In July 1863, Captain George E. Spencer, who was the Chief-of-Staff of Brigadier-General Grenville M. Dodge, asked permission to be transferred to the First Alabama Cavalry which did not have a permanent commander. His request was granted by the War Department and Captain Spencer was then promoted to Colonel. He took formal command of the First Alabama Cavalry, USA on September 11, 1863, in Corinth, Mississippi.
In just a few days, Colonel Spencer was ordered to proceed through Alabama destroying the "railroads and its rolling stock", but to be careful not to interfere with private property other than what was necessary for sustenance.
After being defeated at Jones's Crossroads by 2,000 Confederates, Colonel Spencer was temporarily transferred to Pulaski, Tennessee with General Dodge. His brief command of the 1st Alabama had not been to his credit. However, in about one month, he returned to the regiment.
Colonel Spencer apparently persuaded General Dodge to write Major-General William Tecumseh Sherman asking permission to organize the "Alabama Yankees". Gen. Dodge stated, "If we could make lodgement at Decatur, Alabama it would give an outlet to a large number of Union people who are seeking our lines and who would join our Alabama regiments, and if Colonel Spencer's First Alabama Cavalry could be ordered to me, it would form a nucleus that would soon give us another mounted regiment."
Colonel George Spencer, according to his Muster Ross, was absent from duty because of sickness, in May and June 1864. He returned to active duty in July 1864.
On October 30, Colonel Spencer and the First Alabama Cavalry was transferred to the Army of the Tennessee, and the next day moved with the Seventeenth Army Corps southward from Rome, Georgia, by way of Cedartown to Marietta, where they remained for eight days and then made their victorious march to the sea.
General "Kill Cavalry" Kilpatrick wrote the following about Colonel Spencer in the encounter at Williston: "Colonel Spencer alone conducted the fight displaying much skill and great gallantry. Several hundred stand of arms were abandoned by the enemy and left scattered along the road. One officer and many men were killed and a large number wounded. Several prisoners were taken. Colonel Spencer pressed the enemy so close for a distance of seven or eight miles that he was finally forced to leave the roads and scatter through the woods and swamps in order to escape."
Colonel Spencer wrote the following about the early morning skirmish at Monroe's Crossroads in March, "Simultaneously on the morning of the 10th of March with our reveille the camp of the dismounted men and our camp was charged by three divisions of the enemy's cavalry, viz, Butler's, Hume's, and Allen's, General Hampton personally leading the charge of Butler's division and General Wheeler leading the charge on the right with Hume's division. The camp of the dismounted men was instantly captured; also the headquarters of the division and brigade, and with the wagons and artillery. In the cavalry camp the firing became very severe, and for a time the enemy gained and held nearly two-thirds of their camp, when, by desperate fighting behind trees, the men succeeded in driving the enemy entirely out of camp and partially away from the headquarters. About this time Lt. Stetson succeeded in creeping stealthily to his section of artillery and unlimbered one of his guns and fired upon the enemy. This was a rallying signal for the entire command, and immediately a sufficient force was placed in support of the battery and a withering and deadly fire of grape and canister was opened upon the enemy. Three successive charges were made by the enemy to recapture our artillery, but each charge was unsuccessful and cost them dearly.
About 7:30 the enemy retreated in confusion, leaving their dead and wounded in our hands. One hundred and three of the enemy's dead were left on the field, also a large number of wounded and about thirty prisoners. Our men were too much exhausted and fatigued to follow the enemy, and nearly all were out of ammunition. For two hours and a half three small regiments, numbering in the aggregate less than 800 men, had successfully resisted the oft-repeated charges of three entire divisions numbering not less than 5,000 men. We remained on the field of battle till 3 p.m., burying the dead and taking care of the wounded, when we moved about five miles in the direction of Fayetteville, and joined the other two brigades and camped for the night. Our loss at the battle of Monroe's Cross-roads was 18 killed, 70 wounded, and 105 missing.
Among the killed and wounded were some of the best officers of the command. Adjutant Mitchell of the Fifth Kentucky, was killed. The First Alabama Cavalry lost eight officers, including both of its field officers, Major Cramer being both wounded and a prisoner.
It is impossible for me to speak in too high terms of the conduct of the officers and men of my command in this fight, and it would be invidious to mention any, although I cannot let the gallant conduct of Lieutenant Stetson go without mention, who, unaided and alone, crept through the ranks of the enemy and unlimbered and fired one of his guns. To this fact, more than to any other, I ascribe a terrible disaster turned into a brilliant victory."
After the Campaign of the Carolinas ended, this brigade had marched more than seven hundred miles, crossing seven large rivers and many small streams.
After visiting General Sherman, General Kilpatrick wrote: "The campaign is over and we are promised rest.....This day I met our great chief (Gen. Sherman) on the field of battle, amid the dead and dying of our enemy, who has again fled before our proud, advancing banners, and my ears were made to tingle with the grateful words of praise spoken in admiration of the cavalry.
Soldiers, be proud! Of all the brave men of this army you have a right to be. You have won the admiration of our infantry, fighting on foot and mounted, and you will receive the outspoken words of praise from the great Sherman himself. He appreciates and will reward your patient endurance of hardships, gallant deeds, and valuable services.... General Sherman is satisfied with his cavalry."
Colonel Spencer resigned as Colonel of the First Alabama Cavalry, USA on July 5th, stating: "The war being practically ended and my private business demanding my immediate attention....I have been in service nearly four years, and as long as there was an enemy in arms against the government I was willing to sacrifice every other interest to the public good. I now believe my duty requires me to bestow my entire time and attention to my private affairs." His resignation was accepted and on August 22 he was appointed Brigadier-General for gallant and meritorious services during the Campaign through Georgia and the Carolinas.
General George E. Spencer moved to Decatur, Alabama in 1866 and began practicing law. In May, 1867, he was appointed register in bankruptcy court by Chief Justice Salmon Portland Chase.. He was elected Senator and then reelected for a second term in 1872.
In 1875, there were 31 charges against Spencer because of his "corrupt practices" as votebuying, bribery, conspiracy, and - in unison with an old comrade of the First Alabama Cavalry, former Captain Jerome J. Hinds, some of the radical elements of the Alabama legislature asked that his seat be declared vacant. However, Spencer remained in the United States Senate his full twelve years, serving until March 3, 1879, as the only Republican reelected from a Southern state.
After 1879, he was politically active in furthering legislation that reduced letter postage to two cents and in the prosecution that led to the exposure of "star-route" postal frauds. In 1881, he was appointed a commissioner of the Union Pacific Railroad. He settled in Nevada where he spent the last years of his life as a rancher and mine prospector. He died in Washington, DC on February 19, 1893.
Spencer's first wife, Bella Zilfa, an Englishwoman, was an author and wrote Ora, the Lost Wife, in 1866 and Surface and Depth in 1867. She died in Tuscaloosa, Alabama in 1867 and ten years later Spencer married a Mrs. Loring Nunez, niece and namesake of Major General William W. Loring , CSA. She was also an author.
Extracted by: Glenda McWhirter Todd