LITTLE WARRIOR NITRE WORKS Marion O. Smith Little Warrior Nitre Works was a Confederate government saltpeter mining operation in Blount County, Alabama, during the last year of the Civil War. It was located at Crump and Second caves, in the same bluff of Sand Mountain’s Cave Hill, on the northeast side of Blackburn Fork of the Little Warrior River. Only one payroll and a few messages written at Little Warrior have survived, which allow a very imperfect reconstruction of the history of the site. The two caves which the Confederates mined are short, Crump, 861 feet,and Second, 308 feet, but they contain abundant evidence, such as stacked rocks, drill holes for blasting, log supports, and soot, that they were heavily mined. ! It is not known when the Nitre Bureau began mining Crump and Second caves. The extant documents cover only from July, 1864, the date of the payroll, until early February, 1865. Possibly, prior to the government occupation of the caves, a private contractor worked them. But if so, that person’s name is unknown. However, once the Bureau was involved, it is very likely the two caves were operational until the end of the war.’ The labor force for July, 1864, numbered forty-three, a rather high number for such small caves. But without additional payrolls it is difficult to know if that was a normal or a high number of workers for the Little Warrior site. Often, when caves elsewhere were abandoned, certain government operations would temporarily have a large influx of laborers. Eventually, these men would be reassigned to other caves, including ones which had never before been mined. July, 1864, was probably a time when more men than usual were at Little Warrior. This is deduced from the fact that the month before at least fifteen of the workers were employed at either Big Spring [Guntersville Caverns], Marshall County, or Blue Mountain [Lady-Weaver Cave], Calhoun County. The Little Warrior employees were: James H. Abercrombie Joseph Barnes Stephen Brand J. W. Bynum S. Bynum James Childress Green G. Cooley E. Cornelius Moses B. Dobbins Wesley Fannin F. O. Fielder C. W. Frazier H, B. Godby ~. J. Bayliss Goddard Robert Goddard R. Hallmark W. Hallmark S. J. Hamilton P. C. Harris J. P. Johnston P. C. Johnston Henry D. Jones boiler miner laborer laborer laborer laborer laborer laborer laborer laborer boiler laborer boiler laborer laborer laborer laborer laborer laborer laborer laborer laborer C. W. Loggins W. Loggins J. T. Maberry H. J. Mann C. W. Mardis Henry Mitchell James M. Monk James Moore William Morton H. T. Perry John Pitts Elias Reid Noah S. Reid C. J. Robinson Hesakiah S. Rowan FM, Self V.A. Self J. S. Thrasher C. J. Walden G. S. Woodall J.C. Wright laborer laborer laborer asst. supt. laborer laborer Supt. laborer laborer laborer laborer laborer boiler boiler laborer laborer laborer laborer laborer wagon master foreman? A few of the subsequent personnel changes at Little Warrior are known. On August 29, 1864, G. T. Crumbley was apparently an employee. The same day C. W. Frazier was transferred to Cedar Mountain Nitre Works [Horse Cave] while J. W. Palmer was ordered from there to Little Warrior. During September, 1864, J. P. Dotson may have been a worker, and by the end of the next month William L. Ragsdale had replaced Monk as superintendent. On November 17, 1864, P. C. Harris was sent to Cedar Mountain to take charge of the wagon and team driven by Smith. At some time before January, 1865, Joseph Barnes was also moved to Cedar Mountain.* The Confederates used Little Warrior as a supply distribution center for other saltpeter caves in Blount and probably adjacent counties. John D. Borin, superintendent of subdistrict E, kept his headquarters there. L. A. Mayo, who had earlier been at Big Spring, August through October, 1864, was commissary clerk at Little Warrior. But by mid-November he was replaced by John J. Black, the former chief clerk of Nitre District No. 9. From at least November 20, 1864, through January 15, 1865, T. J. Robinson was Little Warrior’s military storekeeper. Borin, the commissary, and the storekeeper shipped food, forage, and other items especially to the government operations at Cedar Mountain and Blountsville [Posey Cave] plus J. F. Culpepper’s contractor works [probably Blowing Saltpeter Cave]. These shipments included wheat, peas, corn, potash, salt, cooking utensils, beef, wicking, osnaburgs, and rope. Most of the surviving correspondence written at Little Warrior pertains to these transactions.