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Welcome to historic Trough Springs Trail, a partnership between Monte Sano State Park, Burritt on the Mountain, and the Land Trust of North Alabama. HIKE HUNTSVILLE HIKE HUNTSVILLE Historic Trough Springs Historic Trough Springs The Monte Sano State Park comprises 2,063 acres and offers cabins, Alabama STATE PARKS meeting & event Lodge, Monte Sano Mountain camping sites, 20 miles of hiking trails, picnic area and biking trail. A Living History Park and so much more, Burritt on the Mountain, Huntsville’s first museum, features nature, history, art, music, festivals and animals in a fun-filled environment. Land Trust Special thanks to: Alabama Historical Association, City of Huntsville, Huntsville/Madison County Builder’s Association, Huntsville-Madison County Historical Society, Madison County Commission, the Curtis and Edith Munson Foundation, Redstone Federal Credit Union, Vulcan Materials Company, and Worthy Construction & Excavation. Reference material courtesy of Flint River Press and Ranee Pruitt, President. Rev. Johnston’s memoirs are entitled “The Sword of Bushwhacker Johnston.” OF NORTH ALABAMA Incorporated in 1987 as Alabama’s first land trust, over 6,100 acres in five counties have been preserved and protected for future generations. The Land Trust also maintains four Nature Preserves and 40+ miles of trails that are open to the public. 907 Frankli n Str eet l 256.5 34.L AND (5263) Hunts vil le , Ala bama 35801 l www.L andTrustN AL.o rg TROUGH AL A BAM A H I S TO RY P R E S E RV E D TROUGH A Hiking the Trough Springs Trail is a visit to an historic Madison County landmark. It is the site of surrender of Lt. Col. “Bushwhacker” Johnston and approximately 150 Confederate soldiers to Union troops one month after General Robert E. Lee’s surrender at Appomattox. SPRINGS L A BA M A H I S TO RY P R E S E RV E D The story of Lt. Col. Milus E. “Bushwhacker” Johnston Johnston’s story... In April, 1862, Union soldiers under Brigadier General Ormsby MacKnight Mitchel seized Huntsville and severed the strategic Memphis & Charleston Railroad - a key component in the Union army taking Chattanooga and using it as a base for the push to Atlanta. Area citizens responded to the Union occupation by cutting telegraph lines, railroad tracks and picking off Mitchel’s men. In return, the occupying army began destroying property of Confederate sympathizers, especially those of Captain Frank B. Gurley’s “irritating” cavalry company. Much of Madison and Jackson Counties were put to the torch. Huntsville was spared as it housed the Union army. The invaders left after four months, but the pattern of destruction had been set. When they returned nearly a year later the brutal policies resumed. The Confederate soldiers generally stayed south of the Tennessee River, but crossed for supply runs, raids and skirmishes with small groups of the Union Army. Captain Gurley was captured, but another young Confederate officer was proving just as troublesome. Colonel Lemuel Green Mead, a lawyer from Paint Rock, had returned to North Alabama with his “Paint Rock Rifles” after the battle of Shiloh. He recruited more men from inside Union-held North Alabama. However, the Union soldiers did not recognize these men as regular Confederate soldiers and labeled them “bushwhackers.” A bushwhacker was considered to be a non-regular soldier, who fought in unconventional ways - a sort of guerilla fighter. In 1862 on their way to take Huntsville, General Mitchel and his Union solders proclaimed marshal law in Fayetteville and began to arrest “suspect” citizens. Even the peaceful minister was arrested. Though he was soon released, Johnston realized that his preaching would be limited and decided that he and his wife would sit out the war working his father-in-law's farm near Vienna (now New Hope in Madison County.) In the late fall of 1863, Union troops burned Rev. Johnston's father-in-law's house in retaliation for an attack by Mead’s men. Johnston’s family then moved into the out buildings. A few weeks later, Union troops returned and burned the remaining buildings just as winter approached. The Union soldiers returned a third time to capture Johnston himself even stealing his boots. (He had in-laws that were in the Confederate army and the Union army deemed him a criminal.) They chased him into the forest, intending to arrest him, but Johnston escaped. Every attack on the Union soldiers by Mead’s “bushwhackers” was met with violence against Southern citizens. The Union army drove off livestock, burned homes and barns, shot innocent people, abused women, and raided for provisions. The patient minister had finally had enough. He traveled across the Tennessee River to join the Confederate army. He was sworn into Confederate service in January 1864, and was told to report to Colonel Mead. He quickly rose to the rank of Major, played a leading role in the partisan struggle, and commanded a squadron of several companies. Rev. Milus Eddings Johnston was a Methodist minister in charge of the Tennessee-based Fayetteville circuit. The Civil War found him working from Fayetteville to Madison and Jackson Counties in Alabama. By riding and preaching in this area, Johnston learned North Alabama geography and knew many of the citizens. He was promoted to Lt. Col. on March 27, 1865, but never officially received his commission. When he surrendered at Trough Springs on May 11, 1865, Johnston stated his rank as Major. The surrender by he and his men marked the end of the Civil War in North Alabama. Johnston continued to preach for another 30 years.