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| New Home Cemetery at Dottelle, Alabama. |
Today – Dec. 13 – marks the 175th anniversary of
the birth of one of the most remarkable Civil War veterans to ever call Wilcox
County home – Elijah Byrd Jenkins.
Much of what I know about Jenkins comes from Steve Stacey of
Monroeville, a noted Civil War expert and historian who has helped keep
Jenkins’ memory alive over the years. According to Stacey, Jenkins was born on
Dec. 13, 1842 in Wilcox County to Thomas Jenkins and his wife. In Montgomery on
Nov. 1, 1862, Jenkins, who was 19 years old at the time, enlisted as a private
in Co. K of the 1st Alabama Artillery.
Jenkins re-enlisted in Co. K on Feb. 11, 1863 at Port
Hudson, La., but a short time later, he joined the Confederate Navy. On March
5, 1864, he began serving aboard the CSS Selma, a steamship that was originally
known as the Florida. Jenkins served aboard the CSS Selma until it was captured
by the Union Navy steamer USS Metacomet
during the pivotal Battle of Mobile Bay on Aug. 5, 1864.
After the capture of the CSS Selma, Jenkins was imprisoned
on Ship Island, a barrier island on the Mississippi Gulf Coast that’s also the
site of Fort Massachusetts. In the Alabama Confederate Census of 1921, Jenkins
said that he spent eight months as a federal prisoner before being released at
the end of the war. Jenkins also reported that during all of his time as a
Confederate soldier, he was never wounded.
Jenkins lived to the ripe old age of 87 before passing away
on Dec. 17, 1929. He was buried in the cemetery at New Home Primitive Baptist
Church in Monroe County. According to Stacey, Jenkins is the only known
Confederate Navy sailor buried in all of Monroe County.
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| Elijah Byrd Jenkins |
The New Home Cemetery is located off U.S. Highway 84,
between Monroeville and Repton, on the Experiment Farm Road, in what’s known as
the Dottelle community. This past Sunday, I sought out this old cemetery, found
Jenkins’ grave and paid my respects to this Confederate sailor just a few days
shy of his 175th birthday.
I traveled there alone and parked in the driveway near the
cemetery entrance sign, which indicated that the cemetery was established in
the early 1800s. I stepped out into the cool air and bright sunshine, which
made it a tad too warm for the jacket I had on. I spent the next 15 minutes or
so wandering through the headstones, looking for Jenkins’ grave before my eyes
finally settled on his solitary grave marker.
I stood there for what seemed like a long time, a short walk
from where patches of unmelted snow from a few days before remained in the
shadows of the nearby wood line. I thought about Jenkins, his roots in a
landlocked county like Wilcox, how fate led him to naval service and his participation
in one of the greatest naval battles in American history. His thoughts on these
events have been lost to history, but one thing remains for sure – Jenkins was
truly one of the most remarkable Civil War veterans to ever call Wilcox County
home.
Elijah Byrd Jenkins was my great grandfather. Several years ago I dug up the information you have in this article and visited Elijah's grave, which at the time was not marked. Although I already have this information, I very much appreciate the fact that someone still cares about and honors people like Elijah. Thanks so much for this article and your work to research and publish it.
ReplyDeleteI Think Elijah Byrd Jenkins was a father's great, great grandfather. I have seen this picture before. If so, then it is exciting to know one of my ancestors was so accomplished.
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