Battle of Brice's Crossroads

Battle of Brice's Crossroads
Part of the American Civil War
Brice's Cross Roads National Historic Site
Date June 10, 1864 (1864-06-10) Location Near Baldwyn, Mississippi 34°30′22″N 88°43′44″W / 34.50611°N 88.72889°W / 34.50611; -88.72889 Result Confederate victory
Belligerents
Confederate States	United States
Commanders and leaders
Nathan Bedford Forrest	Samuel D. Sturgis
Strength
3,500 cavalry	4,800 infantry 3,300 cavalry 22 guns
Casualties and losses
96 killed 396 wounded	223 killed 394 wounded 1,623 missing/captured 16 guns
Brice's Crossroads Location within the state of Mississippi Show map of Mississippi Brice's Crossroads Location within the state of Mississippi Show map of the US

The Battle of Brice's Crossroads, also known as the Battle of Tishomingo Creek and the Battle of Guntown, was fought on Friday, June 10, 1864, near Baldwyn, Mississippi, then part of the Confederate States of America. A Federal expedition from Memphis, Tennessee, of 4,800 infantry and 3,300 cavalry, under the command of Brigadier-General Samuel D. Sturgis, was defeated by a Confederate force of 3,500 cavalry under the command of Major-General Nathan Bedford Forrest. The battle was a victory for the Confederates. Forrest inflicted heavy casualties on the Federal force and captured more than 1,600 prisoners of war, 18 artillery pieces, and wagons loaded with supplies. Once Sturgis reached Memphis, he asked to be relieved of command.

In March 1864, Lieutenant-General Ulysses Grant, newly named General in Chief of the Armies of the United States, and his most trusted subordinate Major-General William Tecumseh Sherman, planned a new, coordinated strategy to cripple the Confederacy and win the war. Grant would smash General Robert E. Lee's army in Virginia and head for Richmond. At the same time, Sherman would destroy the other main Confederate force, the Army of Tennessee, and seize the key city of Atlanta. Calling itself the "Gate City of the South," Atlanta was the strategic back door to the Confederate States. It was the South's most productive arsenal after Richmond and a critical transportation hub: Four railroads radiating from the city carried supplies to Confederate forces.