Stanton, Alabama is the site of the April 1, 1865 battle to defend Selma from General Wilson and his advancing troops. Wilson, fresh from destroying key Confederate sites at Tannehill, Brierfield and Tuscaloosa was making a run for Selma's industrial city to destroy the Confederate foundries thereby driving a nail into the heart of the Confederate cause. General Forrest chose to head off Wilson about 25 miles north of Selma in the small community of Stanton in order to give reinforcements time to reach and help defend Selma. Wilson's troops were coming from the North on two roads which met at Ebenezer Church in Stanton. Forrest could not fend off the coming tide of Wilson's troops and retreated back to Selma for the battle that would come the next day leading to the fall of Selma. This battle, which would be one of the last battles Forrest would fight on ground of his own choosing during the war, would become known as one of the most fierce battles of the Civil War. Stanton still remains a small farming community with much of it's battleground remaining undeveloped. The battlegrounds can be seen looking across the highway from the Ebenezer Church parking lot and on the hill behind the Church where the Ebenezer Cemetery is located and where the left of Forrest's line was formed.
 
Steven Hippensteel