Wilson's Headquarters and Camp
Gravelly Springs, Alabama
At this site from mid-January to mid-March 1865, Maj. Gen. James Harrison Wilson, U.S. Army, assembled the largest cavalry force ever massed in the western hemisphere. Five divisions totaling 22,000 camped from Gravelly Springs westward to Waterloo. Wilson made headquarters a mile east of the springs at Wildwood plantation, the boyhood home of Alabama senator and governor, George Houston. After intensive training Wilson's Cavalry crossed the Tennessee to invade South Alabama and Georgia, a campaign which included burning the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa and the capture of Pres. Jefferson Davis at Irwinville, Georgia, in May 1865, after Lee's surrender.
Donated by C. L. Culver
Marker is at the intersection of County Route 14 and County Route 2, on the right when traveling north on County Route 14.
Courtesy hmdb.org
