Singleton writes of water hole dug by cavalrymen northeast of Monroeville

Painting of Union cavalrymen.

(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 “Union cavalry water hole” was originally published in the June 3, 1971 edition of The Monroe Journal in Monroeville, Ala.)

A hundred years have passed since the last Union cavalry troop stopped here to water their mounts and to fill their canteens with the cool, clear water from this spring.

This area was a favorite resting place for the cavalry patrols stationed in Monroe County as the army of occupation after the War Between the States.

Located about two miles northeast of Monroeville, to the left of the Peterman highway, one can still quench his thirst with the ice cold water trickling out from under a steep wooded hill into this soap stone basin, carved many years ago by Union cavalrymen.

Looking down along the sides, I could see the marks that the picks and shovels had made in the soap stone when this natural trough was dug during the late 1860s. I could imagine some young soldier, maybe two, perspiring in the hot Southern sunshine and complaining to the high heavens for being put on this detail, while the other members of the troop lay around on their backsides in the shade. Looking up the hill, one could imagine the horses tied under the branches of the huge bay tree, swishing their tails and stamping their feet trying to keep the horseflies one the move.

I’m sure many tales have been exchanged around this spring over the years by travelers passing through and the local fox hunters sitting around a fire doing nothing more than just listening to the music of the hounds chase that sly old fox around the countryside.

Although times have changed a lot in the last half century, I think that it would do us all good to stop by the spring and rest in the shade; maybe swap a few yarns and review for a time the passing scene.

(This column was also accompanied by a photo, taken by Monroe Journal photographer Aaron White, and the caption beneath that photo read as follows: The water hole that Union cavalry troops dug near Monroeville sometime in the late 1860s.)

(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 during a late-night thunderstorm on Dec. 14, 1927 in Marengo County, graduated from Sweet Water High School in 1946, served 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 1964 to 1987. 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.)