Battle of Coffeeville | |||||||
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Part of the American Civil War | |||||||
Battle of Coffeeville Monument, Mobile National Cemetery, Mobile, Alabama | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
United States | Confederate States | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
T. Lyle Dickey | Mansfield Lovell [1] Lloyd Tilghman [2] | ||||||
Units involved | |||||||
Cavalry, Army of the Tennessee | 1st Corps, Army of West Tennessee | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
1,500 [1] -3,500 [2] 2 artillery pieces | 1,300 [2] -2,500 [1] 6 artillery pieces | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
10 [1] -34 [2] killed 54 [3] -234 [2] wounded 43 captured [1] | 7 killed 43 wounded 10 missing [2] |
The Battle of Coffeeville, fought December 5, 1862, was a military engagement of the American Civil War fought near Coffeeville, Mississippi.
By November 1862, Northern Mississippi was securely in the hands of the Union army after key, yet costly, wins at Shiloh, Iuka, and Corinth. General Ulysses S. Grant began the Mississippi Central Railroad Campaign, an overland push (following the main rail line through the heart of Mississippi, capturing the towns and rail along the way) into Mississippi with the goal of capturing Vicksburg in conjunction with General William Tecumseh Sherman, who would follow the river route South.
After being defeated at the Battle of Corinth, Major General Earl Van Dorn's Confederate Army of West Tennessee was on the retreat. At the battle of Hatchie's Bridge, Van Dorn successfully evaded the army's capture by the Union. The Confederate army kept falling back through Oxford and then Coffeeville, constantly skirmishing with pursuing Union cavalry, who were ahead of Grant's column.
Cavalry, Army of the Tennessee – Col Theophilus Lyle Dickey
Brigade | Regiments and Others |
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Cavalry |
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Artillery |
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1st Corps, Army of West Tennessee – MG Mansfield Lovell
Division | Brigade | Regiments and Others |
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1st Division | 1st Brigade |
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Cavalry |
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Artillery
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2nd Division | 2nd Brigade
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Unattached | Infantry | |
Artillery |
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Outside of Coffeeville, the Confederate command decided to ambush the harassing enemy cavalry. On December 5, under the command of Brigadier General Lloyd Tilghman, the men of Baldwin, Tilghman and Rust's brigades with artillery and support from W. H. Jackson's units, hid on a wooded ridge alongside the Water Valley-Coffeeville Road.
Around 2:30 pm, the Union Cavalry (led by Colonel Theophilus Lyle Dickey) approached Coffeeville within one mile. When the Cavalry was within 50 yards of the Confederate positions, it was fired upon by artillery, followed by volleys of infantry fire.
According to letters sent from James Thompson, a member of the Union cavalry, to his wife, Charlotte, James was positioned behind Colonel Dickey in the column. He states that during the charge, Colonel Dickey was shot three times and that one of the orderlies was shot four times. Thompson fell off of his horse and was held prisoner before attempting to escape on another horse, which the Confederates shot. He promptly found a third horse and made his escape "without a scratch." [5]
After the skirmish, the Confederates pushed the Union Cavalry back about three miles to the head of Grant's column. The pursuit halted and the Confederates returned to the ambush site. The Union Cavalry retreated to Water Valley. The fighting lasted from around 4 pm until dark. [1] The Battle of Coffeeville brought Grant's Mississippi invasion via Tennessee to a halt. He pulled his army back to Oxford.
Earl Van Dorn was an American major-general who started his military career as a United States Army officer and became famous for successfully leading a defense of a Native American settlement from the Comanche. He joined Confederate forces in 1861 after the Civil War broke out and was a major general when he was killed in a private conflict.
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The Army of the West, also known as the Trans-Mississippi District, was a formation of the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War that was a part of the Army of Mississippi. It saw action in the Battle of Pea Ridge, Battle of Corinth, and Battle of Iuka and consisted of about 20,000 personnel.
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Theophilus Lyle Dickey was an Illinois jurist and military leader.
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The 3rd Texas Cavalry Regiment or South Kansas-Texas Mounted Volunteers was a unit of mounted volunteers that fought in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. The regiment fought at Wilson's Creek and Chustenahlah in 1861, Pea Ridge, Corinth siege, Iuka, Second Corinth, and the Holly Springs Raid in 1862, Thompson's Station in 1863, and at Yazoo City, in the Atlanta campaign, and at Nashville in 1864. The regiment fought dismounted at Iuka and Second Corinth before being remounted for the rest of the war. The regiment surrendered to Federal forces in May 1865 and its remaining 207 men were paroled.
The 27th Texas Cavalry Regiment, at times also known as Whitfield's Legion or 1st Texas Legion or 4th Texas Cavalry Battalion, was a unit of mounted volunteers that fought in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. First organized as the 4th Texas Cavalry Battalion or Whitfield's Legion, the unit served dismounted at Pea Ridge and First Corinth. Additional companies from Texas were added and the unit was upgraded to the 27th Texas Cavalry Regiment or 1st Texas Legion later in 1862. Still dismounted, the unit fought at Iuka and Second Corinth. The regiment was remounted and fought at Holly Springs in 1862, Thompson's Station in 1863, and at Yazoo City, Atlanta, Franklin, and Third Murfreesboro in 1864. The regiment surrendered to Federal forces in May 1865 and its remaining soldiers were paroled.
The 6th Texas Cavalry Regiment was a unit of mounted volunteers that fought in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. The regiment fought at Chustenahlah in 1861. The following year the unit fought at Pea Ridge, First Corinth, Second Corinth, Hatchie's Bridge, and Holly Springs. The 6th Texas Cavalry participated in the fighting at Thompson's Station in 1863, the Atlanta campaign, and the Franklin–Nashville Campaign in 1864. The regiment formally surrendered to Union forces in May 1865 and its remaining soldiers were paroled.
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The 6th Mississippi Infantry Regiment was a unit of the Confederate States Army that fought in many battles of the Western theater of the American Civil War. After taking heavy casualties at the Battle of Shiloh, the 6th Regiment fought in the Vicksburg Campaign, operations against anti-Confederate guerillas in Jones County, Mississippi, the Atlanta campaign, and the Franklin-Nashville campaign.
The First Mississippi Cavalry Regiment was a unit of the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. Originally designated the First Battalion Mississippi Cavalry, the unit was upgraded to a regiment in 1862, and fought in many battles of the Western theater of the American Civil War.
The 2nd Mississippi Cavalry Regiment was a unit of the Confederate States Army from Mississippi. Formed in the spring of 1862, the 2nd Cavalry took part in many battles of the western theater in Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee before surrendering in April 1865.