Battle of Brice's Crossroads

The Confederate cavalry under Nathan Bedford Forrest had long been a thorn in the side of the Federal forces in the west. He had caused much trouble with his daring and relentless raids on the Union supply line. William Tecunseh Sherman decided to put this to end once and for all. He ordered Samuel Sturgis to lead a force of 8,500 men to destroy Forrest, then in northern Mississippi or Alabama. This column set out on June 1. Forrest correctly guessed that they were first headed to Tupelo, Mississippi, and decided to try to strike them without waiting for reinforcements. He planned to hit the Union cavalry, which led the column, at a place called Brice's Crossroads. When some infantry arrived to reinforce them, he planned to drive them west on a creek and destroy the force he was facing.

The battle began around 10:30 on June 10, 150 years ago today. According to plan, the Confederate troopers pushed the Union cavalry hard, their their commander, Benjamin Grierson, called for infantry reinforcements. These around around 1:30, and the presence of these troops gave the Union the upper hand for a short time. But then Forrest sprang the trap. He launched heavy attacks on the Union right and left flanks, and the Union men were driven into a tight semi-circle around the crossroads. The 2^nd Tennessee cavalry attacked the bridge over which the Federal forces had crossed the creek. Although they were driven back, the Federal forces panicked and Sturgis ordered them to fall back. This retreat soon turned into a route with the Confederate troopers right on the heels of fleeing bluecoats. In this fight the Confederates lost 492 men, the Federals 2,240 – mostly captured. In Sturgis' attempt to capture Forrest he had been ambushed and whipped. The “Wizard of the Saddle” had won yet another victory.

Battle of Fort Pillow

Nathan Bedford Forrest fought in many raids and battles in the Civil War, but his most controversial by far was his attack on Fort Pillow 150 years ago today. By this point he was nearly a month into a raid on the Union positions in Tennessee and Kentucky. He decided to attack Fort Pillow to capture the supplies that the fort held. Fort Pillow was built by Confederate general Gideon Pillow in 1862, but it was abandoned and garrisoned by the Federals. It was built on a bluff on the Mississppi River, its three walls protected by six cannon. When Forrest attacked the garrison was 500-600 men, half white and half black. The Confederates were at least three times as numerous.

Forrest arrived at the fort, which was already surrounded by Confederate troopers, at 10:00 on April 12. He deployed sharpshooters on hills that overlooked the fort, and they opened up a scattered fire. It was not long before they scored a hit – Major Lionel Booth, the forts commander, was killed. Confederates also occupied the barracks which the Federals had failed to destroy, putting them only 150 yards from the fort's parapet.

At 3:30, with his men in position to attack, Forrest sent the Union commander this ominous note:

The conduct of the officers and men garrisoning Fort Pillow has been such as to entitle them to being treated a prisoners of war. I demand the unconditional surrender of the entire garrison, promising that you shall be treated as prisoners of war. My men have just received a fresh supply of ammunition, and from their present position can easily assault and capture the fort. Should my demand be refused, I cannot be responsible for the fate of your command.

Major William Bradford, who had assumed command after Booth's death, asked for one hour to consider the situation, Forrest would only give him 20 minutes. Bradford send a final message, “We will not surrender.” A bugle sounded the charge, and the Confederates surged toward the walls.

Under covering fire from the sharpshooters, the rebels rushed toward the fort and into the ditch. The Federals were kept down by the sharpshooters' bullets, and were not able to stop the assailants. The Confederates climbed on each others shoulders, making their way on top of the 6 – 8 foot wall. As they reached the top of the embankment, their fired their weapons into the crowd of bluecoats below. A Union gunboat, USS New Era was on the river, and the Federals fell back in disorder, hoping to get picked up by the ship. They were unable to reach the ship, which did not even aid them with its fire. The gun ports remained sealed for fear of the southern sharpshooters.

