In mid-August 1862, Confederate cavalry recaptured Clarksville to disrupt Union transportation on the Cumberland River to Nashville and to gather new recruits and supplies. Early in September, Union Col. William W. Lowe led 1,100 men, including detachments of the 5th Iowa Cavalry, the 71st Ohio, 11th Illinois, and 13th Wisconsin Infantry, as well as sections of Flood’s and Starbuck’s Illinois Batteries, to retake the town. As Lowe marched eastward from Dover and neared Clarksville on September 7, scouts from Confederate Col. Thomas Woodward’s 2nd Kentucky Cavalry fired on the column. Woodward’s force numbered some 700 men, including armed townsmen. The Federals pushed the Confederates back a few miles to their main line at Riggins’ Hill, where the center of the line stood along a ridge across present-day U.S. Route 79 and Dotsonville Road. The dismounted Confederates used woods, rail and stone fences, and houses and barns as cover. Lowe’s men deployed on a parallel ridge south and west as his artillery opened fire, causing havoc in the Confederate position. After forty-five minutes, Woodward’s line began to buckle, and when Lowe’s flank units pushed forward, the Confederate line collapsed. Lowe’s cavalry aggressively pursued Woodward’s men through Clarksville. Confederate losses were 17 killed, 40 wounded, and about 50 captured, while reported Union losses were negligible. The Federals occupied Clarksville and reopened the river as a supply line, but with too few Federal troops to hold the area, Clarksville was not permanently occupied until December 1862. Clashes over control of the river continued in the area until late in 1864, when the Union finally gained the upper hand.