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| Ruins of Confederate Foundery.2 |
April 6, 1865. |
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of their followers, fled eastward on the Burnsville or river road, by the light of twenty-five thousand bales of blazing cotton, which they had set on fire.
They were pursued until after midnight, and in that chase the Confederates lost four guns and many men made prisoners.1
General Winslow was assigned to the command of the city, with orders to destroy every thing that might benefit the Confederate cause.
Selma soon presented the spectacle of a ghastly ruin.
Ten thousand bales of cotton, not consumed, were fired and burnt; and all the founderies, arsenals, machine-shops, ware-houses, and other property used by the Confederates, were destroyed; and some of the soldiery, breaking through all restraints, ravaged the town for awhile.
Wilson now prepared to move eastward into, Georgia, by way of Montgomery.
He. directed Major Hubbard to construct a pontoon bridge over the Alabama River, at Selma, which had been made brimful by recent rains, and then he
hastened
to Cahawba, the ancient capital of Alabama,3 a few miles down the stream, to meet General Forrest, under a flag of truce, by appointment, for the purpose of making arrangements for an exchange of prisoners.
They met at the fine mansion of Mr. Mathews,4 near the landing in sight of a large cotton warehouse, on the high bank of the river, from which Wilson, on his march toward Selma, had liberated many Union captives, and which he had set on fire.5 Forrest was indisposed to act fairly in the matter.
He evidently expected to recapture the prisoners Wilson had taken at Selma, and was arrogant in manner and speech.
The latter returned; but in consequence of the flood, which had three times swept away the pontoon bridge, 870 feet in length, which Hubbard had
1 Wilson's loss in the capture of Selma was about 500 men. His gains were the important post, 32 guns (all field-pieces, except a 30-pounder Parrott), 2,700 prisoners, including 150 officers, several flags, and a large amount of stores of every kind.
2 this was the appearance of a portion of the city of Selma, when the writer sketched it, in April, 1866. t; was the site of the great Confederate iron-foundery there.
3 This was the place where De Soto crossed the Alabama River, on his march toward the Mississippi River, which he discovered in the year 1541.
4 This gentleman informed the writer that the two officers dined at his house; and after Forrest had eaten his food and drunk his wine, he plundered his plantation on leaving.
5 See next page.
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