Two Forgotten Alabama Battles of the Civil War

Reenactors fire a salute commemorating Battle of Fairview

I've just added new pages to the main site on the Battle of Fairview and the Battle of Newton, two all but forgotten Civil War actions that took place in the Wiregrass region of South Alabama.
These two battles were unique in that both were fought by citizens to defend or avenge their communities against outlaw raider gangs, not by soldiers of the Union and Confederacy lining up to fight each other.

Battle Branch, Site of the Battle of Fairview, Alabama

The Battle of Fairview took place on September 2, 1864, in Coffee County, Alabama. A band of outlaws called Ward's Raiders and led by Jim Ward had burned the courthouse in the county seat of Elba the previous spring, trying to destroy the conscription or draft records there. The records were saved, so on the night of September 1 the raiders came back and set fire to buildings all around the square as well as the bridge over the Pea River. Local citizens took up arms and gave chase, cornering the raiders at Battle Branch in the Fairview Community. To learn more about the Battle of Fairview, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/fairview.

Battle of Newton Monument in Newton, Alabama

The Battle of Newton took place in nearby Dale County, Alabama, on March 14, 1865. Joseph Sanders was a lieutenant in the 1st Florida Cavalry (U.S.) but exceeded his orders and led a mixed band of U.S. cavalrymen and outlaw guerrillas against the Dale County seat of Newton. His target, as had been the case with the Battle of Fairview, was the courthouse and its conscription or draft records. And just as had been the case in Elba, the citizens of Newton took up arms. The battle evolved differently because at Newton, the citizens were waiting when Sanders and his men rode into town. To learn more about the Battle of Newton, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/newtonbattle.

Sketoe's Hole Memorial

If you are interested in the Civil War in the Wiregrass, you might also enjoy reading the story of Ghost of Sketoe's Hole. The legend revolves around the hanging of a man in Dale County, Alabama, during the closing months of the war and the "hole that will not stay filled." To learn more, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/sketoe.

You can also read about many other Alabama battles and forts by visiting www.exploresouthernhistory.com/battlefields.

Bill Sketoe's Ghost: Alabama's "Hole that will Not Stay Filled"

Although the story has been known in the "Wiregrass Region" of South Alabama much longer, it developed a national fascination after it appeared as a chapter in noted writer Kathryn Tucker Windham's popular book, 13 Alabama Ghosts and Jeffrey. She called it the tale of the "hole that will not stay filled."

It is the story of Bill Sketoe. Or rather, the story of his ghost.

Although Mrs. Windham, using the information available to her at that time, wrote that Sketoe was a native of Spain, he actually was born in South Carolina in 1818. His father, however, was from Spain. Along with many other members of his family, he migrated down to Dale County, Alabama, during the years before the Civil War.

The exact details of the events leading up to his hanging are murky. Sketoe's family maintains that he was a Methodist minister and Confederate soldier who had hired a substitute to fill his place in the ranks of the Southern army while he came home to care for his sick wife. As the story goes, he was on his way back home from a visit to the county seat of Newton when he was taken prisoner, accused of being either a deserter or enemy of the South, and hanged by members of Captain Joseph Breare's cavalry company.

Taken to the river bank opposite Newton and placed in the back of a buggy or wagon, he had a noose placed around his neck with the other end attached to the limb of a post oak tree. Sketoe, however, was a tall man and when the whip was cracked on the backs of the horses and the buggy or wagon driven out from under him, he was able to keep himself alive because his toes touched the ground. To solve this situation, a wounded soldier in Breare's company used his crutch to dig out a hole under Sketoe's feet so he would hang and die.

For more than 100 years, for reasons that no one could explain, the hole mysteriously was swept clean each night. Many thought that the swinging feet of Bill Sketoe's ghost swept away any straw, sticks or other debris that fell into the hole. Others thought that a local resident kept the hole clean as a reminder of his friend's unfortunate death.

Whatever the case, the "hole that will not stay filled" became a major part of Alabama folklore. The real facts of the story are a bit different than the legend, which is common with such tales. To learn more about the ghost of Bill Sketoe and the true story of the events surrounding his death, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/sketoe.

The Ghost of Sketoe's Hole - Newton, Alabama

One of the South's more fascinating ghost stories centers around a spot on the banks of the Choctawhatchee River in Newton, Alabama.

Like many such stories, the legend preserves the memory of a real event. On December 3, 1864, a local man named William "Bill" Sketoe was hanged at Newton by men from Captain Joseph Breare's company of Alabama militia cavalry. The Civil War was then raging and the men accused Sketoe of deserting from the Confederate army. The story preserved by his family is that Sketoe had hired a substitute to fight in his place and was at home caring for a sick wife.

According to the legend, Sketoe proclaimed his innocence to no avail and as he was strung up, prayed that God would forgive the men involved in his hanging.

Things did not go quickly for the man. As he dangled from the limb of a water oak, his feet touched the ground and saved him from instant death. One of Breare's men, however, supposedly used a crutch to dig out a hole under Sketoe's feet so that he could no longer touch ground. He died and was buried at the Mount Carmel Cemetery in nearby Echo, Alabama.

Sketoe's Hole, as the spot became known, was a landmark for residents of the Newton area for more than 125 years. It could be filled up with trash or other debris, but the hole would strangely be cleaned out each night. The unusual activities led to the rise of a ghost story in the vicinity and many became firmly convinced that the ghost of Bill Sketoe still swung at night from the long vanished oak limb at the site. It was said that his swinging feet brushed the hole clean.

The story achieved a measure of fame when it was told as "The Hole that will not Stay Filled" in Kathryn Tucker Windham's popular book, Thirteen Alabama Ghosts and Jeffrey.

To learn something of the true history of the story and to find out what eventually happened to Sketoe's Hole, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/sketoe.