Fort Bibb
{{Short description|United States historic site in Alabama}}
{{Infobox military installation
| name = Fort Bibb
| location = Pine Flat, Alabama
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| country = United States
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| type = Stockade fort
| coordinates = {{coord|31|50|20|N|86|53|00|W|display=inline,title}}
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| pushpin_map = USA Alabama #USA
| pushpin_mapsize = 220
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| built = Early 1818
| used = 1818-?
| builder = Alabama Territory settlers
|demolished=
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|ownership= Private
|open_to_public= No
|controlledby= Private
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Fort Bibb was a stockade fort built in present-day Butler County, Alabama during the First Seminole War.{{cite book|author=Mike Bunn|title=Early Alabama: An Illustrated Guide to the Formative Years, 1798-1826|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bUGIDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA114|year=2019|publisher=University of Alabama Press|isbn=978-0-8173-5928-7|pages=114}}
History
After the Ogly Massacre, many of the settlers in the surrounding area began to build protective stockades around their homes.{{cite book|author=John Buckner Little|title=History of Butler County, Alabama, 1815 to 1885|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q7AY-ShSJfMC&pg=PA71|year=1885|publisher=J. G. Little, Jr.|pages=72}} Fort Bibb was first constructed in early 1818 and was built around the home of Captain James Saffold.{{cite book|author=Lyn Wilkerson|title=Slow Travels-Alabama|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EWNnAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA71|date=10 January 2010|publisher=Lulu.com|isbn=978-0-557-14055-8|page=71}} The fort was named for William Wyatt Bibb, who was the acting governor of the Alabama Territory.{{cite web |title=The Butler Massacre/Fort Bibb |url=https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=83259 |website=Historical Marker Database |accessdate=9 October 2020}} Captain Saffold participated in the Battle of Calebee Creek, and afterwards settled in the area of Pine Flat. Warren A. Thompson and William Butler also settled in Pine Flat.{{cite web |last1=Brannon |first1=Peter |title=The Massacres |url=http://www.newtonfolk.com/brannon.htm |accessdate=9 October 2020}}
Colonel Samuel Dale helped to fortify Fort Bibb while he and his militia constructed Fort Dale on the Federal Road in the spring of 1818. Fort Dale was built in response to the murders of Butler, William Gardender and Daniel Shaw. These men, along with Saffold and John Hinson had left Fort Bibb on March 20, 1818 to rendezvous with Colonel Dale. They were attacked by Red Sticks under the command of Savannah Jack. This incident became known as the Butler Massacre. Captain Saffold and three other local men were also killed in the area prior to the construction of Fort Dale.{{cite book |title=Dead Towns of Alabama |last=Harris |first=W. Stuart |year=1977 |publisher=University of Alabama Press |location=Tuscaloosa, Alabama |page=36 |isbn=0-8173-1125-4 }} After these killings, soldiers and allied Choctaw warriors were sent from Fort Crawford to assist in the pursuit of the Red Sticks.{{cite book |last1=Pickett |first1=Albert James |title=History of Alabama, and Incidentally of Georgia and Mississippi, from the Earliest Period |date=1878 |publisher=Willo Publishing Company |location=Tuscaloosa, AL |pages=621}}
Fort Bibb served as one of the first election sites in Butler County.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=83259 Fort Bibb Historical Marker]
Category:Pre-statehood history of Alabama