In September 1864, Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest launched an expedition from Mississippi to disrupt Union supply lines in Tennessee and Alabama. South of Athens on September 23, Forrest's cavalry clashed with Colonel Wallace Campbell's men in a sharp skirmish, and Campbell slowly withdrew to Fort Henderson as fighting continued through the day and Forrest surrounded the fort that evening. The next morning Forrest probed the defenses, then demanded surrender after deciding the fort was too strong to assault directly; after conferring with Forrest and being convinced he was heavily outnumbered, Campbell agreed to capitulate. Forrest then moved north to Sulphur Creek Trestle, where on September 25 he invested the Union garrison; an artillery bombardment and dismounted attack silenced the Federal guns and brought about the fort's surrender. Three days later Union Lieutenant Colonel Alfred Wade reoccupied Fort Henderson, but on October 1 Forrest's subordinate, General Abraham Buford, attacked Wade there. Using a newly constructed bombproof, Wade repulsed the Confederate assault and eventually forced Buford to withdraw, while prisoners of war including Julius and Samuel Redus, John Jackson, George Allen, Moses Peete, Doctor Peete, John Roberts, and their comrades faced an uncertain future.