On the morning of August 25, 1863, at Bayou Two Prairie east of Brownsville, Confederate Brigadier General John Marmaduke's troops skirmished with advance elements of Union forces under Brigadier General John Davidson. Marmaduke's force consisted of 1,300 cavalry and 2 cannons, while Davidson commanded 6,000 cavalry and 16 cannons. Outnumbered Confederate troops fell back to Bayou Meto at Reed's Bridge, present-day Jacksonville, while Union forces under Major General Frederick Steele camped at Brownsville. Accounts from both sides recalled the Union advance across the prairie under cavalry and artillery fire, a charge that struck the retiring Confederate column, Confederate shells and shot that checked the attack, and a saber charge by the Merrill Horse that helped force the Confederates into a retreat toward Bayou Meto under running fire for 7 miles.