Early in November 1863, as Union Gen. William T. Sherman moved east to relieve the Union army at Chattanooga, Confederate Gen. Joseph E. Johnston ordered Gen. James R. Chalmers to harass Sherman's rear and break the railroad behind him. Chalmers planned a demonstration at Collierville or Germantown, five miles west of here, to distract Federal cavalry and let Col. Robert V. Richardson's brigade destroy track between La Grange and Corinth. After scouts reported that only one Union regiment defended the Memphis and Charleston Railroad at Collierville, Chalmers advanced from the south on November 3 to attack the garrison, but the force there was larger and better armed than expected. Union Col. Edward Hatch's cavalry brigade at Collierville and Germantown had artillery support, and at least one unit, the 2nd Iowa Cavalry, carried Colt revolving rifles that gave it superior firepower. After learning of the Confederate advance, Hatch telegraphed Collierville's defenders and rode from Germantown with reinforcements, striking the Confederates on the flanks shortly after Chalmers opened the attack. When Chalmers counterattacked on one flank, the 2nd Iowa Cavalry used its revolving rifles with deadly effect. Chalmers then retreated, and Hatch pursued his force eight miles to the Coldwater River in Mississippi. The Memphis and Charleston Railroad remained open to Tuscumbia, Alabama, for Union troop movements.