When the Confederates had burst into the fort, the Federals had fled towards the gunboat without trying to surrender or hauling down the flag. Some still carried their weapons, and fired back at the attackers. Others threw down their arms and tried to surrender. The rebels, with adrenaline high after their dangerous advance, continued to kill indiscriminately. One Union naval officer on the scene wrote in his report:

All the wounded who had strength enough to speak agreed that after the fort was taken an indiscriminate slaughter of our troops was carried on by the enemy with a furious and vindictive savageness which was never equaled by the most merciless of the Indian tribes. Around on every side horrible testimony to the truth of this statement could be seen. Bodies with gaping wounds, some bayoneted through the eyes, some with skulls beaten through, others with hideous wounds as if their bowels had been ripped open with bowie-knives, plainly told that but little quarter was shown to out troops.

There is no doubt that a massacre of some kind did take place. The Federals had about 350 killed, 60 wounded and 164 captured. The Confederates lost only 14 killed and 86 wounded. It is also clear that the colored troops were especially targeted. Only 20% of the black troops survived the battle, as opposed to 60% of the white Federals. Confederates defended their actions by arguing that the Federals had been warned of the consequences of refusing to surrender, the fort had never been officially surrendered, and the officers attempted to stay the slaughter.

Whether or not the Confederates could justify the slaughter in any way, it was seen as a horrible massacre by the people of the north. Lincoln and his cabinet considered retaliation, but none was ever made. As the news spread through the country the northerners saw their foes as less civilized. They began to see the southern troops as murders, would would massacre the colored troops in cold blood. This perception would have an impact in future battles, and on reconstruction after the war.

Battle of Chickamauga – Day 2

As the day dawned over the bloody field of Chickamauga on, Sunday, September 20th, William Rosecrans, commander of the Union army, was riding along his lines, encouraging the troops. They had been sorely tested the day before with several Confederate attacks nearly breaking their line, but Rosecrans urged them to fight on, saying, “Fight today as well as you did yesterday, and we shall whip them!”

Across the field, Confederate commander Braxton Bragg had planned to attack at daylight, but the orders he had sent to D. H. Hill had been lost. When morning came Hill was unprepared, still getting his troops into position. They would attack on their right, where the Federal right had formed into a semicircle around the Kelly House. The Yankees had spent their night profitably, building breastworks to better defend themselves. Finally, at about 9:45 am, the Confederate attack began.

On the Confederate far right was Breckinridge's division. It was in such a position that his two rightmost brigades extended beyond the left of George Thomas's breastworks. Thomas, seeing that he was flanked, requested reinforcements. He withdrew two brigades from his line and threw them in front of Breckinridge. They fought hard, and although they were driven back, they bought enough time for Van Cleve to bring his division up from the right. Thomas was able to hold back the Confederate attack with these troops, but he did not feel his line was secure. As the battle raged, he requested Rosecrans to send him more troops from the center and right. Breckinridge and Cleburne continued to press forward, meeting heavy resistance. Liddell's and Gist's men were brought up and the attack was renewed, but fresh Union troops were moved to that portion of the line and no progress could be made. Stewart's division gained some success, but they were driven back by a Federal counter attack. Nathan Bedford Forrest's cavalry were dismounted and fighting on foot. When Hill saw them, he asked what infantry they were. When he was told they were Forrest's cavalry, he said:

General Forrest, I wish to congratulate you and those brave men moving across that field like veteran infantry upon their magnificent behavior. In Virginia I made myself extremely unpopular with the cavalry because I said I had not seen a dead man with spurs on. No one could speak disparagingly of such troops as yours.

By noon, the attacks slowed down. Polk and Bragg had failed to break Thomas's line, protected as it was by breastworks. As on the previous day, Bragg had not concentrated enough strength on one point to crush the line, and instead dispersed the blow. But Rosecrans had a problem. Because of the heavy pressure on the left, he had sent Thomas many reinforcements, leaving only four divisions on the right.

It was Longstreet's turn to attack. Because of all the troops rushed to Thomas, a hole had developed in the center of the Union line. Rosecrans had received false information about a gap in his line, and in giving orders to correct it, actually created a gap. Longstreet got permission from Bragg to attack with his wing. Instead of the piecemeal attacks used in the battle so far, throwing in only one a division at a time, Longstreet marshaled four divisions with which to crush the Federals. He ordered his men forward at 11:15 am. Confederate Bushrod Johnson wrote:

The scene now presented was unspeakably grand. The resolute and impetuous charge, the rush of our heavy columns sweeping out from the shadow and gloom of the forest into the open fields flooded with sunlight, the glitter of arms, the onward dash of artillery and mounted men, the retreat of the foe, the shouts of the hosts of our army, the dust, the smoke, the noise of fire-arms—of whistling balls and grape-shot and of bursting shell—made up a battle scene of unsurpassed grandeur.

