Dunham's Position

Colonel Cyrus Dunham was riding along the Union line making sure his orders had been understood when Confederates who had come up behind the line under cover of the woods charged the Federals. Colonel Alfred Russell's and Colonel Tom Woodward's dismounted troopers moved between the Union line and the wagon train, while Colonel James W. Starnes' cavalry attacked from the south. Orders were given to turn and meet the Confederate attack, and those companies of the 50th Indiana and the 122nd Illinois that heard the order over the din of cannon and small arms fire fixed bayonets and charged, forcing their way through the enemy's line. The two companies in the rear guarding the wagons repulsed Starnes' cavalry, and a second attack by Starnes was also repulsed. The 50th Indiana then moved south to cover the route by which the Confederates had approached, but before they got into position another cavalry charge led by Colonel Jacob Biffle struck them. Dunham personally led fragments of the 50th Indiana, 122nd Illinois, and several companies of the 39th Iowa southward. The Confederates then fell back, and Dunham and his men found themselves more than one-half mile south of the main line, which was still near the split-rail fence. Both Union positions were surrounded by the Confederates. Near the community of Red Mound, Dunham received a message from General Forrest demanding his unconditional surrender, and he sent the aide back with word that he never surrendered, not knowing that the surrender of his troops near the split-rail fence was already underway.

Parker's Crossroads, Tennessee · United States