Van Dorn Enters Holly Springs

Van Dorn Enters Holly Springs. Stop 4 Van Dorn Raid:. , Near the Salem Street bridge over the Mississippi Central Railroad Van Dorn's cavalry column divided into three attacking parties. The first moved to subdue the Union cavalry at the Marshall County Fairgrounds. The second attacked the infantry encamped in the fields in front of the railroad depot. And the third confronted the infantry encamped in the Town Square. , McCulloch's 1st Mississippi Cavalry raced east down Salem Avenue and north toward the 2nd Illinois Cavalry at the fairgrounds. McCulloch's 2nd Missouri Cavalry dismounted and attacked the camp of the 101st Illinois Infantry south of Salem Avenue and east of the railroad. Griffith's troopers of the 3rd, 6th, and 9th Texas Cavalry charged through the Federal infantry camp, past the railroad depot and down Depot Street to the camp of the Federal infantry in the Town Square. For security, Jackson's Tennesseans rode north of town to guard against Federal reinforcements from that direction. , When Van Dorn's men gained control of Holly Springs, they burned the unoccupied Federal hospital, located one-half mile north beside the Mississippi Central Railroad. Before the Civil War, the hospital buildings had housed the Jones-McElwain Iron Foundry which, among other things, cast decorative iron grillwork. In 1861 the Confederate government turned the foundry into the Confederate States Armory at Holly Springs for the manufacture of firearms. After Corinth fell into Union hands in May 1862, the Confederates removed the armory machinery. When the Federals occupied Holly Springs in November 1862, they converted the empty buildings into a 2,000-bed hospital. , Donated to the People of the United States by Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth Johnson of Virginia., Photo captions: , Left: Downtown Holly Springs Map , Top right: Confederate Cavalrymen , Bottom right: Confederate Armory/Union Hospital (Harper's Weekly January 10, 1863)