Mississippi, Lee County, near Baldwyn
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Maj. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest "owned" northern Mississippi and southwestern Tennessee in mid-1864, but that was not where the war was being won or lost. Port Hudson, Louisiana, and Vicksburg, Mississippi, had fallen in July 1863, giving the Union control of the Mississippi River. Gen. William T. Sherman was advancing steadily on Atlanta. Grant was engaging Lee at Cold Harbor and Petersburg, Virginia, in the push toward Richmond.
Still, Forrest's command worried Union planners. His cavalry could move fast, and when dismounted, strike hard. Sherman maintained only a single railroad line to supply depots in central Tennessee. Preservation of that rail link was essential if the push toward Atlanta was to continue. That "lifeline" was particularly vulnerable to attack from the southwest - Forrest's theater of operations. These larger considerations brought about the battle at Brice's Cross Roads that took place on June 10, 1864.
Forrest had actually begun to move on Sherman's lines on June 1, 1864, the same day that Brig. Gen. Samual D. Sturgis left Memphis to engage Forrest's attention in Mississippi and Tennessee in order to keep him from mounting an attack on Sherman's supply line. Sturgis left Memphis with 8,100 troops - Forrest was ordered back to Mississippi to meet the Union invasion. After eight days of marching, Sturgis met Forrest's 3,500 cavalry in the dense brush east of Tishomingo Creek.
In the mire and muck of the rain-soaked Mississippi roads, Sturgis has allowed his command to string out for more than six miles. After a brief initial skirmish, Forrest engaged the advance Union cavalry units about noon with a superior force of dismounted cavalry, pushing the northerners back to a second line of battle hastily mounted by arriving infantry. The Union cavalry retired as infantry units were thrown into line as they reached the front - weary from the double-time march along impassable roads and exhausted by the heat of the day. Forrest launched another attack about 2:00 p.m. against the second Union line. Again outnumbered by Forrest's troops, the Yankees broke under several charges. It was only a concerted stand at the Cross Roads by Union artillery and a staunch defense by rear guard infantry at the Tishomingo Creek Bridge that allowed most of the Union troops to retreat west of the bridge.
Forrest's (now mounted) cavalry pressured the retreating Union force for more than 25 miles, resulting in heavy Union losses. Federal losses amounted to 223 killed, 394 wounded, and 1623 missing. Eighteen artillery pieces (of 20) and the entire train of 200 supply wagons were lost. Confederate losses amounted to 96 killed and 396 wounded.
In explaining his victory, Gen. Forrest is quoted as saying, "Well, I got there first with the most men." However, by late July, Atlanta had fallen, Grant laid siege to Petersburg and Richmond in October, and Forrest's command was again bottled up in northern Mississippi by Maj. Gen. Andrew J. Smith. When Forrest finally moved east into Alabama in November to join Maj. Gen. John Bell Hood's ill-fated invasion of central Tennessee, he had little effect on the major theaters of the larger war during 1864.
Inset Photo of Nathan Bedford Forrest
Map Location of Brice's Cross Roads Engagement relative to Grant and Sherman's Campaigns in Virginia and Georgia
(War, US Civil) Includes location, directions, 2 photos, GPS coordinates, map.
Maj. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest "owned" northern Mississippi and southwestern Tennessee in mid-1864, but that was not where the war was being won or lost. Port Hudson, Louisiana, and Vicksburg, Mississippi, had fallen in July 1863, giving the Union control of the Mississippi River. Gen. William T. Sherman was advancing steadily on Atlanta. Grant was engaging Lee at Cold Harbor and Petersburg, Virginia, in the push toward Richmond.Still, Forrest's command worried Union planners. His cavalry could move fast, and when dismounted, strike hard. Sherman maintained only a single railroad line to supply depots in central Tennessee. Preservation of that rail link was essential if the push toward Atlanta was to continue. That "lifeline" was particularly vulnerable to attack from the southwest - Forrest's theater of operations. These larger considerations brought about the battle at Brice's Cross Roads that took place on June 10, 1864.
Forrest had actually begun to move on Sherman's lines on June 1, 1864, the same day that Brig. Gen. Samual D. Sturgis left Memphis to engage Forrest's attention in Mississippi and Tennessee in order to keep him from mounting an attack on Sherman's supply line. Sturgis left Memphis with 8,100 troops - Forrest was ordered back to Mississippi to meet the Union invasion. After eight days of marching, Sturgis met Forrest's 3,500 cavalry in the dense brush east of Tishomingo Creek.
In the mire and muck of the rain-soaked Mississippi roads, Sturgis has allowed his command to string out for more than six miles. After a brief initial skirmish, Forrest engaged the advance Union cavalry units about noon with a superior force of dismounted cavalry, pushing the northerners back to a second line of battle hastily mounted by arriving infantry. The Union cavalry retired as infantry units were thrown into line as they reached the front - weary from the double-time march along impassable roads and exhausted by the heat of the day. Forrest launched another attack about 2:00 p.m. against the second Union line. Again outnumbered by Forrest's troops, the Yankees broke under several charges. It was only a concerted stand at the Cross Roads by Union artillery and a staunch defense by rear guard infantry at the Tishomingo Creek Bridge that allowed most of the Union troops to retreat west of the bridge.
Forrest's (now mounted) cavalry pressured the retreating Union force for more than 25 miles, resulting in heavy Union losses. Federal losses amounted to 223 killed, 394 wounded, and 1623 missing. Eighteen artillery pieces (of 20) and the entire train of 200 supply wagons were lost. Confederate losses amounted to 96 killed and 396 wounded.
