Not far away, Seana Crary, wife of Williamson Crary, watched the battle in fascination. She had no realization of the danger until a stray bullet cut a limb above her head. She fled to her home which soon became an aid station. General Clanton was severely wounded and taken to Pollard. The outnumbered Rebs headed for the river (the portion known today as Big Escambia Creek) fighting all the way. This means that the battle took place all the way through present day Century. We don't know if the bridge had been burned or if it had been destroyed by the floodwaters, but they were surprised to find it missing.
Some were drowned in trying to cross
the river. Some of the Rebs hid out in
the woods and continued to annoy
the Yanks while the others headed
back to Camp Pollard. Rumors
persist that the bodies of 500
Confederates lie beneath a local
hayfield. Actually, casualties were
quite light, about a dozen, but over
a hundred Confederate men and
officers were taken prisoner.

Back at Pollard, the Confederates had time to gather their things and move out toward Montgomery. The river swamp and the matter of prisoners did much to delay the Union force and, after all, it had been a busy day. On March 26th, the infantry was sent to Pollard since the cavalry couldn't get across. They eventually slogged their way through the rain- swollen swamp to find the Confederates had taken all of their equipment and gone. Only a couple of barrels of crackers remained in the warehouses. Feeling a bit testy, the Yankees burned the warehouses and tore up about a half mile of the railroad track. While local homes were spared, the fate of the crackers was not reported.

That's the story of the Tri-Cities'
very own Civil War battle. You'll
not likely find it in any modern
day history book, though. My
telling is taken from the accounts
of those who were there. For
more details, try "History of the
Campaign of Mobile" by C.C.
Andrews (1867), "Reminiscences
of the Old South" by J.W. Crary
(written about 1890, published
1984), and "A History of Escambia
Co., Alabama" by Annie Waters.

The Flomaton and Brewton libraries are a good place to look. Don't bedevil the good folks of Bluff Springs by tramping about without permission. Souvenir hunters have been doing that for [150] years now, and it's beginning to annoy some of the residents. Besides, you are just as likely to find something anywhere else between Bogia and Fannie!