Longstreet's men went right through the hole in the Federal line, past the Brotherton Farm, crushing any resistance they encountered. By noon he was a mile deep in the Federal center, having capturing 17 cannon and over 1000 prisoners along the way. Soon the entire left and center of the Yankee line was one race to get away from Longstreet's advancing men. But the Texas Brigade was struck with a counterattack from a Union unit, and driven into retreat. Hood, seeing his old brigade in full retreat, rode to rally them. He was shot through the leg, and carried off the field. Although such woods were frequently fatal during, he had his leg amputated and survived. This left him with only two limbs, as he had lost the use of his arm in another battle.

Having crushed through the Union center, Longstreet ordered his men to execute a right wheel and turn on Thomas. This complicated maneuver took time to preform, and during the lull he ordered that his men be fed to prepare them for further fighting. Bragg was annoyed that his battle plan had was unsuccessful, and that Longstreet had developed his own plan, and it was winning the day. So he rode off the field and left the management of the battle to his subordinates.

Rosecrans

Bragg was not the only commander leaving the field. Rosecrans himself, joined by two of his corps commanders and thousands of men, was making off as fast as possible, believing further defense useless. Most officers completely lost their heads and tried to get away just like the common soldiers. But not all of the Federals were retreating. George Thomas remained on the field to organize the Union defense, and his firmness in stemming the Union rout would earn him the title the “Rock of Chickamauga.” He established a line of defense on Horseshoe Ridge, at right angles to the original position. Many Federals rallied there, still determined to resist the victorious southerners. They declared with resolution, “We will hold this ground or go to heaven from it.”

Through the afternoon waves of Confederates attacked Thomas's troops on Horseshoe Ridge. At 4:30 pm Longstreet's troops advanced. The fighting centered around Snodgrass Hill, upon which Longstreet made 25 attacks. The Federals were holding firm with hard fighting, but Thomas knew that this could not last forever. He was attacked on two sides by forces twice his number. He realized that at some point the position had to fold, and so he determined to conduct an orderly retreat. The gradual retreat began at 5:30 pm and continued over the next two hours. A rearguard of three regiments was left to defend the hill to the last. When they ran out of ammunition, they stood firm with bayonets. Refusing to abandon the position, they were finally surrounded and forced to surrender.

Horseshoe Ridge

The Federals retreated during the evening, routed but not destroyed. Thomas, the Rock of Chickamauga had been able to put up a last ditch defense so that the Union army was saved from complete destruction. This good defense would have important implications in the campaign, and it prevented a Union army from being nearly wiped off the map.

Thomas

The Confederates were elated at their victory, the first real victory won by Bragg's army. They let out cheers the like of which would be never heard again. They had captured 8000 prisoners, 51 cannon, over 23,000 rifles and much ammunition and other supplies. It was the largest quantity of supplies captured in one battle in the war. But it had been a costly battle. Rosecrans had lost 16,170 men, Bragg, 18,454. The total of almost 35,000 was a huge number. It was the second bloodiest battle of the war, only exceeded by Gettysburg. D. H. Hill wrote after the war,

There was no more splendid fighting in '61, when the flower of the Southern youth was in the field, than was displayed in those bloody days of September, '63. But it seems to me that the elan of the Southern soldier was never seen after Cickamauga .... He fought stoutly to the last, but, after Cickamauga, with the sullenness of despair and without the enthusiasm of hope.

Streight Surrenders his Mule Cavalry to Forrest

Col. Abel Streight

As Grant was preparing to cross the Mississippi River, he arranged for several feints to try to distract the Confederates from his beachhead. One of these was a raid by Abel Streight and his “Mule Cavalry.” Streight was from Indianapolis, and was a printer before the war. He rose to the rank of Colonel, but had seen no combat. He did, however, serve as part of a unit in Union-held Alabama. There he met the Union sympathizers of the area, but this contact caused him to overestimate the number of men in Alabama who supported the Union.

