"Give 'Em Hell"

At Parker's Crossroads, Forrest relied on his artillery to win the battle, and its effective use let the Confederates dominate the first two-thirds of the fighting. As the outgunned Federals withdrew from the opening engagement at Hicks' field, 1¼ miles northwest of this position, Forrest ordered his dismounted troops and artillery east along the road south of the Parker house. Dunham responded by moving his troops north to a position parallel to the road, and Forrest formed his line opposite the Union line. He placed his artillery in front of his dismounted troops in an arc from the Lexington-Huntingdon Road to a farm road almost one mile to the east. Captain Samuel Freeman placed sections of his battery on either flank of the Confederate line, just west of the Lexington-Huntingdon Road, atop a low rise to the east, and west of the farm road on the east side of the Union position. Cannon were also placed on a hill in Jones Cemetery, and Lieutenant John Morton's Battery was across the road from this position. As Morton's guns swung into place, Forrest told the young officer, "Give 'em hell." Two Union charges fell back before the punishing artillery fire, supported by the low covering fire of the dismounted cavalry. A Confederate advance brought the opposing forces within 80 yards of each other, and the guns were manhandled into a new position and opened at close range. The deadly fire forced the Union line back to the split-rail fence enclosing a wooded area. Morton's Battery, formed December 27, 1862, consisted of two three-inch steel-rifled 10-pounder Rodmans captured two weeks earlier during the engagement at Lexington, and two mountain howitzers commanded by Lieutenant A.W. Gould of Colonel Alonzo Napier's battalion.

Parker's Crossroads, Tennessee · United States