Major Hiram Solon Hanchett

On January 20th, 1865, Major Hiram Solon Hanchett led a daring but unsuccessful escape from the military prison located on this spot. He was then moved to the dungeon of the county jail on First North Street. In March, the other Union soldiers were sent to a parole camp in Vicksburg, but Hanchett was detained because post commandant Lt. Col. Sam Jones believed he was a spy. In April, when Federal soldiers attacked nearby Selma, the post commandant fled Cahaba, and the citizens of Cahaba freed Major Hanchett. Reputedly, Confederate soldiers under orders from Lt. Col. Jones returned to Cahaba, seized Hanchett while he was eating breakfast, took him from town, and murdered him. His body was never found and lies today in an unmarked grave.

Alabama · United States