He proposed a plan to his commanding officer to take a mounted brigade into Alabama and strike the Western & Atlantic Railroad, an important Confederate supply line. The scheme was approved, and he was assigned 1,700 soldiers from two cavalry and four infantry regiments. But the problem was that the army didn't have enough horses to mount these troops. Instead, they were assigned mules from Tennessee farms as their mounts. Much amusement was had at the would-be cavalry's expense as they attempted to train these mounts. It didn't bode well for Streight's raid.

Streight's raid

The expedition began on April 19, 1863. Notwithstanding a temporarily shielding by 8,000 real Union cavalry, soon Nathan Bedford Forrest was on his track with the gray troopers. On April 30 he caught up with him at the Battle of Day's Gap. Forrest tried to surround him, but he was repulsed by Federal charges. Although they had a temporarily reprieve, Streight's men were doomed. Their mules couldn't keep ahead of the Confederate horses, and their position was betrayed by loud braying.

Streight burned the bridge across Black Creek after he crossed. He hoped he could make it to Rome, Georgia, ahead of Forrest, and turn and face in in the town's entrenchments. But a Confederate girl, Emma Sanson, directed Forrest to a ford across Black Creek that allowed him to continue the pursuit, and a local ferry operator made it to Rome before the Union. The citizens came out of the town and beat back the Federal advance.

Nathan Bedford Forrest

His 1,400 exhausted men were soon surrounded by Forrest, who actually had only 400 men. But Forrest paraded his men over and over again before Streight during negotiations, convincing him to surrender. When he discovered the trick Forrest had played on him, he tried to change his mind, but Forrest would have none of it. Many of the Union prisoners, including Streight, were sent to Libby Prison in Richmond. But after a year he was able to escape along with 107 others, in one of the most dramatic prison stories of the entire Civil War.

Videos courtesy of Cullman County Museum and Kelton Design.

Battle of Thompson's Station

Forrest

After remaining inactive for two months after the Battle of Stones River, Rosecrans finally made a movement, sending a brigade under Col. John Coburn towards Columbia, Tennessee. Coburn, encountering a small Confederate force on March 5, 150 years ago today, attacked but was driven back. Then suddenly he was struck by the Confederates. He had encountered a Confederate cavalry corps under Major General Earl Van Dorn which was moving north on a foray. Van Dorn sent one division forward in a frontal attack, while Nathan Bedford Forest moved around Coburn's left flank into his rear. Coburn was driven off the hill where he had established his defense, while Forrest captured his wagon train. Surrounded and out of ammunition, Coburn surrendered with 1,500 of his troops. The Confederates lost only 350.

Battle of Parker's Crossroads

Forrest

Nathan Bedford Forrest, Confederate cavalry commander, after embarking on another of his raids on December 11th, had scored a victory at the Battle of Lexington on the 18th. He would spend the next week destroying railroad tracks crucial to the Union supply lines. As the Union forces began to move towards him, he decided to fall back before he was surrounded and destroyed. As he moved in the vicinity of Parker's Crossroads, Tennessee, he decided to turn and attack the brigade of Col. Cyrus Dunham. Dunham, encountering the Confederate artillery, fell back and formed a defensive line. Forrest ordered his troops to dismount and attack, sending columns around to hit the Union flank while making feints on the front. Forrest, in his usual methods, sent a message to Dunham demanding his unconditional surrender. Dunham refused, but as the battle continued to progress, Forrest was surprised by firing in his rear. Another Union brigade of cavalry under John Fuller had arrived, the Confederate scouts having failed to detect their approach. Outnumbered and surrounded, Forrest did not even think of surrender. "Charge 'em both ways," he ordered. The Confederate troops, turning from Dunham, struck Fuller's force, and after repulsing them moved south, escaping from their dangerous situation. After the battle, Forrest was able to cross the Tennessee River to safety. The Federals had failed to catch Forrest, even when he was in the palm of their hand.

