On the last day of April, Forrest and his 600 cavalrymen tangled with Streight’s 1,500 soldiers on Sand Mountain. Over the next few days, the Confederates chased Streight’s raiders through the northern part of the state. The Yankee soldiers destroyed Confederate property and captured Gadsden, Alabama, but they were eventually defeated before they reached their destination of Rome, Georgia. On the morning of May 3, 1863, Forrest and his men caught up with the exhausted Union soldiers near the Alabama-Georgia border. Although Forrest arrived with forces only half the size of Streight’s, the Confederate general believed he could trick his foe into surrendering. Knowing that Streight would only be able to glimpse the Confederates through the trees, Forrest ordered his artillery section to march in a circle. To the Yankee commander, it appeared that Forrest’s forces were much larger than they were. Forrest demanded unconditional surrender and insisted that he had “enough [men] to whip you out of your boots.” With that, Streight surrendered his men near Lawrence, Alabama. He and his men were taken to Libby Prison in Richmond, Virginia, and Streight remained there until he escaped in February of 1864. Meanwhile, Forrest was lauded throughout Alabama and other portions of the Deep South for protecting Confederate supply lines from destruction.
The spring of 1863 brought Yankees into Alabama once again, but this time, rather than occupying towns, the federal troops were bent on raiding the state and destroying Confederate supply lines. Union troops, led by Gen. Abel D. Streight, began their journey in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, in April, where they separated from Gen. William Rosecrans’s army. From there, Streight and his men headed along the Tennessee River toward Alabama. They aimed to cut through northern Alabama on the way to Rome, Georgia, and there blow up the railroads that carried Confederate supplies to Chattanooga. Unfortunately for the Union army, the expedition was a disaster from the beginning. Streight’s soldiers, who were trained as infantrymen, were given mules to carry them over the mountains of North Alabama. At first, using mules seemed a fine substitute for the lack of horses, but the animals–true to their reputation–did not cooperate and slowed progress. The raiders soon became known as the “Jackass Cavalry.” If temperamental mules did not cause enough difficulties, Streight’s men also had to deal with Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest, perhaps the best cavalry commander of the Confederacy, who was already famous for his brilliant fighting in North Alabama and the Tennessee Valley. From the beginning, the Union army's plan had been to deceive the Confederates into thinking that Streight’s raid was part of a larger raid on the Tennessee Valley. Initially, the federals were successful in their trick, and Forrest headed to Tuscumbia, where Union troops under the command of G. M. Dodge had invaded on April 24. Quickly, however, Forrest figured out that the fighting in Tuscumbia was nothing more than a decoy, and he set off across Alabama in pursuit of Streight.
On the last day of April, Forrest and his 600 cavalrymen tangled with Streight’s 1,500 soldiers on Sand Mountain. Over the next few days, the Confederates chased Streight’s raiders through the northern part of the state. The Yankee soldiers destroyed Confederate property and captured Gadsden, Alabama, but they were eventually defeated before they reached their destination of Rome, Georgia. On the morning of May 3, 1863, Forrest and his men caught up with the exhausted Union soldiers near the Alabama-Georgia border. Although Forrest arrived with forces only half the size of Streight’s, the Confederate general believed he could trick his foe into surrendering. Knowing that Streight would only be able to glimpse the Confederates through the trees, Forrest ordered his artillery section to march in a circle. To the Yankee commander, it appeared that Forrest’s forces were much larger than they were. Forrest demanded unconditional surrender and insisted that he had “enough [men] to whip you out of your boots.” With that, Streight surrendered his men near Lawrence, Alabama. He and his men were taken to Libby Prison in Richmond, Virginia, and Streight remained there until he escaped in February of 1864. Meanwhile, Forrest was lauded throughout Alabama and other portions of the Deep South for protecting Confederate supply lines from destruction. Comments are closed.
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Becoming Alabama:
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