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Unaware of the deadly ambush that lay ahead, General Nathan Bedford Forrest's cavalry column rode south down Cotton Grove Road toward Jackson on the morning of December 19, 1862. Federal troops lie just over the crest of the ridges on both sides of the road. When the head of the column reached a large oak tree next to the road, the Federals loosed a deadly volley killing or wounding both men and horses. The column retreated to the next ridge north, leaving four of the now dismounted troopers behind. Using their dead horses for cover, these men returned fire until captured during the ensuing fight. The Federals reformed behind the iron and wood fence around the cemetery and repelled a brisk cavalry charge, adding to the dead and wounded on the road. Forrest then unlimbered three previously captured artillery pieces and began a heavy shelling of the Federal position. Owing to the cavalry's inexperience with artillery, most of the early rounds fired went over the heads of the prone Yankees and exploded in the treetops around them. Shell fragments are often found in the south woods of the cemetery. As the Confederate gunners began to find their range, the Federal commander, Colonel Adolph Englemann ordered the withdrawal toward Jackson. Forrest had achieved his objective of pinning down the Federals behind their fortifications in Jackson, thus freeing him to make raids against the Federal rail and communication line in West Tennessee. To this end, he withdrew toward Humboldt to continue his campaign.
Approximately 1,000 men were engaged the two hour battle. The exact number of casualities is unknown, but it is estimated that Confederat losses were 60-80 killed, wounded, or missing. Federal losses were 2 killed and 15 wounded. Several of the Confederate dead are buried in the cemetery in unmarked graves, and it is probable that others are buried in the woods surrounding the site. Except for the paving of Cotton Grove Road, all of the narural features, and the road itself, remain unchanged form the time the battle occurred in 1862. |
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