Brice's Cross Roads

At daybreak on June 10, 1864, Brig. Gen. Benjamin Grierson's Federal cavalry, 3,300 strong, left Stubbs plantation nine miles northwest of Brice's Cross Roads and by 10:00 a.m. reached the crossroads, where advance units encountered a heavy enemy force along the Baldwyn Road. The cavalry dismounted and deployed on both sides of the road in woods at the western edge of a cleared field one-half mile east of the crossroads, with Col. George Waring's brigade astride the road and Col. Edward Winslow's brigade on Waring's right. Grierson reported that he held an advantageous position if infantry arrived promptly, but by noon Forrest had three brigades on the field—Lyon, Johnson, and Rucker—and outnumbered the Federal cavalry in front of him. Forrest's first two attacks, a general frontal assault and a second against Waring's left, were repulsed, but his third attack broke the Union line between Waring's right flank and Winslow's left, forcing the Federals to retreat to new positions one quarter mile from the crossroads. In the thick brush, Union troops struggled to determine the enemy's exact position; Maj. Abial R. Pierce of the Fourth Iowa Cavalry recalled that after a volley severely wounded Lieutenant Dillon and many others, part of his regiment fell back, then lay close to the ground as Confederates charged twice and were driven back with heavy loss, the two sides remaining about sixty yards apart for roughly two hours. Confederate cavalry converged on Union cavalry and pushed them toward Brice's Cross Roads.

Guntown, Mississippi · United States