Dunham Strikes Back

Colonel Cyrus Dunham misjudged General Nathan Bedford Forrest's intentions, and his soldiers paid heavily for it, because Forrest was not retreating and the accurate fire of his dismounted cavalry and artillery was inflicting severe losses on the Union forces. With his own artillery out of action and no further help coming from it, Dunham concluded that his only hope of holding the ground was to silence the Confederate cannon by sending in the infantry. He ordered the 122nd Illinois and 50th Indiana to attack the east end of the Confederate line. The two regiments charged across the stubble in an old cotton field under heavy artillery fire, as shot and shell tore up the ground and cut down men, forcing them repeatedly to drop and then rise and press forward again in hopes of reaching the guns before the Confederates reloaded. The distance proved too great, and the first attack failed. Dunham then rode back and forth across the line encouraging his men and ordered one more assault across the cotton field. The 122nd Illinois and 50th Indiana again advanced in gallant style, but the relentless Confederate barrage struck them once more, and the final desperate assault on the battery failed.

Parker's Crossroads, Tennessee · United States