LaGrange in Fayette County, Tennessee — The American South (East South Central)

Grierson's Raid

Apr. 17, 1863

By Craig Swain, March 16, 2009

1. Grierson's Raid Marker

Inscription. Click to hear the inscription.

From here, Col. Benjamin H. Grierson's task force (6th Ill., 7th Ill., 2nd Ind. Cav., Btry "K", 1st Ill. Art.) raided into the deep south. Using as advanced guard Federals in Confederate uniform and other stratagems, he cut the Mobile & Ohio RR at West Point, destroyed the Vicksburg RR at Newton Sta., and otherwise disrupted Pemberton's measures for defending Vicksburg. He arrived in Federal territory at Baton Rouge May 3, 1863.

Erected by Tennessee Historical Commission. (Marker Number 4E 59.)

Marker series. This marker is included in the Tennessee Historical Commission marker series.

Location. 35° 2.73′ N, 89° 14.631′ W. Marker is in LaGrange, Tennessee, in Fayette County. Marker is on 3rd Street (State Highway 57), on the right when traveling west. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Moscow TN 38057, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 3 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. La Grange (a few steps from this marker); LaGrange (within shouting distance of this marker); Immanuel Church (about 300 feet

By Craig Swain, March 16, 2009

2. Grierson's Raid Marker

away, measured in a direct line); Home of Lucy Holcombe Pickens (about 700 feet away); Lucy Petway Holcombe Pickens House (approx. ¼ mile away); The Gloster - Anderson Graveyard (approx. half a mile away); Woodlawn (approx. 1.4 miles away); First Bird Dog Field Trials (approx. 2.9 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in LaGrange.

Also see . . .
1. Grierson's Raid. Some have called the raid the most effective of the Civil War. (Submitted on May 24, 2009, by Craig Swain of Leesburg, Virginia.)

2. The Music Teacher's Raid. Part of the New York Times' Disunion series, Thom Basset's article (5/15/2013) tells the story of Grierson's raid: ...Grierson’s remaining troopers, now totaling fewer than a thousand and utterly beyond the reach of Union aid, would wreak havoc across Mississippi over the next two weeks. They tore up miles of railroad, burned countless bridges and water towers and repeatedly cut telegraph communications across the state. As the raiders moved south they captured and paroled over a thousand Confederates, and they destroyed 500 stands of arms, dozens of rail cars, several thousand loaded shells and large amounts of food supplies
By Craig Swain, March 16, 2009

3. West out of LaGrange
Grierson's Raid, which distracted Confederate attention from movements made by General Grant against Vicksburg, started in LaGrange. This view looks west from the main intersection in town. The raiders actually left LaGrange using the wartime Holly Springs Road, which ran beside Twin Gables, the house of John R. Blake. A trace of that road is visible off 3rd Street. That site is about a half mile west of the marker, near the Gloster-Anderson Graveyard Marker.
(including 50,000 pounds of rebel bacon in a single day)....As Grierson explained after the war, the raid’s success flowed from a startlingly simple idea. “I considered what [the] rebel commanders would do as capable military men,” he wrote, “and what they would expect me to do. Then I did not do what was expected of me.” (Submitted on May 16, 2013.)

Categories. • War, US Civil •

<i>Colonel Grierson, Sixth Illinois Cavalry - From a Photo by Jacobs of New Orleans image. Click for full size.

By Cover of Harpers Weekly, Vol. VII, No. 336, June 6, 1863

4. Colonel Grierson, Sixth Illinois Cavalry - From a Photo by Jacobs of New Orleans

Image courtesy of the Library of Congress.

More. Search the internet for Grierson's Raid.

Credits. This page was last revised on June 16, 2016. This page originally submitted on May 24, 2009, by Craig Swain of Leesburg, Virginia. This page has been viewed 2,704 times since then and 8 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on May 24, 2009, by Craig Swain of Leesburg, Virginia. 4. submitted on May 16, 2013.