On 31 March 1865, Union Brig. Gen. John T. Croxton's cavalry of some 1500 troops entered Tuscaloosa County with orders to destroy the State University, a military school, and anything else of value to the rebel cause. Near Bucksville they destroyed Saunders Iron Works and William's Tannery, now Tannehill State Park. After learning that Confederate cavalry units under Gen. Nathan B. Forrest and Brig. Gen. W. H. Red Jackson were traveling near Trion, about 10 miles distant, Croxton's brigade rode to intercept them. The Union forces camped that night on the farm of Squire John White and were attacked by Jackson's Cavalry Division as they broke camp at daybreak on 1 April. The skirmish, the first in Tuscaloosa County, took place about a half-mile south of present-day Vance. In the running fight, Union losses were heavy, with some 30 killed or wounded, another 30 captured, and 150 horses lost. Croxton was forced away from his original line of march, retreating to the northeast before turning west toward the Black Warrior River about 40 miles above Tuscaloosa. After crossing to the west bank at Johnson's Ferry or Black Rock Shoals, near the old Lock 17 area, the Union raiders resumed their advance on Northport and Tuscaloosa on 3 April. Jackson's Confederate forces suffered several casualties, and one soldier from Tennessee, who died several days later in the Squire John White home, was buried nearby by Trion-area citizens.