Parker's Crossroads

Parker's Crossroads. “Charge ‘em both ways”. Late in 1862, the Union army Gen. 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 tracks and bridges in West Tennessee, December 15, 1862, January 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, headquartered in Jackson, sent brigades under Cols. Cyrus L. Dunham and John W. Fuller in pursuit. Forrest and his men marched down back roads toward the Tennessee River to elude the Federals, who caught up with them at Parker’s Crossroads on December 31., Forrest narrowly avoided defeat. At first his men fought Dunham’s force to a standstill, but then Fuller’s command appeared in the Confederate rear. Forrest ordered a breakout in each direction: “Charge ‘em both ways.” The counterattacks succeeded, and Forrest and his men crossed the river again at Clifton on January 2, 1863. His successful raid contributed to Grant’s decision to move his supply base to Memphis., Tennessee Civil War Trails invites you to explore the Parker’s Crossroads battlefield at Exit 108, as well as other sites related to Forrest’s raid.