Dunham's Artillery is Forced to Withdraw

The campaign against General Nathan Bedford Forrest began badly for the 7th Wisconsin Light Artillery when General Jeremiah Sullivan ordered the battery to Jackson but directed it to leave extra ammunition and horses, caissons, and camp equipage behind. After reaching the city, the six-gun battery was divided, with three guns going with Colonel Cyrus Dunham's brigade and three with Colonel John W. Fuller's brigade, and before leaving Jackson they learned that Confederates had captured everything abandoned earlier. Early in the battle, Dunham pushed a few companies of infantry and the artillery northwest to meet Forrest at Hicks field, where the 7th Wisconsin fared badly in the initial engagement and Confederate Lieutenant Nat Baxter later recalled dismounting one of the Federal guns. Dunham's line then retreated and reformed on the Lexington-Huntingdon road, where the 7th Wisconsin's remaining guns continued to fire. With one gun out of action, Dunham shifted his line north and faced Forrest's troops on what is now Wildersville Road, but the 7th Wisconsin Light Artillery had only twenty rounds of ammunition left. Forrest again unleashed his artillery, the Confederate guns inflicted severe losses, horses dropped one by one, Sergeant Alford Walwork was killed at his post after being wounded, Louis Kohnkie was shot through the shoulder, and surgeon H.L. Halstead added eight more names to the list of killed and wounded. With their ammunition gone, the battered 7th Wisconsin pulled its guns from the field.

Parker's Crossroads, Tennessee · United States