Andrew Jackson's army said to have built bridge over Little River in 1814

Jackson and his troops enter Pensacola on Nov. 6, 1814.

(For decades, local historian and paranormal investigator George “Buster” Singleton published a weekly newspaper column called “Somewhere in Time.” The column below, which was titled “At Little River: Andrew Jackson waits for bridge completion” was originally published in the Aug. 31, 1972 edition of The Monroe Journal in Monroeville, Ala.)

The time was 1814 during the month of October. Andrew Jackson (Old Hickory) sat under a cherry tree not far from where the present highway bridge crosses Little River. He was waiting for his army to complete a rough timber structure over the waters of the swift stream.

Jackson was on his way to Pensacola. He had asked permission from the government to seize Pensacola in Spanish Florida because the British had been using the town as a military base. As he camped beneath the tree on Little River, he was angry because he had not received the orders giving him permission to move on Pensacola.

General Jackson was tired. Not too long before, he had ended the war against the Creek nation. He had dictated peace terms to the Creeks, who gave up 23,000,000 acres of land in what is now Georgia and Alabama.

Now he was moving to stop the British at Pensacola and New Orleans. He would wait until the bridge was complete and if the orders were not in his hands by this time, he would move his army south and take full responsibility for his actions.

Old Hickory was a sick man. He had not fully recovered from a severe case of dysentery that he had developed before the Battle of Horseshoe Bend earlier in the year. He sat and waited like a caged bear. He growled and gave orders.

He was so sick at times he was unable to stand. His personal aid had constructed a type of chair or walker so Old Hickory might stand and move around. During these days, he would have to be lifted and placed on his horse because he didn’t have the strength to mount.

Finally, the structure was completed across Little River, and the tough old warrior (tough as hickory wood, his men commented) moved on to take Pensacola and to defeat the British at New Orleans.

Nothing remains of the old bridge today. Only the faint traces of the old military road leading to the place where the bridge stood gives an indication that the army of Old Hickory moved this way.

Mrs. Annie Green, whose home is located near the spot where the old bridge stood, says that she remembers the cherry tree that General Jackson camped under. Mrs. Green also says she remembers when the old military road was still in use. This was before the current highway and bridge were constructed.

No one knows for sure, but probably the decision was made right on the banks of Little River, in what is now Monroe County – the decision that was to change the course of history – the decision to move to Pensacola, and take upon his frail and weary shoulders the sole responsibility of the future of our nation. Win or lose, the responsibility was his, and his alone.

[This column also featured a photo that bore the following caption: The sight of Andrew Jackson’s bridge at Little River.]

(Singleton, the author of the 1991 book “Of Foxfire and Phantom Soldiers,” passed away at the age of 79 on July 19, 2007. A longtime resident of Monroeville, he was born to Vincent William Singleton and Frances Cornelia Faile Singleton, during a late-night thunderstorm, on Dec. 14, 1927 in Marengo County, graduated from Sweet Water High School in 1946, served as a U.S. Marine paratrooper in the Korean War, worked as a riverboat deckhand, lived for a time among Apache Indians, moved to Monroe County on June 28, 1964 and served as the administrator of the Monroeville National Guard unit from June 28, 1964 to Dec. 14, 1987. He was promoted from the enlisted ranks to warrant officer in May 1972. For years, Singleton’s columns, titled “Monroe County history – Did you know?” and “Somewhere in Time” appeared in The Monroe Journal, and he wrote a lengthy series of articles about Monroe County that appeared in Alabama Life magazine. It’s believed that his first column appeared in the March 25, 1971 edition of The Monroe Journal. He is buried in Pineville Cemetery in Monroeville. The column above and all of Singleton’s other columns are available to the public through the microfilm records at the Monroe County Public Library in Monroeville. Singleton’s columns are presented here each week for research and scholarship purposes and as part of an effort to keep his work and memory alive.)