[2] An area of low population and minuscule economic importance in Antebellum Alabama, Dale County had been relegated to the status of a backwater during the Civil War era, largely neglected by the state government in Montgomery.

[3] Mostly covered by pine forest and with few big farms or plantations, the area proved an attractive gathering place for Confederate deserters, as well as Southern Unionists who had been harassed or worse by their "Secessh" neighbors.

[2][4] One "bushwacker" leader was Joseph G. Sanders, a millwright and resident of Dale County who had first served as a private in the 31st Georgia Infantry before being elected captain of Company C in that regiment.

Instead of carrying out his orders, however, Sanders and his men made their way into the Forks of the Creek swamp near Campbellton, where they waited for a chance to attack Newton and burn the courthouse there.

The courthouse at Elba in adjacent Coffee County had already been torched by bushwackers under the leadership of "Speckled" John Ward, and Sanders hoped to repeat their escapade in Newton.

Jesse Carmichael, a veteran of the 15th Alabama who had served as a corporal and lost a hand at Antietam,[1] was notified by his father of Sanders' impending arrival in Newton that night, and he in turn hastened to warn the town.

[1] As the citizens formed up to defend their village, Carmichael and another wounded veteran of the 15th, John McEntyre, rode some distance outside of town, to provide an early warning of Sanders' arrival.

[1] Spotting Sanders at the head of a mounted company of 44 men, Carmichael quickly rode back to Newton, where he led his neighbors to an ambush site he had chosen near a spring a mile east of town.

Sanders was permitted to resign at his own request and "for the good of the service" on 13 September 1865[15] after saying that he feared for the safety and welfare of his family (who were living in Dale County at the time).

[1] Though completely unimportant in terms of the war as a whole, the home guard's victory at Newton gave hope to local citizens who had suffered much at the hands of raiders like Sanders and Ward.