Sgt Robert Weakley Patton - Selma, AL
Posted by: 
hoteltwo
N 32° 24.491 W 087° 01.125
16S E 498236 N 3585681
Marker describes the young college students from the University of Alabama called up in the Civil War and notes the location where one was killed in action. Marker is located at corner of Washington St and Alabama Ave.
Waymark Code: WMNCZ8
Location: Alabama, United States
Date Posted: 02/16/2015
Views: 3
Marker Text:
Front:
Patton, a member of Shockley's Escort Company of the University of Alabama, was killed in a clash with the 4th Iowa Cavalry at the corner of Washington Street and Alabama Avenue. In November 1865 his father, Robert Miller Patton, was elected the 20th Governor of Alabama.
Shockley's Cadets: In 1864, there were 296 students at the University and they formed the "Corps of Cadets." While attempts were made to keep to the usual academic courses then taught, the University was also a military camp of instruction. Branscom T. Shockley and Henry McKenzie Burt were nineteen year-old students at the University of Alabama in March 1864. They secretly worked together to enroll enough Cadets from the University to form a Cavalry company for the Confederate Army with the understanding that the volunteers would remain students until the term ended in July 1864. It was important Shockley and Burt keep their plans from the faculty, as they would have viewed it as insubordination.
Over one hundred students joined Shockley and Burt formed Shockley's Independent Escort. According to records, the company lost 2 killed, 4 wounded and 5 captured in the Battle of Selma. These cadets served under Brig. Gen. Daniel W. Adams until they were surrendered with Lt. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest on May 10, 1865, at Gainesville, Alabama.
Rear:
Map of the Battle of Selma
Map of the City of Selma and its Defenses. Captured by assault by the Cavalry Corps., M.D.M., April 2d, 1865. Bvt Maj. Gen. J.H. Wilson, Com'd'g. Surveyed and drawn by Capt. H.E. Noyes, 2d U.S. Cavalry, A.D.C.
Marker Name: Sgt Robert Weakley Patton - Born 1844 - Died 1865 - Battle of Selma
Marker Type: Urban
Addtional Information::
Erected by the 1865 Society.
Shockley's Escort Company: Cadets from the University of Alabama:
http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~oldfedrd/shockley.html
Date Dedicated / Placed: 2014
Marker Number: Not Listed
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