As early as 1817 the area was known as “Rhodes Ferry Landing,” named for Dr. Henry W. Rhodes, an early landowner who operated a ferry that crossed the Tennessee River at the present-day location of Rhodes Ferry Park.
The town became known as Decatur on June 16, 1820 by order of the U.S. Congress and President James Monroe in honor of the renowned U.S. naval officer Commodore Stephen Decatur (1779-1820). A few years later, in 1826, the Alabama Legislature incorporated the City of Decatur.
Commodore Decatur, who won a sword from Congress and a captaincy when he was only 25, was one of the most daring officers in the United States Navy during its early years. His service in the Navy took him through the first and second Barbary Wars in North Africa, the Quasi-War with France, and the War of 1812 with Britain.
The City of Decatur is located in Morgan County, which was named for one of America’s greatest generals in the War of Independence, Brigadier General Daniel Morgan. General Morgan delivered a decisive victory at the Battle of Cowpens, which was a turning point in retaking South Carolina from the British. The year 1836 would prove to be a turning
point in Decatur’s history, since at that time it was chosen to become the eastern terminus of the first railroad line west of the Appalachian Mountains. With two major outlets for industry - the Tennessee River and the Tuscumbia, Courtland and Decatur Railroad - Decatur became an important industrial hub in Alabama. This increased industry brought with it the need for new business, including a branch of the State Bank of Alabama, which opened its doors in 1833. Although the bank would be closed in 1842, the building in which it was housed still stands today.
The Civil War brought with it a host of changes to the city. Because of its railroad, Decatur was of strategic importance during the war and therefore changed hands several times as the opposing armies struggled to control the all-important railroad. By the war’s end the city had suffered complete devastation, with all but five buildings razed so the materials could be used to build fortifications.
The Somerville Courthouse was built in 1837 in the Federal style. It served as the county courthouse for Morgan County until the county seat was moved from Somerville to Decatur in 1891. It was named to the National Register of Historic Places on March 24, 1972.
The citizens of Decatur quickly began the task of rebuilding, and by the late 1880’s - after two yellow fever plagues further decimated the city - Decatur was again expanding. In 1886 the Decatur Land and Development Company decided to promote a new city to the southeast of Decatur called New Decatur. By 1887 this new city, now known as Albany, was incorporated. In 1927, Albany merged with Decatur to become a single city.
Commodore Stephen Decatur
Brigadier General Daniel Morgan
Union Brigadier General Robert S. Granger
Confederate Lt. General John Bell Hood
Alabama passed its Ordinance of Secession from the United States of America on January 11, 1861, joining South Carolina and Mississippi who had seceded days earlier.
A little over a year later, on April 13, 1862, Union forces, commanded by Brig. Gen. Ormsby Mitchel, first entered the town of Decatur and occupied it. In August 1862, the Union troops burned the railroad bridge that spanned the Tennessee River and abandoned Decatur.
Two years later, The Battle of Decatur was a demonstration conducted from October 26 to October 29, 1864, as part of the Franklin-Nashville Campaign. Union forces under Brig. Gen. Robert S. Granger prevented the men of the Confederate Army of Tennessee under Gen. John B. Hood from crossing the Tennessee River at Decatur, Alabama.
Burning the Bridge Over the Tennessee River at Decatur
Sketched by Mr. H. Hunter, Third Ohio Volunteers as it appeared in the HARPER’S WEEKLY newspaper, August 16, 1862
BACKGROUND
Decatur was a strategic point for the South because of the fact that the Memphis and Charleston railroad crossed the Tennessee River. While Union General Sherman was driving deep into Georgia in 1864, his lifeline ran along the railroad back into Nashville, Tennessee where a Union Depot supplied all of the ammunition, food, reinforcements and medical supplies for his army. Confederate General Hood, known as a hard fighter because of the devastating attacks he delivered, had held Sherman’s troops out of the gates of Atlanta for three months before being forced back in September.
Hood now felt a strike at Sherman’s supply lines would force the federals into retreat. Hood believed a quick victory at Nashville could reverse the course of the war for the Confederacy. But to get to the Union depot in the Tennessee capital, Hood would have to cross the Tennessee River. Decatur would be the attempted point of that crossing for north of the city was a railroad and the relatively wellmaintained national road (now U.S. Hwy 31) that would provide a speedy advance.
Lest We Forget
A memorial statue to honor those from the area who served in the military of the Confederate States of America is located in the small park area behind the Morgan County Courthouse in Decatur.
The inscription reads: THIS MONUMENT IS ERECTED TO THE MEMORY OF THOSE WHO OFFERED THEIR LIVES FOR A JUST CAUSE, THE DEFENSE OF STATES RIGHTS. CONFEDERATE SOLDIERS
The monument was erected by the Joe Wheeler Chapter #291, United Daughters of the Confederacy and unveiled on May 16, 1922. On March 24, 2005, the monument was listed on the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage by the Alabama Historical Commission.
The Civil War Walking Tour
The Civil War Walking Tour is located in the Old Decatur Historic District, just off the southern bank of the Tennessee River near downtown Decatur.
