Civil War History

Jackson and Madison County’s Civil War history attracts young and old alike.

The city of Jackson was occupied on June 6, 1862 by Federal troops led by General Jeremiah Sullivan. After Fort Henry, Fort Donelson and Shiloh victories in the spring, the Union forces realized that the city of Jackson would be a good central location as a quartermaster depot to disburse supplies. Most Madison County citizens were disappointed and disillusioned by the Federal hold on West Tennessee. Throughout the hot summer months they hoped everyday for liberation by the Confederate Army now quartered in north Mississippi.

On a quiet, dusty county road five miles southeast of Denmark, Tennessee, the first engagement in Madison County took place; a fierce struggle between opposing armies that occurred on September 1, 1862. Colonel Elias S. Dennis and 1500 troops under his command were marching from Estanalua toward Jackson when they received new orders to head toward Medon to stop the Confederates coming from North Mississippi to raid supplies, burn bridges, and destroy rail lines. Col. Dennis’ troops got as far as Denmark on Aug. 31 and camped at the Denmark Presbyterian Church (which still stands today). Confederate General Frank C. Armstrong led his core brigade of 3,300 and three other regiments into West Tennessee with the mission to harass, interdict and destroy the enemy’s supply line. The word that reached Jackson was that Gen. Armstrong had 10,000 men. On Sunday morning, Sept. 1 Col. Dennis advanced guard spotted the Confederates first and had time to bring up their two cannons. At least 100 confederates were reported killed in action as compared to 8 Federal casualties. By 1 p.m. the Confederates, even though they clearly and decisively drove the Federals from their position, captured their artillery and had many of the Union soldiers demoralized and looking to end the fight, Gen. Armstrong retreated. His march took him to Denmark down Estanaula Road toward the Hatchie River. After he ferried across the river, he went back to Northern Mississippi.

Only a half-dozen historical markers dot the site of the Britton’s Lane Battle, and there are no massive battlefield maps or push-button audio tapes to guide the curious observer. Britton's Lane boasts no cannons lining the road as does Shiloh or Stone's River; in fact, the countryside is so calm and pastoral that it's hard to believe the land has witnessed anything more than an occasional disagreement between neighbors. Cllick here to read more about Jackson's Civil War History.

The second engagement at Jackson occurred during Brigadier General Nathan Bedford Forrest's Expedition into West Tennessee, between December 11, 1862, and January 1, 1863. Forrest’s goal was to interrupt the rail supply line to Major General Ulysses S. Grant's army, campaigning down the Mississippi Central Railroad. If General Forrest could destroy the Mobile & Ohio Railroad running south from Columbus, Kentucky through Jackson, Grant would have to curtail or halt his operations.

Forrest's 2,100-man cavalry brigade crossed the Tennessee River on December 15-17, heading west. Major General Grant ordered a troop concentration at Jackson under Brigadier General Jeremiah C. Sullivan and sent a cavalry force out under Colonel Robert G. Ingersoll, to confront Forrest. Forrest, however, smashed the Union cavalry at Lexington on December 18. As Forrest continued his advance the next day, Sullivan ordered Colonel Adolph Englemann to take a small force northeast of Jackson.

At Old Salem Cemetery, acting on the defensive, Englemann's two infantry regiments repulsed a Confederate mounted attack and then withdrew a mile closer to town. To Forrest, the fight amounted to no more than a feint and show of force intended to hold Jackson's Union defenders in place while two mounted columns destroyed railroad track north and south of the town and returned. This accomplished, Forrest withdrew from the Jackson area to attack Trenton and Humboldt.

Thus, although the Federals had checked a demonstration by a portion of Forrest's force, a major accomplishment, other Confederates had fulfilled an element of the expedition's mission.

