On the 10th June 1864 Major General N B Forrest won his greatest victory, defeating the Union’s Brig General Sturgis, at a place of his choosing: Brice’s Crossroads, Mississippi.
Though he possessed only four small Brigades of Cavalry and he knew Sturgis had Cavalry and Infantry in his South marching force, Forrest knew from locals that the Union force was tired and strung out, the Cavalry too far ahead of the Infantry. Numbers never mattered to Forrest.
He planned his attack for Brice’s Crossroads because he knew there was only one small bridge crossing the creek to its rear. He planned to push the Cavalry onto the Infantry, knowing they would have problems retreating. The Union force was far from its supply base and Forrest’s men were close to theirs. His men believed in Forrest’s abilities and had the morale edge.
The terrain and narrow roads were muddy and made the Union’s problems harder.
All went to plan: his Cavalry pushed the Union Cavalry on to the Infantry and it was a mad rush, soon rout, to the one crossing.
Forrest’s casualties were 493. Sturgis’ were either 2240 or 2612, 1500 of them taken prisoner as they were too exhausted to run. He was even able to capture 16 guns, 6 of them Rifled pieces, 5000 small arms and 500000 rounds of ammunition, as well as 250 wagons and ambulances.
Forrest’s fearsome reputation continued. Sherman commanding in the West, now Grant was in the East fighting Lee, feared nobody could stop this man wreaking havoc in his rear.