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Battle of Thompson's Station

Battle of the American Civil War

Summary

Battle of the American Civil War

Field	Value
conflict	Battle of Thompson's Station
partof	the American Civil War
date
place	Williamson County, Tennessee
result	Confederate victory
combatant1	USA United States (Union)
combatant2	CSA CSA (Confederacy)
commander1	[[File:Flag of the United States (1861-1863).svg	25px]] John Coburn
commander2	[[File:The Van Dorn Flag.svg	25px]] Earl Van Dorn
units1	Dept. of the Cumberland
units2	Army of Tennessee
strength1	1 Reinforced Infantry Brigade
strength2	1 Cavalry Corps
casualties1	1,906
casualties2	300

The Battle of Thompson's Station took place during the American Civil War on March 5, 1863, in Williamson County, Tennessee.

In a period of relative inactivity following the Battle of Stones River, a reinforced Union infantry brigade, under Col. John Coburn, left Franklin to reconnoiter south toward Columbia. Four miles from Spring Hill, Coburn attacked with his right wing, a Confederate Army force composed of two regiments; he was repelled. Then, Maj. Gen. Earl Van Dorn seized the initiative. Brig. Gen. W.H. "Red" Jackson's dismounted 2nd Division made a frontal attack, while Brig. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest's division swept around Coburn's left flank, and into his rear. After three attempts, characterized by hard fighting, Jackson carried the Union hilltop position as Forrest captured Coburn's wagon train and blocked the road to Nashville in his rear. Out of ammunition and surrounded, Coburn surrendered, along with all but two of his field officers. Union influence in Middle Tennessee subsided for a while.

Union units involved included 19th Michigan Infantry Regiment (20 killed, 92 wounded, 345 captured, total 457) and 33rd Indiana Infantry Regiment (13 killed, 85 wounded, 407 captured, total 505).

Van Dorn and Forrest received help with their victory from an unlikely participant. Miss Alice Thompson, age 17 at the time, was sheltering in the basement of the residence of Lieutenant Banks. The 3rd Arkansas Cavalry Regiment was advancing through the yard, lost their Colonel (Samuel G. Earle) and their color bearer, and the regiment was thrown into disorder. Miss Alice Thompson rushed out, raised the flag and led the regiment to victory. The enemy lauded her action.

Despite the outcome, Forrest was angry with Van Dorn afterwards, believing the general had failed to provide sufficient support for his troops. The two argued with each other, and eventually one challenged the other to a duel, which was eventually postponed. A month later, Van Dorn was shot fatally by a man he had cuckolded, mooting the challenge.

References

Fox, William F., Lt.-Col., 'Regimental Losses in the American Civil War, 1861-1865', Albany, N.Y., 1889, p. 435.
Ridley, Bromfield L. ''Chat with Col. W.S. McLemore'', Battles and Sketches of the Army of Tennessee, Missouri Printing and Publishing Company, Mexico, Missouri, 1906, p. 177.
(2022). "The Worst Military Leaders in History". [[Reaktion Books]].

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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