History of Rodney - Her Fall
The yellow tever epldemics of 1843 and 1898 were fatal to many residents of Rodney. Even though the Union gunboat "Rattler" fired upon the town, Rodney and her churches were spared destruction during the Civil War. Here was the disembarking point for a select detachment of 40 Union Cavalry (Fifth Illinois), which launched a raid to the east behind Confederate lines in June 1863. The Confederates won this engagement, capturing the Union troops which sought to raid the Mobile and Ohio Railroad. In September 1864, Union troops were sent from Vicksburg to destroy a reported Confederate troop concentration at Rodney. Landing here, the Union infantry regiment plundered almost every house in town. Citizens of Rodney area formed Company D, 22nd Mississippi Infantry, which fought for the Confederacy. At war''s end a sand bar formed in the Mississippi River causing the River to alter its course, moving two miles west of Rodney. Tragedy struck in 1869 when a fire almost completely destroyed the town. The population further declined after the 1880''s when a railroad was constructed to the east through Fayette. By executive proclamation Governor Bilbo in 1930 abolished this century-old town of Rodney.