Civil War Days on The Coosa River

During the War Between the States, on Sunday May 3, 1863, Rome was in a state of great excitement. John Wisdom  arrived at night to warn the citizens that Colonel Streight and his raiders were headed for the city, intent on destroying it and the munitions factory located there.

The steamers Laura Moore, Alphretta, and Cherokee made a quick getaway, lest they fall into the hands of the Yankees. Later these boats were active in transporting Confederate soldiers, Yankee prisoners, and supplies of the South to the railroad at Rome. Thus was the Coosa Valley able to furnish much of its production of food and clothing and iron for the armies of General Braxton Bragg and General Joseph E. Johnstone.

General William T. Sherman, in a chase after Joseph E. Johnston from Dalton to Resaca, sent General J.B. McPherson with the 14th and 16th Corps, U.S. Army, to invest Rome and capture the steamers Laura Moore and Alphfretta then in port. They were badly needed to maintain his lines of communication. Advance scouts planted artillery on the hill on which Shorter College is now located and on May 17, 1864 an artillery duel began with Rome's defenders across the river.

The two steamers hastily raised steam; bales of cotton were stacked around the boilers and engine house and pilot houses and the Alphfretta, Captain Cummins Lay at the wheel, steamed down the Coosa under cover of darkness, closely followed by the Laura Moore. But the muffled exhaust of the engines and sparks from the smokestacks were detected by the Yankees who opened fire on the steamers. Many solid shot from the cannon struck the two boats, but the bales of cotton saved them and they were able finally to reach Greensport, the foot of navigation on the Coosa.

Here they remained, daily expecting capture by the Yankees. Heavy rains set in, however, raising the crest of the Coosa sufficiently to enable the two steamers to navigate the treacherous shoals, pass over the reefs downstream and reach Steamboat Island, near Wilsonville, where the Alphfretta was moored. The Laura Moore continued her journey and reached Mobile, where Captain Lay delivered her to the Confederate authorities.

His feat in steering the Laura Moore through the dangerous rapids of the Coosa will doubtless stand as the most daring exploit ever attempted on any river in Alabama. Later Laura Moore returned to Steamboat Island and tied up alongside the Alphfretta and at the conclusion of the war, Captain J.M. Elliott Sr., who was the principle owner of the two boats, found both in good condition and when protracted rains raised the river to high water, steamed then up river to Rome.

thanks to Dennis Nordmen