On the night of May 2nd and the morning of May 3rd, 1863, John Wisdom rode 67 miles from Gadsden, Ala. to Rome, Ga., under very harassing conditions, to warn the citizens that Col. A. D. Streight proposed to march on the city to burn and sack it. Rome was a stronghold of the Confederacy with an iron works and supply depot. Through Wisdom’s efforts, barricades were erected, leading to the eventual surrender of Col. Streight to Gen. Bedford Forrest. John Wisdom lived his last day here and is buried nearby.