Brice's Cross Roads, MS
[Brice's Cross Roads National Battlefield
Courtesy of Wikipedia]
Date(s):
June 10, 1864
Location:
Please click on link below for map.
Brices Cross Roads NBS (park), Mississippi, United States
Campaign(s):
Forrest’s Defense of Mississippi
[1864]
Battles in
Campaign:
Situation:
-
At the beginning of June 1864,
Maj. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest set out
with his cavalry corps of about 2,000 men to enter Middle Tennessee and destroy
the Nashville & Chattanooga Railroad, which was carrying men and supplies to
Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman in Georgia.
Commanders:
-
Union:
Brig. Gen. Samuel D. Sturgis
-
Confederate:
Maj. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest
Principal Forces:
-
Union:
Three-brigade division of
infantry and a division of cavalry (about 8,500 )
-
Confederate:
Cavalry Corps (about 3,200)
Description:
-
On June 10, 1864,
Forrest’s smaller Confederate force defeated a much larger Union
column under Brig. Gen. Samuel Sturgis at
Brice's Cross Roads.
-
At 9:45 a.m., a
brigade of
Benjamin H. Grierson's
Union cavalry division reached Brice's Crossroads and the battle started at
10:30 a.m. when the Confederates performed a stalling operation with a brigade
of their own.
-
Forrest then ordered
the rest of his cavalry to converge around the crossroads.
-
The remainder of
the Union cavalry arrived in support, but a strong Confederate assault
soon pushed them back at 11:30 a.m., when the balance of
Forrest's cavalry arrived on
the scene.
-
Grierson called for infantry support
and Sturgis obliged. The line held
until 1:30 p.m. when the first regiments of Federal infantry arrived.
-
The Union line,
initially bolstered by the infantry, briefly seized the momentum and
attacked the Confederate left flank, but
Forrest launched an attack from his extreme right and left
wings, before the rest of the federal infantry could take to the field.
-
In this phase of
the battle, Forrest commanded
his artillery to unlimber, unprotected, only yards from the Federal
position, and to shell the Union line with grapeshot.
-
The massive
damage caused Sturgis to re-order the
line in a tighter semi-circle around the crossroads, facing east.
-
At 3:30, the
Confederates in the 2nd Tennessee Cavalry assaulted the bridge across the
Tishomingo.
-
Although the
attack failed, it caused severe confusion among the Federal troops and
Sturgis ordered a general retreat.
-
With the
Confederate in pursuit, the retreat bottlenecked at the bridge and a
panicked rout developed.
-
The ensuing wild
flight and pursuit back to Memphis carried across six counties before the
exhausted Confederates retired.
-
This brilliant tactical victory against long odds
cemented Forrest’s reputation as one
of the foremost mounted infantry leaders of the war.
Slide Presentation:
None
Classification2:
B
Casualties3:
-
Union:
2,610
-
Confederate:
495
Results:
 Confederate
Victory
Battlefield Websites:
Recommended
Resources:
1 National Park
Service summary.
2
Classification:
-
A
- having a decisive influence on a
campaign and a direct impact on the course of the war
-
B -
having a direct and decisive influence on their campaign
-
C -
having observable influence on the
outcome of a campaign
-
D
-
having a limited influence on the
outcome of their campaign or operation but achieving or affecting important
local objectives
3 Casualties are
someone killed, injured, wounded, captured or missing.
Revised
07/28/2008 |
