A "new" Alabama Saltpetre Cave

A "WEW't ALABAMA SALTPETRE CAVE

By Marion 0. Smith
Recently, at Samford University in Birmingham, I accidentally located

two 1965 articles in the Decatur Daily about a saltpetre cave near Morgan

County's well known Cave Springs Cave, which was reputed to be an upper

entrance. The first article reported this cave to be "located in a hill

about a mile" away in a sinkhole, while the second article revealed that

it was near or at the top of a hill, near onarled old peach trees," and

had a cliff above the entrance in "the direction of the [Tennessee] river."
The articles indicated that during the Civil War the cave was owned

by James Ratliff who "managed the nitrate works" and, in addition, named. 5;
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several of the miners: John Fount Roberts, John T. ‘Alien, Edmund Whitfield
Sharp, and "a member of the Woodall family."

After checking the Alabama Cave Survey and talking to Bill Torode
it became apparent that this was an unreported" cave and not a second
entrance to Cave Springs. Therefore, on April 9, 1982, Mer iyo Osterlund
and I made a search for it. :

Since my 1950's Mason Ridge topo map showed an orchard [now gone]
on top of the mountain south of Cave Springs, in an area with marked sinks,
it was obvious we should hunt there. After a leisurely thirty-five
minutes' walk, we located the cave in question about six-tenths south of
the Springs.

The cave was in a sink with a cwenty foot high bluff on the north
side, just like it was supposed to be. There were three openings. The
two to the right (E) joined for over one hundred feet of loop crawls,
which may or may not connect with the 'tmain' cave to the left (W).

The "main" cave was disappointingly only about 200: feet. long, «: the

walk-in entrance slopes westward to a four foot climb to a walking height,

twelve foot wide passage which heads north about 150 feet to a small dome

- DAI
area with a trickle stream. A modern day metal pipe comes from the surface
‘near a rotting [also modern] barrel formerly used for water collection.
Half way through the cave is a westward trending side passage for about
50 feet.

Saltpetre mining activities had definitely been conducted in the cave.
A lot of rocks had been moved and piled. Just inside the entrance was a
six foot long, three foot wide, two foot deep depression rimmed with man
piled rocks, some on an old wooden plank. This was, according to one of
the a od once the site for “cedar troughs." There were smudge marks
in a few places plus some passage enlargement, specifically jutting ledges
of the limestone walls being broken off. There was virtually no writing
on the walls and none for the Civil War era.

Naming the "discovery" J. F. Roberts Cave, I later did a little
follow-up research. Among my already collected notes from the Confederate
Papers Relating to Citizens or Business Firms were two pay vouchers from
the Confederate Government to one J. F. Roberts dated March 26 and April
30, 1863, for 519 and 388 pounds, respectively, of saltpetre, at /5¢ a
pound. Next the 1860 Morgan County census was consulted which revealed
many members of the Woodall family, several Ratliff families, including

an almost illegible entry that looked like James Ratliff (born about 1830

in Kentucky), boys named Edmond W. Sharp (born about 1850) and Jone T.

Allen (born about 1846), as well as J. F. Roberts (born about 1825), a-well-
to-do farmer who claimed $10,000 real and $21,720 personal estate.

So, it seems that much that was said in the 1960's newspaper accounts
is supportable by the historical record. There's no way to know for certain
that the saltpetre J. F. Roberts sold to the Confederacy was made from the

cave we visited, but it certainly seems possible that it could have been.

on We

SOURCES

John Knox, "Cave Springs Was Vital In Civil War," Decatur Daily,
January 10, 1965.

John Knox, "Saltpeter Found on Priceville Mountain," Decatur Daily,
January 20, 1965, p. B-9.

Vouchers 139 and 30, March 26 and April 30, 1863, J. F. Roberts File,
RG109, Confederate Papers Relating to Citizens or Business Firms, Micro-
copy 346, Roll $71.

1860 Census, Morgan County, Alabama