Injuring Sherman

Injuring Sherman. . By the fall of 1864, the Civil War was not going well for the Confederacy. The Union invasion of the Deep South continued to ravage both the military and civilian population of the war-torn region. In an attempt to halt the advance, Confederate Lt. Gen Richard Taylor, son of former U. S. president Zachary Taylor, ordered Maj. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest in mid-October to try and disrupt the supply-line of Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman's army in Georgia. Forrest's objective was to blockade the Tennessee River followed by an attack on the Union depot at Johnsonville., "You (Forrest) will know best how to effect the grand object of injuring Sherman." , Lt. Gen. Richard Taylor (CS), Occupying Ft. Heiman , On October 16, Forrest left Corinth, Mississippi, and moved his command north to Jackson, Tennessee, where he was joined by Brig. Gen. James R. Chalmer's Division on October 20th. On the 24th, they moved to occupy Fort Heiman, Kentucky, just north of Paris Landing, Tennessee. The site was used for less than a year by the Union army following the capture of Ft. Henry in February 1862. There, Forrest emplaced artillery batteries to slow river traffic. By the end of the month, waterborne communication between Johnsonville and the North was temporarily severed., On to Johnsonville , On November 1st, Forrest marched his 3000 cavalrymen through rain and mud south toward Johnsonville. Two days later, he informed Taylor, "My command is in front of Johnsonville, at which place there are 3 gunboats, 7 transports, and a number of barges. I will tomorrow endeavor to sink or destroy them.", At 2:00 P.M., on November 4, Confederate artillery bombarded the depot from the western shore of the Tennessee River. The barrage ignited numerous fires. The Union boats were ordered burned to keep Forrest from using the vessels to cross the river and capture military supplies. Within two hours, much of the Union fleet and millions of dollars in supplies intended for Sherman's army in Georgia were destroyed., Forrest's attack, though brief, was a brilliantly planned and executed victory. As it turned out, however, the engagement came too late to affect the outcome of the war. Union Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman instead cut his own supply line and ordered his troops to live off the land during his "March to the Sea."