Burning of Downtown

On April 2, 1865, after Selma's defensive lines were breached, dust, darkness, and advancing Federal troops threw the downtown streets into chaos as scattered Confederates trying to escape the burning city clashed violently with them. That Sunday, St. Paul's Rector, the Rev. James Ticknor, was wounded and the Senior Warden, Robert Philpott, was killed defending the city. Union troops burned the original church that night in a conflagration that destroyed about ten city blocks. In the first 24 hours after the battle, reports of robbery, arson, theft, and murder were common, but by Monday night most citizens who asked for protection received it from Selma's Provost Commander General Edward Winslow and the looting subsided, after which the real destruction began.

Selma, Alabama · United States