Covering thirteen blocks, the tour includes eleven historical markers with detailed narratives about local events that occurred between 1860 and 1865, such as the formation of the 4th Alabama Regiment Infantry (African Descent) organized at Decatur, on March 31, 1864. It was the only USCT Regiment raised in the state of Alabama. Its designation changed to the 106th United States Colored Troops, May 16, 1864 and was attached to a garrison at Pulaski, Tennessee, Fort Henderson in Athens, Alabama and Sulphur Branch Trestle at Elkmont, Alabama. Other markers focus on particular events during the four-day Battle of Decatur that began on October 26, 1864.
The Decatur tour is part of the national Civil War Discovery Trail and begins at the Old State Bank Building with the telling of the arrival of Confederate General John Hood on October 26, 1864.
On the next morning of October 27, Hood ordered his men to dig in and construct artillery emplacements. The Confederates thus faced an impressive array of Union fortifications consisting of earthworks, trenches, obstacles made of sharpened logs, 1,600 yards of rifle pits, two forts and artillery emplacements. Undaunted by these impediments, Hood ordered skirmishers forward, and sporadic fighting broke out late in the day. Union General Robert Granger sent out a force of his own skirmishers the following day that repulsed some of the southern forces. Despite a thick fog that impeded both sides, Granger sent out a larger detachment later that day and beat back Hood’s advance forces.
The Union counter-offensive included one of the regiments sent from Chattanooga; the 14th United States Colored Troops (USCT). This regiment, led by Col. Thomas J. Morgan, had seen its first combat just two months earlier at Dalton, Georgia. Despite their relative inexperience, the men of the 14th USCT distinguished themselves by driving back Confederate artillerymen and disabling two pieces of artillery before a
The Battle for Decatur Reenactment
Commemorating Decatur’s 4-day battle in October 1864, this Civil War reenactment is held over the Labor Day weekend (early September) at Point Mallard Park. The free event features more than 200 reenactors representing both northern and southern forces engaging in two battles. A Civil War camp is open to the public with displays of authentic equipment, dress and drills.
The Old State Bank
The Old State Bank was one of three banks authorized by The Alabama General Assembly in 1832. Few structures can boast as varied a past as the Bank. Since its construction, the building has weathered two depressions and a Civil War, and has served as a hospital, guardhouse, bank and dance hall. Named to the National Register of Historical Places in 1972, the Classic Revival architecture of the Bank is symbolic of the period in which it was built. The building is decorated with antique pieces from the Federal and Empire period. It is the first stop on the Civil War Walking Tour of Decatur.
Located at 925 Bank St. NE, Decatur. (256) 341-4818. Open Monday-Friday 9:30 a.m.-noon and 1-4:30 p.m. Free admission.
Union troops building fortifications near the bank of the Tennessee River with the Old State Bank in the background.
The exhibit tells the remarkable stories of our county and its people from the antebellum period to Reconstruction, through narratives, video, photographs and artifacts, many on public display for the first time. The Archives is also the place to research all aspects of Morgan County history, with documents, manuscripts and photographs dating back to the county’s beginning in 1818.
Confederate counter-attack drove them back to the Union lines. During the Battle for Decatur, the Old State Bank was directly in the line of fire, and possibly was used as a field hospital. The columns, colonnade and doorway still bear scars from rifle and cannon fire.
By the end of the war, most of the town of Decatur had been destroyed, having been torn down to use the materials to build fortifications, or burned to clear lines of fire. Only five Decatur buildings were left standing by the end of the war, four of which survive today, the Old State Bank, the Dancy-Polk House, the Todd House and the McEntire Home.
The Blue and Gray Museum of North Alabama
The museum is believed to be the largest privately owned collection of Civil War artifacts in the country. The museum features a wide array of Civil War relics, including swords and other edged weapons, revolvers and pistols, muskets and carbines, period drums, uniforms, accoutrements, photographs, documents, and much more.
Located near Courtland, Pond Spring was home to Joseph Wheeler, former Major General of Cavalry of the Confederate western army, The Army of Tennessee. Known as “Fighting Joe Wheeler” for his aggressive style during the Civil War, his exploits frequently found him in the Tennessee River Valley region around Decatur.
After the war, Wheeler moved to Pond Spring and became a planter and lawyer. He later served in the House of Representatives and volunteered for the SpanishAmerican War. Wheeler is one of only two Confederate generals buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
In 2012, the Wheeler Home re-opened after a threephase, $2 million restoration effort to the 1870s Victorianstyle structure.
The Blue and Gray Museum has been called the finest unknown Civil War museum in the South.
Located at 723 Bank Street, Decatur. Hours of operation vary by season, please call for current hours. After hours group tours can also be arranged. Admission $5 adults, $3 students, children 4 and under free with an adult. (256) 350-4018 www.rparhamsrelics.com
History and heritage videos, photographs, downloadable brochures and additional links of interest about the Decatur area are available at the Decatur-Morgan County Convention & Visitors Bureau website. Feel free to call for trip planning assistance.
Under a lush canopy of kudzu-tangled red oaks, visitors can tour the site’s 12 historic structures and museum located on the plantation’s 50-acres. Pond Spring , is owned by the Alabama Historical Commission.
Open: Wednesday-Saturday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, 1 to 5p.m. tours are given on the hour, reservations needed for groups of 10 or more, call (256) 637-8513
Gen. Joseph Wheeler
(left) Photo of main room of Wheeler Home taken in the 1930s during the Historic American Buildings Survey by the U. S. Park Service.
