Civil War Battlefield Conservation in Alabama

Day's Gap

The Conservation Fund acquired 82 acres on the Day's Gap battlefield in Morgan and Cullman Counties in Alabama, site of a critical Civil War battle.

In April of 1863 US Colonel Abel D. Streight and his 1,500-man brigade were sent on a cavalry raid to destroy the Western & Atlantic Railroad in western Georgia and to divert CS Brigadier General Nathan Bedford Forrest and his cavalry while US Major General Ulysses S. Grant moved his forces down the Mississippi River. On April 30 at Day's Gap on Sand Mountain, Streight ambushed one of Forrest's columns and captured two of his guns. On May 3 Forrest bluffed the exhausted U. S. force into surrendering, but Streight's raid was successful in keeping Forrest away from the Mississippi River while Grant landed his forces on the east bank of the Mississippi River and launched his Vicksburg Campaign.

Today, the location remains much as it did 141 years ago and still holds significant natural value in addition to its historic importance.