The 6th and 8th Alabama Cavalry served under General James H. Clanton. At Ten Islands and Bluff Spring, Fla., these two commands were easily driven away with almost no loss to Federal opponents. At Bluff Spring, just over the Florida line, Clanton was left on the field severly wounded and his men dispersed into swamps along the Escambia River. Those who managed to escape collected at Greenville, Ala., and rode north to resist Wilson's column from Benton in Lowndes County to Columbus, Ga. Survivors then moved west across the state to join Forrest's encampment at Gainesville, Ala.
It's no wonder that so few were left at the surrender.