Unaware of the deadly ambush that lay ahead, General Nathan Bedford Forrest's cavalry column rode south down Cotton Grove Road toward Jackson on the morning of December 19, 1862. Federal troops were waiting just over the crest of the ridges on both sides of the road. When the head of the column reached a large oak tree next to the road, the Federals let loose a deadly volley; killing or wounding both men and horses. The column retreated to the next ridge north, leaving four of the now dismounted troopers behind. Using their dead horses for cover, these men returned fire until captured during the ensuing fight. The Federals reformed behind the iron and wood fence around Salem Cemetery and repelled a brisk cavalry charge, adding to the dead and wounded on the road. General Forrest then unlimbered three previously captured artillery pieces and began heavily shelling Federal troops. Because of the cavalry's inexperience with artillery, most of the early rounds fired went over the heads of the Yankees and exploded in the treetops around them. Shell fragments are often found in the south woods of the cemetery. As the Confederate gunners began to find their range, the Federal commander, Colonel Adolph Englemann, ordered the withdrawal toward Jackson. Forrest had achieved his objective of pinning down the Federals behind their fortifications in Jackson, thus freeing him to make raids against the Federal rail and communication line in West Tennessee. To this end, he withdrew toward Humboldt to continue his campaign.

Approximately 1,000 men were engaged the two hour battle. The exact number of casualties is unknown, but it is estimated that Confederate losses were 60-80 killed, wounded, or missing. Federal losses were 2 killed and 15 wounded. Several of the Confederate dead are buried in the cemetery in unmarked graves, and it is probable that others are buried in the woods surrounding the site. Except for the paving of Cotton Grove Road, all of the natural features, and the road itself, remain unchanged from the time the battle occurred in 1862.

In nearby Parker’s Crossroads, a deadly battle took place December 31, 1862 between the forces of Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest and Union General Jeremiah Sullivan. As General Nathan Bedford Forrest’s expedition into West Tennessee neared its conclusion, Union General Jeremiah C. Sullivan, with the brigades of Colonel Cyrus L. Dunham and Colonel John W. Fuller, attempted to cut Forrest off from withdrawing across the Tennessee River. Dunham’s and Forrest’s march routes, on December 31, 1862, brought them into contact at Parker’s Crossroads. Skirmishing began about 9:00 a.m., with Forrest taking an initial position along a wooded ridge northwest of Dunham at the intersection. Confederate artillery gained an early advantage. Dunham pulled his brigade back a half-mile and redeployed, facing north. His Federals repelled frontal feints until attacked on both flanks and rear by Forrest’s mounted and dismounted troops. During a lull, Forrest sent Dunham a demand for an unconditional surrender. Dunham refused and was preparing for Forrest’s next onset when Fuller’s Union brigade arrived from the north and surprised the Confederates with an attack on their rear; Confederate security detachments had failed to warn of Fuller’s approach. The Confederates briefly reversed front, repelled Fuller, then rushed past Dunham’s demoralized force and withdrew south to Lexington and then across the Tennessee River. Both sides claimed victory, but the Confederate claims appear to have more credence.

As a result of the fall of Forts Henry and Donelson, Confederate Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston, the commander in the area, was forced to fall back, giving up Kentucky and much of West and Middle Tennessee. He chose Corinth, Mississippi, a major transportation center, as the staging area for an offensive against Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and his Army of the Tennessee before the Army of the Ohio, under Maj. Gen. Don Carlos Buell, could join it. The Confederate retrenchment was a surprise, although a pleasant one, to the Union forces, and it took Grant, with about 40,000 men, some time to mount a southern offensive, along the Tennessee River, toward Pittsburg Landing. Grant received orders to await Buell’s Army of the Ohio at Pittsburg Landing. Grant did not choose to fortify his position; rather, he set about drilling his men many of which were raw recruits. Johnston originally planned to attack Grant on April 4, but delays postponed it until the 6th. Attacking the Union troops on the morning of the 6th, the Confederates surprised them, routing many. Some Federals made determined stands and by afternoon, they had established a battle line at the sunken road, known as the “Hornets Nest.” Repeated Rebel attacks failed to carry the Hornets Nest, but massed artillery helped to turn the tide as Confederates surrounded the Union troops and captured, killed, or wounded most. Johnston had been mortally wounded earlier and his second in command, Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard, took over. The Union troops established another line covering Pittsburg Landing, anchored with artillery and augmented by Buell’s men who began to arrive and take up positions. Fighting continued until after dark, but the Federals held. By the next morning, the combined Federal forces numbered about 40,000, outnumbering Beauregard’s army of less than 30,000. Beauregard was unaware of the arrival of Buell’s army and launched a counterattack in response to a two-mile advance by William Nelson’s division of Buell’s army at 6:00 am, which was, at first, successful. Union troops stiffened and began forcing the Confederates back. Beauregard ordered a counterattack, which stopped the Union advance but did not break its battle line. At this point, Beauregard realized that he could not win and, having suffered too many casualties, he retired from the field and headed back to Corinth. On the 8th, Grant sent Brig. Gen. William T. Sherman, with two brigades, and Brig. Gen. Thomas J. Wood, with his division, in pursuit of Beauregard. They ran into the Rebel rearguard, commanded by Col. Nathan Bedford Forrest, at Fallen Timbers. Forrest’s aggressive tactics, although eventually contained, influenced the Union troops to return to Pittsburg Landing. Grant’s mastery of the Confederate forces continued; he had beaten them once again. The Confederates continued to fall back until launching their mid-August offensive.

