Re-enactment of the Battle of Selma, Alabama

A re-enactment of the Battle of Selma was inaugurated in 1987, so this was the second year of what became an annual event. The original battle, in which Union cavalry under General James H. Wilson defeated Confederate forces under Nathan Bedford Forrest, was one of the last major engagements of the war. It occurred on April 2, 1865, just days before Lee's surrender.

The re-enactment is held at Selma Battlefield Park. This is not the site of the actual battle, which is now covered by residential and commercial properties.

This could plausibly be either an approach-to-battle formation or part of a procession/muster sequence. The young boy in the red shirt and kepi hat on the left highlights the family-centric nature of the festival, where children frequently participated as camp hands, musicians, or civilian impressions.

An artillery crew operates a full-scale replica cannon:

A dynamic black-powder muzzle blast:

Infantrymen firing from behind dirt parapets:

Infantrymen firing from behind dirt parapets:

Infantrymen firing from behind dirt parapets:

Infantry unit lining up:

Infantry and cavalry units:

Detailed close-up of a reproduction field piece secured inside fortified wooden earthworks:

Reconstructed defensive timber fortifications and dirt ramparts at Selma Battlefield Park. A cavalryman patrols a dirt path running alongside the fortifications:

Another view:

A replica Civil War cannon positioned inside a fortified "battery" cutout. Next to it rest the wooden rammers and sponge rods used to clean and load the barrel between rounds:

Teenage participants dressed as Confederate soldiers marching with a unit flag. This captures the era before tighter age restrictions at the re-enactment strictly limited minors to non-combat or musical roles:

Women in historical antebellum attire riding through town on a wagon.

Up until now, we've only seen Confederate troops, but here a column of Union infantrymen marches with reproduction muskets resting over their shoulders. They wear the distinct sky-blue trousers which was the standardized regulation color for Federal infantrymen throughout the war. Union troops in the Western Theater frequently ditched their strict regulation wool forage caps for practical, non-regulation civilian hats to beat the Southern heat.

A woman in a colorful patchwork hoop skirt stands near a team of decorated draft horses pulling a parade carriage. In the background, Spanish moss hangs from the trees, a characteristic feature of the local Selma and Dallas County landscape.

A Confederate gun crew working cannons right along the earthworks in the foreground, with visible smoke and engaged troops in the distant field beyond:

A crew fires a cannon directly through a wooden embrasure cutout. The dramatic white cloud of combusted black powder completely envelopes the position.

A wider view shows multiple active gun crews spread along different sections of the timber wall. Several of the men have wide-brim civilian-style hats rather than kepis, an accurate touch for a Confederate volunteer force this late in the war, when uniform supply was famously inconsistent.

Confederate infantrymen brace behind the defensive wood line as a long, unbroken blue line of Federal troops advances across the open ridge in the distance:

A heavily smoked battlefield clearing where Federal troops have taken casualties or are firing from prone positions.

A mixed group of blue and gray riders with sabers drawn, charging past the infantry line:

A white flag and a separate yellow flag (the historical hospital/medical flag of the era) planted near what looks like a covered stretcher, a woman in a nurse's bonnet attending to it, wounded being helped along, and a drummer boy nearby, all with the active battle still visible at the fortification behind them.

A group of Confederate cavalry officers on horseback stands in front of a massed infantry unit. They carry early-war style regional flags, including a variant of the Alabama state secession flag or a First National Confederate flag. This anachronism of an early flag at a late battle may be due to the fact that re-enactment clubs often custom-make a flag based on when they were formed, and retain that unit flag as they travel to different events across the country. However, Selma was not defended by a highly standardized, veteran frontline army corps. It was a desperate defense thrown together using localized Alabama State Troops, local home guards, old men, and factory workers from the Selma ordnance buildings, who frequently carried whatever older regional equipment, weapons, and early-state secession banners happened to be stored in local armories or courthouses. So in real life, it's possible that they did have early flags at this late battle.

Besides the combat, the Battle of Selma weekend includes a period ball/social event. Here participants wear formal civilian attire from the 1860s.

A young man dressed in a dark blue Federal frock coat and a hardee hat with gold cords stands next to a young woman wearing a white lace eyelet blouse and a matching white lace bonnet.

The gentleman wears a formal light-colored frock coat paired with a black silk top hat, while the women wear patterned historical day dresses with wide hoops.