Forrest Crosses Tennessee River

During December 15, 1862-January 3, 1863, Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest led a cavalry brigade raid through west Tennessee that destroyed railroads and severed Gen. Ulysses S. Grant’s supply line between Columbus, Kentucky, and Vicksburg, Mississippi. Forrest crossed the Tennessee River at Clifton, defeated Union Col. Robert G. Ingersoll’s cavalry at Lexington, captured Trenton and Union City, ranged briefly into Kentucky, raided back through Tennessee, evaded defeat at Parker’s Crossroads, and crossed the river again at Clifton. His success forced Grant to switch his supply base to Memphis. Confederate Gen. Nathan B. Forrest’s First West Tennessee Raid began when his command arrived here on the night of December 15 to ferry approximately 2,100 soldiers across the Tennessee River. Forrest ordered the construction of two flatboats, each capable of carrying 25 men and their horses. The troops stayed out of sight, without fires, while sentries watched for Union gunboats. By December 17, the Confederates were over and riding westward. A Confederate diarist recalled horses being pushed from a bluff into the swift, icy water, eight horses being lost, saddles and belongings being tied into compact bundles for canoes, men standing for hours in a cold drizzling rain until numbed, and the crossing ending in broad daylight on the opposite bank.

Clifton, Tennessee · United States