Three Desperate Charges

Confederate forces pressed forward and took the high ground abandoned by Union troops as Forrest advanced his line into small-arms range and Confederate artillerists pushed their guns to within less than 200 yards for renewed fire. Dunham's men charged the guns through canister and grape, and part of the Federal line came within 60 paces before being driven back by intense fire. Dunham then ordered another charge against batteries to his front and right while Confederate Colonel Alonzo Napier launched a counterattack against the 39th Iowa on the Union left from the Huntingdon-Lexington Road. Napier and some of his men reached the split-rail fence, where he was mortally wounded while standing on it, giving the Union only a brief advantage. As Forrest shifted troops to encircle the Union position, he weakened the south-facing Confederate line to a single regiment, Dibrell's 8th Tennessee, and Dunham tried to exploit the opening with an attack there, but crossfire from canister and shrapnel drove his men back behind the fence. Forrest then carried out a double envelopment, striking the Union front, rear, and flanks at once. During the first Union charge, Colonel John Rinaker of the 122nd Illinois was severely wounded below the right knee, severing an artery, and James Drish helped move him behind a tree and tied handkerchiefs around his leg, saving his life.

Parker's Crossroads, Tennessee · United States