Battle of Lebanon (1862)

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Battle of Lebanon
Part of the American Civil War
DateMay 5, 1862
Location
Result Union victory
Belligerents
Flag of the United States (1861-1863).svg United States (Union) Flag of the Confederate States of America (1861-1863).svg CSA (Confederacy)
Commanders and leaders
Ebenezer Dumont John Hunt Morgan
Strength
600 [1] 800 [2]
Casualties and losses
10 killed
21 wounded
5 missing [3]
60 killed
unknown wounded [4]
150 captured [5]

The Battle of Lebanon was a small battle fought near Lebanon, Tennessee during American Civil War on May 5, 1862. There was another Battle of Lebanon during the Civil War fought in Kentucky which also involved Confederate cavalry under John Hunt Morgan.

Lebanon, Tennessee City in Tennessee, United States

Lebanon is the county seat of Wilson County, Tennessee, United States.

American Civil War Internal war in the U.S. over slavery

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States from 1861 to 1865, between the North and the South. The Civil War began primarily as a result of the long-standing controversy over the enslavement of black people. War broke out in April 1861 when secessionist forces attacked Fort Sumter in South Carolina shortly after Abraham Lincoln had been inaugurated as the President of the United States. The loyalists of the Union in the North, which also included some geographically western and southern states, proclaimed support for the Constitution. They faced secessionists of the Confederate States in the South, who advocated for states' rights in order to uphold slavery.

The Battle of Lebanon occurred July 5, 1863, in Lebanon, Kentucky, during Morgan's Raid in the American Civil War. Confederate troops under Brig. Gen. John Hunt Morgan fought for six hours to overcome the small Union garrison before moving northward, eventually riding through Kentucky, Indiana, and much of Ohio before surrendering.

Contents

Background

Union General Ebenezer Dumont pursued Colonel John Hunt Morgan’s Confederate cavalry with a force from the Nashville Garrison. Dumont's force consisted of detachments from the 1st Kentucky Cavalry under Colonel Frank Lane Wolford, the 4th Kentucky Cavalry under Colonel Green Clay Smith, and the 7th Pennsylvania Cavalry under Colonel Wynkoop. Morgan's force was the 2nd Kentucky Cavalry Regiment.

Union (American Civil War) United States national government during the American Civil War

During the American Civil War (1861–1865), the Union, also known as the North, referred to the United States of America and specifically to the national government of President Abraham Lincoln and the 20 free states and four border and slave states that supported it. The Union was opposed by 11 southern slave states that formed the Confederate States of America, also known as "the Confederacy" or "the South".

Ebenezer Dumont Union Army General

Ebenezer Dumont was a U.S. Representative from Indiana, as well as a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War.

Confederate States of America (de facto) federal republic in North America from 1861 to 1865

The Confederate States of America — commonly referred to as the Confederacy — was an unrecognized republic in North America that existed from 1861 to 1865. The Confederacy was originally formed by seven secessionist slave-holding states—South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas—in the Lower South region of the United States, whose economy was heavily dependent upon agriculture, particularly cotton, and a plantation system that relied upon the labor of African-American slaves. Convinced that white supremacy and the institution of slavery were threatened by the November 1860 election of Republican candidate Abraham Lincoln to the U.S. presidency on a platform which opposed the expansion of slavery into the western territories, the Confederacy declared its secession in rebellion to the United States, with the loyal states becoming known as the Union during the ensuing American Civil War. Confederate Vice President Alexander H. Stephens described its ideology as being centrally based "upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery, subordination to the superior race, is his natural and normal condition".

Battle

Dumont surprised Morgan early on the morning of May 5, 1862. [6] A 15-mile running battle ensued in which the Confederates were forced to retreat. During the fighting Confederate sympathizers in the town fired upon the Union Cavalry. [7] Many of the remaining Confederates barricaded within the buildings surrendered when Dumont threatened to set the town on fire.

Aftermath

150 Confederates were taken prisoner including Lt. Colonel Wood. Colonels Smith and Wolford of the Union force were wounded.

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References

  1. Tennessee historical marker
  2. Tennessee historical marker
  3. Tennessee historical marker
  4. Tennessee historical marker
  5. Civil War Reference
  6. "Civil War Reference". Archived from the original on 2010-09-19. Retrieved 2013-08-13.
  7. Dumont's Official Report