General Claiborne fought with Batman's great-grandpa (sort of)

This week’s featured historical marker is the “FORT CLAIBORNE” marker at Claiborne, about 20 miles west of Monroeville, Ala. in Monroe County.

This marker is located on the south side of U.S. Highway 84 near the intersection of Lena Landegger Highway/Grain Elevator Road. It’s on the east side of the Alabama River, just up from the Claiborne-Murphy Bridge. There’s printing on both sides of the marker, but both sides are identical. This marker was erected by the Alabama Historical Association in 1970. What follows is the complete text from the marker.

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“FORT CLAIBORNE: Creek Indian War 1813-1914: Built by Gen. Ferdinand L. Claiborne as a base for his invasion of the Alibamo country with U.S. Regulars, Lower Tombigbee Militia, and friendly Choctaws. Claiborne’s campaign culminated in the American victory over the Creeks at the Holy Ground.”

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Claiborne’s an interesting place, and if you’ve never been there, you should check it out, especially if you enjoy Alabama history. At one time, Claiborne had a population of around 5,000 people, and was first incorporated as a town in 1820. (I’ve always found this population number impressive, especially when you consider that present-day Monroeville has a population of just over 6,500 people.)

Claiborne served as the county seat of Monroe County until 1832 when it moved to Monroeville. Claiborne continued to decline and by 1872 only 350 people lived there. Today, it’s a ghost town will little trace of its former glory remaining.

General Ferdinand L. Claiborne, who the fort and town of Claiborne was named after, was an interesting man. Born in Virginia in 1773, Claiborne became the commander of the Mississippi Volunteers, who were part of the U.S. Volunteers. Members of this unit took part in the famous “Battle of Burnt Corn,” which involved Red Stick Creek Indians, on July 27, 1813.

Months of fighting passed and on Dec. 23, 1813, Claiborne led militia fighters at the Battle of Holy Ground, which occurred at Econochaca in present-day Lowndes County. William Weatherford was the commander of the Red Stick Creeks in that battle and he is said to have escaped by riding his horse off a bluff and into the river. Claiborne’s forces consisted of around 1,000 militia fighters and 150 Choctaws under the command of Pushmataha. Claiborne resigned his commission in January 1814 and returned to Natchez, Miss., where he died in 1815 at the age of 45.

One interstesting note about Ferdinand Claiborne is that, a young lieutenant in 1794, he fought at the Battle of Fallen Timbers, which was the final battle of the Northwest Indian War, near present-day Toldeo, Ohio. During that U.S. victory, Claiborne fought under General Anthony Wayne. Fans of the Batman comic books will know that the fictional Bruce Wayne is a direct descendant of Anthony Wayne and that property where the fictional Wayne Manor is located was supposedly given to Anthony Wayne for his service under General George Washington during the American Revolution.

In the end, visit this site next Wednesday to learn about another local historical marker. I’m also taking suggestions from the reading audience, so if you know of an interesting historical marker that you’d like me to feature, let me know in the comments section below.