United States 4th Cavalry (Union)

Island Number Ten

In addition to prosecuting the coastal blockade and pursuing Confederate commerce raiders, the U.S. Navy's other main role in the Civil War, and arguably its most important one, was seizing and controlling the Mississippi River and its tributaries. In this effort, the main obstacle was not the tiny Confederate navy, but rather the formidable shore fortifications erected by the Confederates along the banks of the Tennessee, Cumberland and Mississippi Rivers. This war, therefore, was less often a matter of s…READ MORE

LieutenantJames Powell

Brigadier GeneralW.H.L. Wallace

ColonelJames M. Tuttle

Brigadier GeneralW.H.L. Wallace

Shiloh

On the morning of April 6, 1862, 40,000 Confederate soldiers under the command of Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston poured out of the nearby woods and struck the encamped divisions of Union soldiers occupying ground near Pittsburg Landing on the Tennessee River.READ MORE

CaptainEugene W. Crittenden

Siege of Corinth

Union forces had captured the railroad junction and important transportation center at Corinth, Mississippi in the spring of 1862 after their victory at Shiloh. After the Battle of Iuka in September, Maj. Gen. Sterling Price's Confederate Army of the West marched to Ripley, Mississippi where it joined Maj. Gen. Earl Van Dorn's Army of West Tennessee. Van Dorn took command of the combined force numbering about 22,000 men. The Rebels marched southeast toward Corinth, hoping to recapture it and then sweep int…READ MORE

MajorGranville O. Haller

Seven Pines

Gen. Joseph E. Johnston withdrew his army from the Virginia Peninsula toward the Confederate capital of Richmond as Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan's army pursued him. By the end of May, Johnston held a defensive position seven miles east of the city on the Richmond and York River Railroad. McClellan's army facing Johnston straddled the Chickahominy River and stretched south. Capturing the initiative from his Union foe, Johnston attempted to overwhelm two Federal corps isolated south of the river. The Confed…READ MORE

CaptainElmer Otis

Stones River

After his October 1862 defeat at Perryville in Kentucky, Gen. Braxton Bragg withdrew his army into middle Tennessee and resupplied his men near Murfreesboro.READ MORE

CaptainJames B. McIntire

Lieutenant ColonelWilliam B. Sipes

Brigadier GeneralDavid S. Stanley

Franklin (1863)

The Battle of Franklin fought on April 10 1863, was a mere skirmish fought at the same location that the major Battle of Franklin would be fought in 1864.READ MORE

CaptainJames B. Mcintyre

ColonelRobert H. G. Minty

Brigadier GeneralGeorge Crook

Chickamauga

After the successful Tullahoma Campaign, Maj. Gen. William Rosecrans continued the Union offensive, aiming to force Gen. Braxton Bragg's Confederate army out of Chattanooga. Through a series of skillful marches towards the Confederate-held city, Rosecrans forced Bragg out of Chattanooga and into Georgia. Determined to reoccupy the city, Bragg followed the Federals north, brushing with Rosecrans' army at Davis' Cross Roads. While they marched on September 18th, his cavalry and infantry skirmished with Un…READ MORE

ColonelRobert Minty

Brigadier GeneralKenner Garrard

Jonesborough

By late August 1865, the city of Atlanta was not yet subdued by Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman's armies. A few supply lines remained open to the city supporting the army of Lieut. Gen. John B. Hood encircled there. Union cavalry raids inflicted only superficial damage, quickly repaired by the Confederates. Sherman determined that if he could destroy the Macon & Western and Atlanta & West Point Railroads to the south the Rebel army would be forced to evacuate the city. On August 25, Union infantry beg…READ MORE