A strong Union column from Corinth under Brig. Gen. Grenville M. Dodge invaded the Tennessee Valley in April 1863 to create a diversion while a brigade mounted on mules and commanded by Col. Abel D. Streight tried to march through northern Alabama and cut the Western and Atlantic Railroad near Rome, GA. Col. Philip D. Roddey's Confederate cavalry fought stubborn delaying actions but was driven out of Tuscumbia on April 23. After Brig. Gen. Nathan B. Forrest and his cavalry arrived at Town Creek on April 27 to reinforce Roddey, Dodge advanced to keep the Confederates busy while Streight's raiders left Tuscumbia via Russellville on their expedition. Forrest and Roddey formed a defensive line on the east side of rain-swollen Town Creek, and the battle opened at 7 a.m. on April 28 with a furious artillery duel between eighteen Federal guns and eight Confederate guns. By 3 p.m., Dodge's troops succeeded in crossing the creek using the railroad bridge and footbridges, but the Union forces returned to their camps on the west side for the night and began retreating to Corinth the next day. As they left, Col. Florence M. Cornyn's cavalry burned La Grange College, La Fayette Female Academy, and "everything that would in any way" aid the Confederacy. About 5,700 Union troops fought at Town Creek, including infantry, artillery, and cavalry; Forrest's cavalry included the 4th, 11th, and 19th Tennessee regiments and Morton's Battery, while Roddey's cavalry included the 4th and 53rd Alabama regiments, Julian's and Baxter's battalions, and Ferrell's Battery. Casualties were minor for both armies. After learning from scout James Mhoon that Streight's brigade was in Moulton, Forrest left Courtland before dawn on April 29 in pursuit, and four days later he captured the raiders before they reached their destination, saving General Braxton Bragg's principal line of communication and ending the Federal raid in disaster.