America’s Civil War: Philip Sheridan

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By then, Bradfute knew of the Union attack. Pickets arrived at McNairy’s bivouac with word that Union cavalry was in Booneville, something the Confederate colonel did not understand, since he thought that McCulloch still held the town. Alarmed, Bradfute led McNairy’s battalion toward Booneville. En route, he came across a column of sick Confederates being marched to Iuka under guard. He routed the Federals and followed them as they retreated toward the railroad.

The Confederate troopers soon stumbled upon the Union reserve. Captain Archibald Campbell had dismounted part of the 2nd Michigan Cavalry, and Bradfute believed that about 300 troopers faced him in line of battle, while another 1,000 mounted men waited in reserve behind them. He decided that the best course of action was to fall back about 200 yards to the rear. The Union cavalry subsequently made one attack on his lines before withdrawing to its original position.

Elliott now began to worry about a Confederate counterattack. He heard reports that the Confederate cavalry was massing south of Booneville. To make matters worse, Halleck’s methodical advance on Corinth had finally succeeded. Beauregard had evacuated the town during the night. The entire Confederate army was now between the Union raiders and the main Union forces at Corinth. Elliott felt that he had to move quickly if his command was to escape the rapidly closing trap.

Elliot remained in Booneville until he was sure the Confederates could not put out the fires that Hatch’s men had started. For two or three hours after leaving, he could hear the sound of ammunition exploding inside Booneville. The brigade returned to Farmington to rest.

After the Union victory at Corinth, Pope sought to capture part of Beauregard’s rear guard with a quick, concerted movement. After one day’s rest, Elliott’s brigade was back at Booneville, passing through it toward Blackland on June 4. Besides the two regiments, they had four pieces of artillery. Eight miles from Booneville, they crossed a narrow bridge over Twenty Mile Creek. On the high ground on the far bank, Sheridan’s cavalrymen came upon an enemy in force. Campbell dismounted one battalion of the regiment to hold the enemy in place while the rest of the men crossed the creek. In the small skirmish that followed, Sheridan suffered his first casualties, three men killed and nine wounded. The regiment fell back to Booneville.

On May 27, Sheridan had been a supply captain. Less than two weeks later, he commanded his own cavalry brigade. Elliott was promoted to brigadier general on June 11, and Pope immediately appointed him as his chief of staff. As the ranking officer in the brigade, Sheridan took command of the 2nd Cavalry Brigade. His good luck was holding steady.

The 2nd Cavalry Brigade had been part of Pope’s Army of the Mississippi when it captured Island No. 10, and the troopers had been in the saddle daily since their arrival near Pittsburg Landing at the end of April. In mid-June they again returned to Farmington to rest, but on June 26 Sheridan received orders to take the brigade back to Booneville for a third time.

The Union armies were still in Corinth. Sheridan’s brigade would serve as an outpost if the Confederates tried to make a sudden sortie against them. Sheridan quickly realized that his exposed position was vulnerable to Confederate cavalry. As soon as he arrived there, he surveyed the surrounding countryside to make his own maps. ‘I must confess that my crude sketch did not evidence much artistic merit, but it was an improvement on what we already possessed,’ he said, ‘for it was of the first importance that in our exposed condition we should be equipped with a thorough knowledge of the section in which we were operating.’

Changes had occurred in the Confederate Army, as well. With Beauregard ill, General Braxton Bragg became commander. Bragg appointed Brig. Gen. James R. Chalmers to command the army’s cavalry. On June 30, Bragg set in motion a series of operations that would result in another skirmish at Booneville. The results of the fighting would be many times greater than the fight itself.

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Tags: 19th Century, America's Civil War, American Civil War, Historical Conflicts, Historical Figures

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