New Yorker William Hopkins Lathrop (1833-1864) was a U.S. Army officer who commanded federal troops defending Sulphur Trestle Fort, built to protect a train trestle near Elkmont, Limestone County, that was a vital supply line for U.S. military forces south of Tennessee. He was killed in the Battle of Sulphur Creek Trestle, which took place on September 24-25, 1864, and was one of the bloodiest Civil War in Alabama.
William Hopkins Lathrop
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Photo courtesy of Limestone County
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