On the afternoon of April 30, 1863, Confederate Gen. Martin E. Green posted his brigade near Magnolia Church, with an outpost at this point. Shortly after midnight, Green rode forward to check on his pickets and found Mrs. A. K. Shaifer and the ladies of the house frantically piling their household effects on a wagon. He assured them there was no need to hurry because the Yankees could not possibly arrive before daybreak, but almost immediately musket fire erupted as the pickets exchanged shots with the Union vanguard, soldiers of the 21st Iowa. The women leaped into the wagon and headed for Port Gibson while Green returned to Magnolia Church to alert his troops, and the Confederate pickets fell back before the Federal advance. During the Battle of Port Gibson, the Shaifer house served as Gen. John A. McClernand's GHQ and a Union hospital.
