It was December 1862. General John C. Penberton, Vicksburg's defender, was desperate to stop General Ulysses S. Grant and Geneneral William T. Sherman's plannedassault on Vicksburg. Pemberton ordered General Earl Van Dorn to lead a secret cavalry raid to destroy Grant's supply line at Holly Springs, Mississippi.

At the same time, Confederate General Braxton Bragg dispatched General Nathan Bedford Forrest and his 1,800-man cavalry brigade to sever Grant's rail communications in West Tennessee. After a successful two0week mission across the region, Forrest headed east toward the Tennessee River, Stopping December 29 and 30 at FLake's Store on the McLemoresville Road, five miles northwest of PArker's Crossroads.

Union General Jeremiah C. Sullivan saw a chance to capture Forrest. His troops left Jackson while he sent Colonel John W. Fuller's Ohio Brigade and Colonel Cyrus Dunham's brigade northeast to trap the Confederates.

The fateful battle took place on December 31, 1862. That morning, after learning that Forrest's troops were at Flake's Store, Colonel Dunham's Brigade of 1,500 men left Clarksburg and marched south toward Parker's Crossroads. Dunham notified Sullivan and Fuller at Huntingdon to join him. Meanwhile, Forrest left Flake's Store, headed on the McLemoresville Road to Parker's Crossroads.

Dunham's men got to the crossroads first and they formed a lie of battle at Hick's Field, one mile northwest of Parker's Crossroads. Forrest's artillery and dismounted cavalry went into action on the nothwest perimeter of Hick's Field, causing Dunham's men to retreat back to John Parker's house at the crossroads, where they reformed a line, paralleling the Lexington-Huntingdon Road. When Forrest flanked this position, Dunham changed his front northward, suffering severe casualties from Forrest's artillery. Pushed south by the constatnt bombardment, the Union line took refuge behind a split-rail fence.

While unrelenting artillery fire held Dunham in place, Forrest ordered an attack on the Union rear. Dunham about-faced most of his brigade and charged southward, but his forces were surrounded. The battle was seemingly over. Forrest parlayed with Dunham fr surrender. Suddenly, Colonel Fuller's entite Ohio Brigade arrived from the north behind the Parker house, where it captured 300 Confederate horse-holders.

Forrest was now caught between two Union Brigades. He thundered, "Charge them both ways!", gathering seventy-five men and charging into the left flank of the Ohio Brigade. The swift counterattack disrupted the Union attackand Forrest escaped, and headed to the Tennessee River ferry crossing at Clifton.

Battle of Parkers Crossroads, Tennessee