Places to See

Britton Lane Battlefield
Off I-40 at Exit 76, 280 Britton Lane Trail, Denmark
(731) 935-2209
www.brittonlane1862.madison.tn.us
Restored log cabin used as a hospital on battlefield site. More than 5,000 troops met in battle.

Salem Cemetery Battlefield
Take Exit 85 south and follow signs.
58 Cotton Grove Road
(731) 424-1279
www.salemcemeterybattlefield.com

A self-guided tour amid the monuments honoring Union and Confederate soldiers killed in the December 19, 1862 battle near Jackson. Welcome Center, three tour stops, battle map inlay, five monuments and historical cemetery with reference to David Crockett.

Parker’s Crossroads Battlefield
Self-Guided Driving Tour
I-40 and Highway 22, Exit 108
(731) 968-1220
www.parkerscrossroads.com

The Parkers Crossroads Battlefield Park offers a self-guided driving tour, one and one-half miles of paved walking trails with interpretative signs and battlefield diorama.

Shiloh National Military Park
1055 Pittsburg Landing Road, Shiloh
(731) 689-5696
www.nps.gov/shil

Take Highway 45 South to Selmer, Tennessee. Continue south on Highway 45 to Corinth, Mississippi and the Corinth Civil War Interpretive Center, or take Highway 64 East to Crump, Tennessee, and then Highway 22 South to the Shiloh Battlefield.

Congress established Shiloh National Military Park on December 27, 1894 to commemorate the April 6-7, 1862 battle that raged around Shiloh Church and Pittsburg Landing. Producing more than 23,000 casualties, the battle was the largest engagement in the Mississippi Valley campaign during the Civil War. Originally under the War Department, Shiloh National Military Park was transferred to the National Park Service in the Department of the Interior in 1933. Currently, the park has over 4,200 acres. Shiloh is considered one of the best preserved battlefields in the nation.

Shiloh National Cemetery

In 1866, the War Department established a cemetery on the battlefield of Shiloh, in southwestern Tennessee. In order to bury the dead not only from the April 6-7, 1862, battle of Shiloh but also from all the operations along the Tennessee River, workers began building the “Pittsburg Landing National Cemetery.” Changed to “Shiloh National Cemetery” in 1889, the cemetery holds 3,584 Civil War dead, 2,359 of them unknown. In the fall of 1866, workers disinterred the dead from 156 locations on the battlefield, and 565 different locations along the Tennessee River. Headboards of wood first marked each grave, but were replaced in 1876 and 1877 by granite stones. Tall stones marked the known dead and square, short stones denoted unknown soldiers.

Tennessee River Civil War Tour

Birdsong Resort
255 Marina Road @ Exit 133 off I-40
Camden, TN 38320
(731) 584-7880

Look at the area from a whole different perspective as you enjoy the narrated Civil War Tour. The Tennessee River and many sites along it, were sites of battle during the era. One and two-hour tours by appointment only.