Napier's Assault on the 39th Iowa

Napier's Assault on the 39th Iowa. . , Fresh Recruits Join Forrest , A few days before the battle, Lieut. Colonel Alonzo Napier's 430-man battalion joined General Nathan B. Forrest's command. Captured after the Battle of Fort Donelson in February 1862, Napier escaped while being transported to a prison camp in the north. He returned to West Tennessee, where he recruited cavalry for the Confederacy., Napier joined Forrest as the West Tennessee raid was drawing to a conclusion. The addition of his battalion, which had two 12-pounder mountain howitzers, gave Forrest more artillery and fresh soldiers to send against Colonel Cyrus Dunham., On the Union Left , Napier's battalion occupied a rise just south of the crossroads, with cannon placed in front of their position. His troops and artillery formed the western segment of the Confederate arc around the Union line. Facing Napier's dismounted troopers was the inexperienced 39th Iowa Infantry. The regiment had been rushed to the front shortly after being mustered in on November 24. They arrived in Jackson just in time to help repel Forrest's attack on the city., Cannon Fire Rakes the Union Line , Colonel Henry J.B. Cummings' 450 Iowans faced equal numbers, but Napier was supported by artillery. The "murderous fire" unleashed on the Union left punished Cummings' men. They were not alone. Confederate artillery fired across the entire Union line, inflicting heavy casualties from one end to the other., The Iowans Hold , The Confederate attack squeezed both ends of the Union line, folding it in. Forrest planned to send his men around both ends of the line, flank the Federals, and force them to retreat. On the west end of the Union line, Napier's battalion pushed the 39th Iowans, but they fought for every inch of ground. Though forced to fall back, they kept fighting., (captions) , Napier's battalion was armed with two 12-pounder mountain howitzers like the one above, which is shown hooked to a limber carrying an ammunition chest. , The inexperienced 39th Iowa fought desperately to hold their ground but were forced to fall back under punishing fire from Col. Alonzo Napier's artillery. , Col. Henry J.B. Cummings, 39th Iowa Infantry