Battle of Munfordville

Date	September 14, 1862 (1862-09-14) – September 17, 1862 (1862-09-17)
Location	Hart County, Kentucky
Result	Confederate the victory

Belligerents

United States (Union)

CSA (Confederacy)

Commanders and leaders

John T. Wilder

Cyrus Dunham

Simon Bolivar Buckner
James Ronald Chalmers

Units involved

Munfordville Garrison
Army of the Ohio

Army of Mississippi

Casualties and losses

4,148

714

The Battle of Munfordville (also known as the Battle of Green River) was an engagement in Kentucky during the American Civil War. Victory there allowed the Confederates to temporarily strengthen their hold on the region and impair Union supply lines.

On August 26, 1862, Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg's army left Chattanooga, Tennessee and marched north through Sparta, TN and then to Glasgow, KY. Pursued by Maj. Gen. Don Carlos Buell's Union Army, Bragg approached Munfordville, a station on the Louisville & Nashville Railroad and the location of an 1,800 foot long railroad bridge crossing Green River, in mid-September. Col. John T. Wilder commanded the Union garrison at Munfordville, which consisted of three regiments behind extensive fortifications.

Wilder's force was first approached by Brig. Gen. James R. Chalmers who marched on Munfordville from Cave City, KY without orders. Chalmers had received an erroneous report from cavalry under Kirby Smith that the federal force in Munfordville had "not more than 1,800 men, entirely raw troops, and that they were fortifying their position, but that the railroad and telegraph had been destroyed in their rear, cutting them off completely from all communication and re-enforcements." Upon arriving on September 14, Chalmers demanded a surrender, which was rejected, and then proceeded to launch frontal assaults that were repulsed by the federal defenders. Chalmers' brigade suffered 288 casualties in the attacks before retreating back to Cave City.

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Wikipedia