Huntsville Times: New trail offers trek into Civil War lore

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New trail offers trek into Civil War lore

Mile-long path to end at site of rebels' surrender

By Steve Doyle - Huntsville Times Staff Writer


A new trail on Monte Sano will let hikers work up a sweat while learning about the city's Civil War history.
Opening this fall, the mile-long Trough Springs Trail will end at the spot where 150 or so Confederate soldiers surrendered to Union forces on May 11, 1865.

Three groups with strong ties to the mountain - the Land Trust of Huntsville & North Alabama, Monte Sano State Park and Burritt on the Mountain - A Living Museum - are collaborating on the project.

The nonprofit land trust recently received an $8,750 grant from the Curtis and Edith Munson Foundation to help pay for a small parking lot, information kiosk and historical marker along Monte Sano Boulevard.

Derek Kennedy, a local Eagle Scout, roughed in the path several months ago. Another Eagle Scout, Alex McClellan, has spent part of the summer getting it ready for hikers.

The trail will be dedicated with a guided hike Oct. 9.

During the Civil War, folks crossed Monte Sano on a dirt wagon road not far from present-day Governors Drive. A small creek about halfway up the mountain was a perfect watering hole for horses; it came to be called Trough Springs.

Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court House, Va., in April 1865 marked the beginning of the end of the Civil War, but nearly a month passed before North Alabama's ragtag rebels were ordered to lay down their weapons.

Lt. Col. Milus E. "Bushwhacker" Johnston, who led the 25th Alabama Cavalry, agreed to surrender at Trough Springs - if local Union leader Brig. Gen. Robert S. Granger promised not to execute them.

In his memoir, "The Sword of Bushwhacker Johnston," the colonel, a balding Methodist minister, recalled a strongly worded letter to Granger:

After the surrender, "we are not to be marched through the streets of Huntsville, to be tantalized like so many monkeys, or court martialed, shot, or hung like so many dogs," he wrote.

Johnston and about 150 of his men arrived at Trough Springs ready to become prisoners of war. He recalled a swarm of Union "blue coats" marching up the mountain with two brass bands and a barrel of celebratory apple brandy in tow.

The rebels got lucky: The man sent to accept their surrender, Col. William Given of the 102nd Ohio Infantry, turned out to be a softy. He even let them keep their horses, reasoning most were poor farmers who would need the animals to make a living after the war.

The Confederates were paroled after turning in their weapons, signaling the end of fighting in North Alabama. But Johnston, who earned the nickname "Bushwhacker" because of his guerilla-like tactics, got the last laugh:

He had instructed his men to hide their best guns in area caves.

"We doubt," he wrote, "whether a sorrier set of guns could have been gathered up in all Dixie than those we surrendered."