Department of Environment & Conservation
Jim Fyke, Commissioner

Tennessee Historical Commission

Fight for West Tennessee

Hunt-Phelan House as Federal Hospital

In the spring of 1862, Union strategy continued to focus on Tennessee and the grand objective of controlling the Mississippi River. Fresh from the triumph at Island No. 10, Commodore Foote's gunboat squadron steamed down river to join General John Pope's infantry in another combined army-navy assault. The target this time was the next Confederate stronghold on the Mississippi River, Fort Pillow. The attack stalled when Pope's troops were ordered elsewhere, and Confederate rams challenged the Union flotilla at Plum Point Bend. Despite these setbacks, Beauregard's retreat from Corinth left Fort Pillow in an untenable position, and, on June 3, the Confederate garrison abandoned the fort.

The Federal's Mississippi River fleet – now reinforced by Charles Ellet's swift rams – seemed unstoppable as it descended on Memphis. In a brief battle below the city bluffs on June 6, 1862, Union ironclads and rams made short work of a brave, but out-gunned Rebel fleet, sinking 7 of its 8 boats. Many residents of the city had foreseen the outcome of the Battle of Memphis and already fled, while troops destroyed what military supplies could not be carried away. For the second time, Tennessee's secessionist leaders had to flee Federal forces as Memphis, the capital of state government since the fall of Nashville, came under Union control.

With its railhead, docks and shipyards, Memphis became a vital Federal depot and command center for operations along the river. Tens of thousands of Federal soldiers came through Memphis during the war, including the sick and wounded housed in military hospitals such as the Hunt-Phelan House. Outlying towns along the Memphis and Charleston Railroad, particularly LaGrange, served as jumping-off points for Union incursions into Mississippi.

After Major General Earl Van Dorn's Confederates were beaten at Corinth in October, 1862, they retreated across the state line into Tennessee. Attempting to cross the Hatchie River at Davis Bridge near Pocahontas, they met fierce resistance from Generals Stephen Hurlburt and E. O. C. Ord's Federals. Van Dorn's force was in danger of being crushed between two Union contingents, until the Confederates found another way to cross the Hatchie and escape into Mississippi. This was the last time that any large body of Southern infantry would operate in the region. Though generally pro-Confederate, west Tennessee was occupied by Union troops for the duration of the war.

For the last two years of the war, Confederate military activity in west Tennessee was limited to cavalry raids led by Nathan Bedford Forrest, one of the most brilliant officers and cavalry tacticians of the war. A Memphis merchant and slave dealer, Forrest mustered in as a private and ended the war as a lieutenant general. He specialized in launching lightning raids against Union-held towns or positions, inflicting maximum damage, then disappearing into the countryside. Forrest's reputation inspired such fear and respect among Federal commanders that they sometimes surrendered without a shot being fired.

In December of 1862, Forrest's brigade of 2,100 cavalrymen crossed the Tennessee River and headed toward Jackson and the Mobile and Ohio Railroad. Hoping to disrupt Grant's Vicksburg campaign, Forrest executed a series of punishing raids against Union positions. He captured garrisons at Trenton, Humboldt, Dyersburg, and Union City and destroyed large amounts of railroad track. Two brigades of Federal infantry caught up with Forrest at Parker's Crossroads on December 31. Forrest's cavalry – for once taken by surprise – appeared to be caught between enemy lines, but Forrest parried each threat in turn and escaped the trap before his attackers could react. Elements of Forrest's brigade had fought earlier with Union cavalry at the Battle of Britton Lane near Jackson, capturing a number of prisoners and a supply train.

Early in 1864, Forrest's cavalry reentered west Tennessee to continue raiding. On April 12, he attacked the Union garrison at Fort Pillow and killed 64% of the U. S. Colored Troops inside the fort when they refused to surrender. Northern newspapers made the "Fort Pillow Massacre" a rallying cry against any negotiated peace with the South. In August, Forrest launched a daring daytime raid into Memphis itself. He failed in his objectives of capturing Union generals and releasing Confederate prisoners, although the mayhem he caused drew some Federal troops out of northern Mississippi.

By autumn of 1864, Confederate commanders were looking for a way to disrupt Major General William T. Sherman's hold on Atlanta and stymie his anticipated thrust into south Georgia. They turned to Forrest and his horse soldiers to wreak havoc with Sherman's supply line in Tennessee. The target was Johnsonville, a new railhead, river port, and supply depot on the Tennessee River. Forrest's men hauled artillery into a well-concealed position opposite Johnsonville and, on November 4, laid a withering fire into the docks, heaps of supplies, boats and barges. By nightfall, everything was ablaze. At the cost of 2 killed and 9 wounded, "that devil Forrest" (Sherman's words) destroyed 33 vessels and more than $6 million of Federal property and took 150 prisoners. Uncertainty caused by Forrest's raids in his rear may have influenced Sherman's decision to cut his supply lines during his "March to the Sea" and live off the Georgia countryside.

One of Forrest's Men.
Painting by Don Troiani.