In explaining his victory, Gen. Forrest is quoted as saying, "Well, I got there first with the most men." However, by late July, Atlanta had fallen, Grant laid siege to Petersburg and Richmond in October, and Forrest's command was again bottled up in northern Mississippi by Maj. Gen. Andrew J. Smith. When Forrest finally moved east into Alabama in November to join Maj. Gen. John Bell Hood's ill-fated invasion of central Tennessee, he had little effect on the major theaters of the larger war during 1864.
Inset Photo of Nathan Bedford Forrest
Map Location of Brice's Cross Roads Engagement relative to Grant and Sherman's Campaigns in Virginia and Georgia
(War, US Civil) Includes location, directions, 2 photos, GPS coordinates, map.
Brig. Gen. Benjamin Grierson's Federal cavalry (3,300 troops) left Stubbs plantation (nine miles northwest of Brice's Cross Roads) at daybreak on June 10, 1864. By 10:00 a.m. the cavalry had reached Brice's Cross Roads and advance units had encountered "a heavy force of the enemy" along the Baldwyn Road. The cavalry was dismounted and deployed on either side of the road, in the woods at the western edge of a cleared field, one-half mile east of the Cross Roads. Col. George Waring's brigade was astride the road and Col. Edward Winslow's brigade was on the right of Waring's.
By 10:00 a.m. on June 10, 1864, Col. George Waring's Federal cavalry had reached the Cross Roads. The troops deployed on either side of the Baldwyn Road, in the woods at the western edge of a cleared field, one-half mile east of the Cross Roads. Skirmishing between one of Waring's squadrons and advance Confederate squads had already taken place further east on the Baldwyn Road. Facing Waring's troops from the opposing hilltop across a small creek was Col. Hylan B. Lyon's brigade which was soon reinforced by Col. Edmund W. Rucker's brigade on the left. When Col. William W. Johnson's cavalry arrived and was positioned on the right of Lyon, Forrest exploited his advantage in numbers and launched a series of attacks.
Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest led his cavalry brigade on a raid through West Tennessee, Dec. 15, 1962-Jan 3, 1863, destroying railroads and severing Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's supply line between Columbus, Kentucky, and Vicksburg, Mississippi. Forrest 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. He raided back through Tennessee, evaded defeat at Parker's Cross Roads, and crossed the river again at Clifton. Grant changed his supply base to Memphis.
Memorial to Hilliard Almond Wilbanks-Awarded the Medal of Honor in the name of Congress. Rank-Captain United States Air Force; Organization-21st Tactical Air Support Squadron, Nha Trang Air Force Base; Mortally Wounded-near Dalat, Republic of Vietnam 24 February 1967; Entered Service-Atlanta, Georgia; Birthplace-Cornelia, Georgia, 26 July 1933; Burial Site-Fayette Methodist Cemetery, Fayette, Mississippi; Other Medals Awarded-Distinguished Flying Cross, Purple Heart, Air Medal w/18 Oak Leaf Clusters, and Air Force Commendation Medal.
This was the last home of Lt. Gen. Richard S. Ewell, CSA. Here his wife and her son, Maj. Campbell Brown , with Capt. M.C. Campbell and W.J. Webster, bought the first Jersey cattle imported from the Channel Island to Tennessee. Here, also, was developed the "Hal" strain of pacers. Little Brown Jug and his brother, Brown Hal, are buried in the vicinity.
This bluff shows a deep deposit of windblown topsoil known as loess (pronounced LOW-ess). It was formed during the Ice Age when glaciers covered the northern half of the United States. At this time nearly continuous duststorms swept in from the western plains and covered this area with windblown dust to a depth of 30 to 90 feet. Here it rests on sands and clays of an ancient sea. It originally covered a vast region but in this area is now confined to a strip east of the Mississippi River form 3 to 30 miles wide extending from Baton Rouge into Tennessee. Where the old Natchez Trace passed over loess it formed sunken road, in places 20 feet deep.
Originally as Iroquois hunting trail, it became by 1786 the first recorded operating turnpike in America, praised by Thomas Jefferson. In 1810 the Virginia Assembly chartered the Snickers Gap Turnpike Company, authorizing three toll gates between Aldi and Snickers Gap: horse 3 cents; 20 cattle 12 ½ cents; four-wheel carriage 12 ½ cents. A toll booth operated on the Blue Ridge Mountain until 1915. The Turnpike today is a Virginia Byway overlooking the same landscape George Washington traveled between 1748 and 1788, often stopping at West's Ordinary near Aldie and Edward Snickers' Inn and ferry on the Shenandoah River.
U.S. Reserve Cutter built in N.C. 1791. Ship was commissioned in 1792 by Revenue Marine (now U.S. Coast Guard), ¼ miles west.
U.S. Coast Guard Cutter stationed in New Bern from 1907 until 1947.
In 1881, Tennessee native George L. Porter (1854-1928) wed Roxie Brooks (1863-1927), daughter of early Hill County official Cincinattus Ney Brooks. George was a merchant in nearby Peoria (6 mi. W) and later served as an officer in Sturgis National and Citizens National banks in Hillsboro. The Porters were community leaders and active members of Hillsboro's First Baptist Church. In 1901, Roxie's brother O.D. Brooks constructed this Queen Anne style house, selling it to the couple that same year. It features a wrapped porch, Tuscan columns, decorative shingling, and a massed plan with hipped roof and cross gables. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2004
Col. Peter Lamar
