General James R. Chalmers, sent by General Bragg as a vanguard to Cave City, learned there from Col. John Scott of a weak Union garrison at Munfordville. Eager for glory and acting without orders, Chalmers launched a two-pronged attack against the Union fort, stockade, and entrenchments. By the end of the first day, his dead had to be buried with shovels borrowed from the enemy. An irate General Bragg called it an “unauthorized and injudicious” attack and moved the entire Army of the Mississippi to Munfordville to finish the job Chalmers had begun.