Smith Lake HistorySmith Lake History Information

1863 - April 30

Civil War Battle of Hog Mountain (History of the Clarkson Covered Bridge Site)
The history of the Clarkson Covered Bridge site began many years before the first plank was ever put into place. During the Civil War, Union Col. Abel Streight led a small band of men through Cullman County toward Rome, Georgia, in an ill-fated attempt to destroy the Western Atlantic Railroad that supplied Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg's army in middle Tennessee. Pursued by the famous (and perhaps infamous) Confederate Gen. Nathaniel B. Forrest, Streight engaged in a number of battles in Cullman County that culminated in the running skirmish now known as Streight's Raid. One of these battles, the Battle of Hog Mountain, took place on April 30, 1863, and was fought in the vicinity of the site where Clarkson Bridge now stands. Many Civil War artifacts have been recovered along the banks of Crooked Creek, the narrow waterway spanned by Clarkson Bridge.

Related Link: National Park Service - Heritage Preservation Services

County: Cullman County

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