During the last days of the Civil War Union troops battled Confederate troops in Baldwin County at Blakely and Spanish Fort. Simultaneously the US Army dispatched troops up the Old Federal Road in order to cut off an expected Confederate retreat from Mobile to Montgomery. Their arrival continued a long tradition of military forays along the route.
The Old Federal Road began as a horse path for postal riders in 1806. The original road stretched from Georgia to South Alabama. In 1810 the US Army surveyed the road and carved roman numerals into trees along the path to serve as mile markers. By...