The story of the Bass family during the Civil War – Part 1

In 1861 Alabama was set to vote on secession from the Union. Bennett B. Bass spoke out against this and his actions would cause a lot of trouble for the Bass family for years to come. After the vote, secession, and Alabama joining the Confederate States of America, Bennett’s friends and neighbors turn against him. Even after his son Wilson Bass and son-in-law William Teel along with William’s brother Henry Teel joined the Covington County unit, the 42nd Alabama Infantry, which was formed as part of the Confederate Army. His neighbors refused to trade with or sell to him.

It has been said that Bennett sign up for the same unit but never severed. So, in early part of 1863 Bennett moved his family to Boggy Bayou in Walton County Florida. Where he traded with the Union Army at Fort Barrancas. On July 4 1863 the Confederate Army at Vicksburg Mississippi surrender to the Union Army, the Teel brothers were part of that surrender. After a few days as prisoners, on July 10th Wilson Bass and the Teels signed an oath that they would not take up arms against the Union Army in war and were paroled to go home. William Teel died on the way home, due to illness.

Not long after Wilson Bass and Henry Teel were back with their families in Boggy, Confederate recruiters came trying to convince the young men to join the new unit, but they refused to join, at least partly because of the oath they had signed. The group also tried to get Holland, who was younger, to join but he also refused. For next few months, they would come by to try to make them join.

It got so bad that in January of 1864 Holland left Boggy and joined the Union Army at Fort Barrancas 1st Fla. Calvary.- Buzz Ward (with some grammatical changes and the addition of Henry Teel)From a post on Buzz Ward’s Holland M. Bass Family Group.