Fuller

Battle of Lexington, Tennessee

Nathan Bedford Forrest left Columbia, Tennessee on a raid on December 11, 1862. He had been ordered by General Braxton Bragg, Confederate commander in the area, to stage this raid to cut Union supply lines. On December 17th, Forrest's advance towards Lexington, Tennessee was detected by Colonel Robert Ingersoll, who had about 650 raw men under his command. Forrest had about 2,500 experienced troopers. There were two roads to Lexington, the Old Stage Road and the Lower Road. Ingersoll ordered a bridge to be destroyed on the Lower Road so he could focus all his men on the Old State Road.

On the morning of December 18th, 150 years ago today, as Forrest advanced up the Lower Road, he found the bridge still intact. The Yankee scouts had failed to destroy it. The Confederates were able to move around the Federal flank and catch them competely by suprise. Ingersoll tried to wheel his troops around the meet the threat, but before that could be done they were fleeing in a panic. In the rout that followed, Forrest's cavalry captured Ingersoll, 140 of his men, artillery, supplies and horses, and scattered the rest of the Union far and wide. In the following days Forrest pushed onward in another successful raid, destroying bridges and cutting Union supply lines.

Battle of Fallen Timbers

The day after the bloody battle of Shiloh, 150 years ago today, Grant sent Sherman forward to pursue the Confederates. He brought along two brigades of infantry and a few cavalry troopers, and Wood's division from Buell. Six miles from Pittsburg Landing, they encountered 350 Confederate cavalry under Nathan Bedford Forrest. Sherman sent infantry skirmishers through a 200 yard section of road covered by Fallen Timbers, from which the skirmish would take its name. Forrest ordered his troops forward, and they charged the Union skirmishers. They surprised the Yankees, cutting and slashing their way forward. This was Forrest's method of tactics. He knew little of traditional warfare, but developed his own methods that were very successful. His men riding through the disorganized Federals, captured 43 men, and almost Sherman himself. However, he suddenly stumbled upon the main body of Union infantry. The Confederates pulled up their horses, but Forrest kept riding, unaware of his men's halt. Ploughing into the Federal line, he soon realized he was all alone. He hacked and slashed the Federals with his pistol and saber as they tried to pull him down from his horse. Finally breaking free, he grabbed a soldier by the collar and rode back to his men, holding the Northerner behind him as a shield from bullets. He made it back to his amazed troopers, and it was found that he was seriously wounded with a bullet in his spine. He survived his wound and would continued to fight the Federals throughout the war. Sherman did not continue his pursuit much further, and he allowed Beauregard to return to Corinth, Mississippi without serious pursuit.

Fort Donelson Invested

After capturing Fort Henry on February 9, Grant and his superiors moved the army and fleet to attempt to capture Fort Donelson, a few miles away on the Cumberland River. Johnson, Confederate commander in the west, decided to reinforce Fort Donelson with 12,000 more men. He appointed Brigadier General Floyd to the command of the place. Floyd was the senior Confederate brigadier General. He was Secretary of War during secession, and it was believed in the North that he had attempted to help the South in the position, although that was probably not the case. Fort Donelson controled was a very important position, and if captured it would open up the Cumberland river to be used to ferry Union troops to invade deeper into the South.

Forrest

Fort Donelson was located in a much better position than Fort Henry. It was 100 feet above the river, allowing for the guns to fire down on passing ships. On the land side there were three miles of trenches on a ridge, supported by artillery. The fort's garrison was 17,000 men to resist the Union force of 25,000. The Confederates had a force of cavalry under Nathan Bedford Forrest. He would show himself to be one of the greatest cavalry generals in the Civil War.

Floyd

On February 12 Grant marched his troops the five miles from Fort Henry to Fort Donelson. The gunboats came up as well, and fired a few shells to test the defenses of the fort. Although Grant ordered there to be no attacks on the Southern trenches, his orders were disobeyed. Several attacks were ordered by subordinates, and were repulsed by the Confederates. On the night of February 13th it turned cold, and three inches of snow fell. The soldiers on both sides were miserable, being under enemy fire and not being able to light fires to warm themselves.