Narrowly Avoided Defeat

— Forrest's First West Tennessee Raid —

Late in 1862, the Union army under Ulysses S. Grant threatened Vicksburg, Mississippi. Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg ordered Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest to sever Grant's West Tennessee supply line which extended from Columbus, Kentucky, via the Mobile and Ohio Railroad, Forrest led his cavalry brigade on a raid to destroy track and bridges in West Tennessee, Dec. 15, 1862 - Jan. 3, 1863. He and his men crossed the Tennessee River at Clifton, defeated Union Col. Robert G. Ingersoll's cavalry at Lexington, captured Trenton and Union City. and ranged briefly into Kentucky. On Christmas Day, Forrest led his brigade back into Tennessee. To stop him, Union Gen. Jeremiah C. Sullivan sent brigades under Cols. Cyrus C. Dunham and John W. Fuller in pursuit. Here at Parker's Crossroads on Dec. 31, Forrest narrowly avoided defeat. He and his men crossed the river again at Clifton on Jan. 1. This successful raid led Grant to move his supply base to Memphis.

Tennessee Civil War Trails invites you to explore the Parker's Crossroads battlefield and other sites related to Forrest's raid.

Sidebar: Nathan Bedford Forrest, a blacksmith's son, was born in the backcountry of Chapel Hill, Bedford Co., Tenn., on July 13, 1821. Overcoming early poverty, he was first a small-town merchant in Mississippi before becoming a successful slave trader and planter by 1861. When the war began, he enlisted in the Tennessee Mounted Rifles as a private; by the end, he had earned the rank of lieutenant general. Never formally educated, he had an innate grasp of tactics and was a fearsome Confederate cavalry commander. After the war, Forrest returned to farming and became a business promoter. He also headed the first Ku Klux Klan as its Grand Wizard before disbanding it in 1869. Forrest died in Memphis on Oct. 29, 1877.

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Show me all markers in:  Wildersville, TN  |  Henderson County  |  38388  |  Tennessee  |  United States of America

McPeake Cabin
The Lexington-Huntingdon Road
A Very Successful Campaign
Lt. Col. Alonzo Napier
Nathan Bedford Forrest
Battlefield Overview
Battle of Parker's Crossroads
Withdrawal to the Split-Rail Fence
Three Desperate Charges
Union Wagon Train

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