Selma , Alabama in the American Civil War Selma , Alabama , during the American Civil War was one of the South ' s main military manufacturing centers , producing tons of supplies and munitions , and turning out Confederate warships . The Selma Ordnance and Naval Foundry complex included a naval foundry , shipyard , army arsenal , and gunpowder works . Following the Battle of Selma , Union Maj . Gen . James H . Wilson ' s troops destroyed Selma ' s army arsenal and factories , as well as much of the city . Importance of Selma to the Confederacy . Because of its central location , production facilities , and rail connections , the advantages of Selma as a site for production of cartridges , saltpeter , powder , shot and shell , rifles , cannon and steam rams soon became apparent to the Confederacy . By 1863 , most materiel was manufactured in Selma , employing at least ten thousand people . Selma , along with the Tredegar Iron Works in Richmond , was one of two sites producing the Brooke rifle , a rifled naval and coast defense cannon designed by John Mercer Brooke . The hulls for several Confederate ironclad s , including the CSS " Huntsville " , CSS " Phoenix " , CSS " Tennessee " , and CSS " Tuscaloosa " were laid at the Confederate Navy Yard there . CSS " Nashville " was also partially outfitted in Selma . Early Federal attempts to seize Selma . The capacities and importance of Selma , in its relation to the Confederate war effort , had been evident to Northern strategists and too great to be overlooked by the Federal authorities as early as 1862 . But reaching it with a Federal force was not attempted early in the war , as its distance from the front lines made it an extremely difficult target . As Selma grew in importance to the Confederate forces , the greater became the necessity to capture it . Brigadier General Benjamin Grierson , with a cavalry force from Memphis , was intercepted and returned in 1863 . Major General William Tecumseh Sherman made an effort to reach it in February 1864 , but after advancing as far as Meridian , within of Selma , he retreated to the Mississippi River . General Lovell Rousseau made a dash in the direction of Selma in 1864 , but was misled by his guides and instead struck east of the city . Battle of Selma . Major General James H . Wilson detached Brig . Gen . John T . Croxton ' s brigade to destroy all Confederate property at Tuscaloosa , Alabama . After capturing a Confederate courier who carried dispatches from General Nathan Bedford Forrest describing the strengths and dispositions of his scattered forces , Wilson also sent a brigade to destroy the bridge across the Cahaba River at Centreville . This action effectively cut off most of Forrest ' s reinforcements . This began a running fight that did not end until after the fall of Selma . On the afternoon of April 1 , 1865 , after skirmishing all morning , Wilson ' s advanced guard ran into Forrest ' s line of battle at Ebenezer Church , where the Randolph Road intersected the main Selma road . Here Forrest had hoped to bring his entire force to bear on Wilson . However delays caused by flooding plus earlier contact with the enemy enabled Forrest to muster less than 2 , 000 men , a large number of whom were not veterans but militia consisting of old men and young boys . The outnumbered and outgunned Confederates fought bravely for more than an hour as more Union cavalry and artillery deployed on the field . Forrest himself was wounded by a saber - wielding Union captain whom he killed with his revolver . Finally , a Union cavalry charge with carbines blazing broke the Confederate militia causing Forrest to be flanked on his right . He was forced to retreat under severe pressure . Early the next morning Forrest arrived at Selma , " horse and rider covered in blood . " He advised Gen . Richard Taylor , departmental commander , to leave the city . Taylor did so after giving Forrest command of the defense . Selma was protected by three miles of fortifications which ran in a semicircle around the city . They were anchored on the north and south by the Alabama River . The works had been built two years earlier , and while neglected for the most part since , were still formidable . They were 8 to high , thick at the base , with a ditch wide and deep along the front . In front of this was a picket fence of heavy posts planted in the ground , high , and sharpened at the top . At prominent positions , earthen forts were built with artillery in position to cover the ground over which an assault would have to be made . Forrest ' s defenders consisted of his Tennessee escort company , McCullough ' s Missouri Regiment , Crossland ' s Kentucky Brigade , Roddey ' s Alabama Brigade , Frank Armstrong ' s Mississippi Brigade , General Daniel W . Adams ' state reserves , and the citizens of Selma who were " volunteered " to man the works . Altogether this force numbered less than 4 , 000 , only half of who were dependable . The Selma fortifications were built to be defended by 20 , 000 men . Forrest ' s soldiers had to stand 10 to apart in the works . Wilson ' s force arrived in front of the Selma fortifications at 2 p . m . He had placed Gen . Eli Long ' s division across the Summerfield Road with the Chicago Board of Trade Battery in support . He had Maj . Gen . Emory Upton ' s division placed across the Range Line Road with Battery I , 4th U . S . Artillery in support . Altogether , Wilson had 9 , 000 troops available for the assault . The Federal commander ' s plan was for Upton to send in a 300 - man detachment after dark to cross the swamp on the Confederate right , enter the works , and begin a flanking movement toward the center moving along the line of fortifications . Then , a single gun from Upton ' s artillery would signal the attack by the entire Federal Corps . At 5 p . m . , however , Gen . Long ' s ammunition train in the rear was attacked by advance elements of Forrest ' s scattered forces coming toward Selma . Both Long and Upton had positioned significant numbers of troops in their rear for just such an event . However , Long decided to commence his assault against the Selma fortifications to neutralize the enemy attack in his rear . Long ' s troops attacked in a single rank in three main lines , dismounted with Spencers carbines blazing , supported by their own artillery fire . The Confederates replied with heavy small arms and artillery fire of their own . The Southern artillery , in one of the many ironies of the Civil War , only had solid shot on hand , while just a short distance away was an arsenal which produced tons of canister , a highly effective anti - personnel ammunition . The Federals suffered many casualties ( including General Long himself ) but not enough to break up the attack . Once the Union Army reached the works , there was vicious hand - to - hand fighting . Many soldiers were struck down with clubbed muskets . But , in less than 30 minutes , Long ' s men had captured the works protecting the Summerfield Road . Meanwhile , General Upton , observing Long ' s success , ordered his division forward . The story was much the same for his men as on Long ' s front . Soon , U . S . flags could be seen waving over the works from Range Line Road to Summerfield Road . After the outer works fell , General Wilson himself led the 4th U . S . Cavalry Regiment in a mounted charge down the Range Line Road toward the unfinished inner line of works . The retreating Confederate forces , upon reaching the inner works , all rallied and poured a devastating fire into the charging column . This broke up the charge and sent General Wilson sprawling to the ground when his favorite horse was wounded . He quickly remounted his stricken mount and ordered a dismounted assault by several regiments . Mixed units of Confederate troops had also occupied the Selma railroad depot and the adjoining banks of the railroad bed to make a stand next to the Plantersville Road ( present day Broad Street ) . The fighting there was heavy , but by 7 p . m . , the superior numbers of Union troops had managed to flank the Southern positions causing them to abandon the depot as well as the inner line of works . In the darkness , the Union rounded up hundreds of prisoners , but hundreds more escaped down the Burnsville Road , including Generals Forrest , Armstrong , and Roddey . To the west , many Confederate soldiers fought the pursuing Union soldiers all the way down to the eastern side of Valley Creek . They escaped in the darkness by swimming across the Alabama River near the mouth of Valley Creek ( where the present day Battle of Selma Reenactment is held . ) The Union soldiers looted the city that night while many businesses and private residences were burned . They spent the next week destroying the arsenal and naval foundry . Then they left Selma heading to Montgomery .