The Battle Begins

On the evening of December 30, Forrest's scouts learned that Dunham's Brigade was just north of Clarksburg, and Forrest, knowing that General Sullivan was at Huntingdon, determined to place his force between Dunham and Sullivan and defeat Dunham before Sullivan could intervene. That same night, Dunham's scouts reported that Forrest was camped at Union Church, six miles west, and Dunham expected to catch him the next day at Parker's Crossroads. The two forces met early on December 31 at Hicks' field on the McLemoresville Road, one and one-quarter mile northwest of Parker's Crossroads. After a short exchange under heavy shot and shell, the outgunned Federals began an orderly withdrawal. Expecting Forrest to move south, Dunham deployed his troops along and behind a ridge on the east side of the Lexington-Huntingdon Road, but Forrest instead sent most of his forces east along the Pleasant Exchange Road, also called Wildersville Road. Mistaking this movement for an attempt to escape, Dunham moved north and formed his line of battle parallel to the Pleasant Exchange Road just north of a wooded area enclosed by a split-rail fence, with his left anchored on the Lexington-Huntingdon Road and his right on an open field. Although his men moved into position quickly and steadily, the artillery ordered forward had not yet arrived. Dunham's error left his men in a grim position: the Union artillery, late in reaching position, was low on ammunition and, as Dunham later reported, strikingly inefficient, while Forrest's artillery pounded the Union line, his cavalry stood in front, and dismounted soldiers worked around the Union right flank.

Parker's Crossroads, Tennessee · United States