° On August 27, 1864, Borin wrote Cedar Mountain’s superintendent, "let Stephens return to this place with the 2 mule team & wagon he drives. I cannotSend the wheat... . nearly all our wagons are broken down." Two days later Commissary Mayo sent to Bedar Mountain "By Mr G T Crumeley 10 ten Bushels wheat twenty six Ibs Peas 1 Sack[.] you will please Return the Sack[.] Receipt Me for the wheat & Peas." On September 10 Mayo wrote two notes to Cedar Mountain. "I Send by the wagon (3) three Sacks corn (5) Bushels Wheat & I Cant spar any more Corn as | onley have (2) Sacks left." Responding to a request for tobacco, shoes, and osnaburgs, he explained, "I have no tobacco at all that is any better than yours will Send you Some as soon as I can[.] as to the Shoose & osnabergs I have plenty But have positively orders not to issue to no one from this works until maj J F Martin [an assistant superintendent of District No. 9] Comes ... then he will Distribute to your works .. . the above is orders from Capt Gabbett [superintendent of District No. 9]." Sixteen days later Mayo sent to Cedar Mountain "By J. P. Dotson twenty three (23) Sacks Corn" which included "one or more Sacks Peas" billed to him as corn. He asked that the correct number of sacks of corn and peas be ascertained and a receipt be sent. Mayo "divided the lode as hit was wet and subject to Damage[.] you can Send Mr Kerk & your wagon Back to morrow & get a load of Wheat or corn as you prefer." On October 27 Mayo sent to Cedar Mountain "per Johnson’s wagon 5 Barrels Potash weighing" 1616 pounds. The final destination of the potash may have been subdistrict superintendent Henry W. Grantland’s headquarters at Apple Grove, Morgan County. During October, 1864, the Little Warrior operation received from Cedar Mountain two kettles, twelve pounds blasting powder, one coil fuse, five axes, and one black pony. On November 14 Black reported to the Cedar Mountain superintendent, '4wo wagons arrived last Evening brining 15 Sacks Salt from Montevallo [headquarters of District No. 9]- I send (3) three sacks to Cedar Mt for storage to be traded for subsistence as directions from Major Martin. ... I would thank you to bring a statement of all things recd at your works from this point while I was in charge. Mayo has not kept a strict account as I would wish, in fact nothing." Four days later Superintendent Ragsdale sent steelyards to F. M. Nixon’s cave [Posey] "by Mr. Frazier." November 21 storekeeper Robinson sent to Cedar Mountain "Ten yards Osnaburgs for making dirt sacks" to be forwarded to Nixon’s cave at Blountsville. On December 4, 1864, Borin revealed that "a Raid [probably by civilians] was made on [Little Warrior] last night, our guard captured and all hands placed under guard and our stores robbed and most of the men at our place Robbed of personal Effects." January 15, 1865, Robinson sent to Cedar Mountain 200 pounds beef, four sacks corn, one sack salt, one and a half bales wicking, plus seventy six feet cotton rope for Nixon at Blountsville. Later that month Borin asked that Joseph Barnes leave Cedar Mountain "to Report at Little warrior. .. . he is required to do Some Blasting at some other works." 368 SOURCES 1. Alabama Cave Survey; Cleveland topo map; Confederate Payrolls, RG109, NA, Little Warrior; Diary of Marion O. Smith. 2. Confederate Payrolls, Little Warrior; J. D. Borin to J. R. Hopkins, February 2, 1865, John Riley Hopkins Papers, Georgia Department of Archives and History, Atlanta. 3. Confederate Payrolls, Little Warrior, Big Spring, and Blue Mountain. 4. L.A. Mayo to T. J. Robinson, August 29, September 26, 1864, list of items received from T. J. Robinson by W. L. Ragsdale, October 31, 1864, J. F. Martin to P. C. Harris, November 17, 1864, and J. D. Borin to A. J. Lamb, January 23[8?], 1865, J. R. Hopkins Papers. 5. J.D. Borin to T. J. Robinson, August 27, 1864, L. A. Mayo to T. J. Robinson, August 29, October 27, 1864, John J. Black to A. J. Lamb, November 14, 1864, T. J. Robinson to A. J. Lamb, November 20, 1864, and Invoice from T. J. Robinson, January 15, 1864[5], ibid.; Confederate Payrolls, Big Spring. 6. J. D. Borin to T. J. Robinson, August 27, 1864, L. A. Mayo to T. J. Robinson, August 29, September 10, 26, October 27, 1864, list of items received from T. J. Robinson by W. L. Ragsdale, October 31, 1864, John J. Black to A. J. Lamb, November 14, 1864, T. J. Robinson to A. J. Lamb, November 21, 1864, J. D. Borin to A. J. Lamb, December 4, 1864, Invoice from T. J. Robinson, January 15, 1864[5], and J. D. Borin to A. J. Lamb, January 23[87], 1865, J. R. Hopkins Papers.