Narrowly Avoided Defeat -- Parker's Crossroads NB, Wildersville TN - Civil War Discovery Trail Sites on Waymarking.com

The Parker's Crossroads National Battlefield is located a few hundred yards south of the I-40 near Wildersville TN.

A US Civil War Discovery Trail sign at the Parker's Crossroads National Battlefield Visitor Center reads as follows:

"PARKER'S CROSSROADS
Narrowly Avoided Defeat

Forrest's First West Tennessee Raid

In 1862, the Union army under Gen. Ulysses S. Grant threatened Vicksburg, Mississippi. Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg ordered Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest to sever Grant's West Tennessee supply line, which extended from Columbus, Kentucky, via the Mobile and Ohio Railroad. Forrest led his cavalry brigade on the raid to destroy tracks and bridges in West Tennessee, Dec. 15, 1862 - Jan. 3, 1863. He and his men crossed the Tennessee River at Clifton, defeated Union Col. Robert G. Ingersoll's cavalry at Lexington, captured Trenton and Union City, and ranged briefly into Kentucky. On Christmas Day, Forrest led his brigade back into Tennessee. To stop them, Union Gen. Jeremiah C. Sullivan sent brigades under Colonels Cyrus C. Dunham and John W. Fuller in pursuit. Here at Parker's Crossroads on December 31, Forrest narrowly avoided defeat. He and his men crossed the river again at Clifton on January 1. The successful raid led Grant to move his supply base to Memphis.

Tennessee Civil War trails invites you to explore the Parker's Crossroads Battlefield and other sites related to Forrest's raid.

[R side]

Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest

Nathan Bedford Forrest, a blacksmith's son, was born in the backcountry of Chapel Hill, Bedford County, Tennessee, on July 13, 1821. Overcoming early poverty, he was first a small town merchant in Mississippi before becoming a successful slave trader and plantar by 1861. When the war began, he enlisted in the Tennessee mounted rifles as a private; by the end he had earned the rank of Lieutenant General. Never formally educated, he had an innate grasp of tactics and was a fearsome Confederate cavalry commander. After the war, Forrest returned to farming and became a business promoter. He also headed the first Ku Klux Klan as its grand Wizard before disbanding it in 1869. Forrest died in Memphis on October 29, 1877."

Type of site: Battlefield Address: 20945 TN-22 Wildersville, TN Admission Charged: No Charge Website: [Web Link] Driving Directions: I-40 to TN 22 at Wildersville Phone Number: Not listed

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