being satisfied that the rebels could receive no advantage by attempting to again occupy Selma, so thoroughly had everything in it been destroyed, I determined to move by the way of Montgomery into Georgia, and after breaking up railroads and destroying stores and army supplies in that State, to march thence as rapidly as possible to the theatre of operations in North Carolina and Virginia.

Enough horses were secured at Selma and on the march to that place to mount all our dismounted men. In order to disencumber the column of every unnecessary impediment I ordered the surplus wagons to be destroyed, and all of the bridge train except enough for twelve boys. The main object for which the latter was brought had been secured by our passage of the Alabama.

I also directed the column to be cleared of all contraband negroes, and such of the able-bodied ones as were able to enlist to be organized into regiments, one to each division. Efficient officers were assigned to these commands, and great pains taken to prevent their becoming burdensome. How well they succeeded can be understood from the fact that in addition to subsisting themselves upon the country they marched (upon one occasion) forty-five miles, and frequently as much as thirty-five in one day.

In the march from Selma, La Grange's brigade of McCook's division was given the advance. The recent rains had rendered the roads