On February 22, 1864, Confederate cavalry brigade commander Col. Jeffrey Forrest was killed in action in this vicinity near the extinct town of Prairie Mount during the Battle of Okolona. Born in 1838, he was the younger brother of Lt. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest, who commanded the Confederate forces at Okolona. First buried in Aberdeen, Jeffrey Forrest's body was later moved to Elmwood Cemetery in Memphis. Lt. Col. James A. Barksdale of the 5th Mississippi Cavalry also died from wounds received during the battle.
