Voices from Tishomingo: Eyewitness Accounts of the Battle of Brice's Cross-Roads

Nathan Bedford Forrest has to be considered one of the most remarkable men of the War Between the States. Although completely untutored in the art and science of war, his aggressive use of rapid movement and concentration of force during his raids have become legendary. The campaigns he led into Union occupied territory anticipated the mobile operations that have become the hallmark of modern land warfare. He achieved these feats of arms through his use of horse soldiers as mounted infantry, thus combining the mobility of cavalry with the hitting power of the foot soldier. This amalgamation of force and rapidity of movement was the key to his great victory on the 10th of June, 1864 at the Battle of Brice's Cross-Roads. This action in north-east Mississippi, also known as Tishomingo Creek by Southerners and Guntown by Yankees, resulted in Forrest's defeating in detail an 8,500 man Union column of cavalry, infantry and artillery, in effect destroyed a force nearly twice the size of his own command. In the following pages is found the testimony of the men who were there, those who fought, and survived that hot day in Mississippi. These are the words, thoughts and stories of the victors and the vanquished, attesting to their pride in triumph, along with excuses and recriminations from the defeated. As editor, I have recorded their testimonies without any alteration and only inserted a few footnotes to clarify some of the more obscure references made by the writers.