ShilohDavis Bridge |
Brochure about Davis Bridge at Shiloh National Military Park (NMP) in Tennessee and Mississippi. Published by the National Park Service (NPS).
featured in
National Parks Pocket Maps |
Davis Bridge
Shiloh National Military Park
Tennessee-Mississippi
National Park Service
U.S. Department of the Interior
Hatchie River
An Army on the Run
The Confederate Army of West Tennessee was in full retreat. The heavy fighting at the
Battle of Corinth, October 3 & 4, 1862, had crippled the army under Major General Earl
Van Dorn and he sought to return to Mississippi to rest and refit his forces. The path to
safety led across Davis Bridge on the Hatchie River in Tennessee. In an effort to block
the Confederate escape, a Union column under Major General Edward O. C. Ord was
dispatched from Bolivar, Tennessee.
A Campaign to Retake
West Tennessee.
In September of 1862, Van Dorn placed into
motion a campaign to clear the Federals from
West Tennessee and drive the enemy to the
Ohio River. He planned to crush the forces
under Major General Ulysses S. Grant by
marching fast and attacking isolated garrisons,
a process known as “defeating an enemy in
detail.” The first target of the 22,000 man
Confederate army was the Federal garrison
at Corinth which, was defended by 23,000
Union soldiers. Van Dorn marched north from
Ripley, Ms., and entered Tennessee in an effort
to confuse the enemy as to his
intentions. On October 2nd the Confederates
turned to the east, crossed the Hatchie River
and left one thousand men to guard the supply
train of five-hundred wagons. On the morning
of the 3rd Van Dorn attacked the Corinth
defenders under Major General William S.
Rosecrans and in two days of brutal fighting
was decisively beaten by the Federals. His
campaign in a shambles, Van Dorn concluded
to retreat back through Tennessee to secure his
supply wagons and then push on for the safety
of Mississippi.
A Race to the River
In response to the Confederate offensive,
Grant dispatched a column from Bolivar
to relieve the Union forces at Corinth, if
they were still under attack, or to block the
Confederates at the Hatchie River if the enemy
was in retreat. General Ord led 6,000 men in
a forced march and on the morning of the
5th arrived at Metamora Ridge overlooking
the Hatchie River. The lead elements of Van
Dorn’s army had arrived on the field, and with
the wagon guard crossed Davis Bridge and
took up a tenuous defensive position along
Burr’s Branch. The Federals deployed along
the ridge and opened a devastating artillery
barrage with eight cannon which silenced
the four guns of the Confederate artillery. At
10:00 a.m. the Union regiments charged down
the slope and overwhelmed the Southern
defenders, capturing over 400 men and
securing the critical river crossing. Unsatisfied
with merely taking the bridge, Ord concluded
to take his troops across the river and attack
the Confederate army.
That Miserable Bridge
Ord’s plan was simple: his twelve regiments
would cross the river, alternating one regiment
to the left one to the right, until a long line was
formed which would charge up the opposing
heights and attack the Confederates. The
plan was thrown into disarray due to a sharp
bend in the Hatchie which prevented the
Union from extending the line to the south.
Federal units became hopelessly intermingled
as Confederate reinforcements took a strong
position on the heights overlooking the east
bank and began to fire into the mass of blue
uniforms. In an attempt to bring order to his
line, Ord rode out on what he called “that
miserable bridge” where he was seriously
wounded in the leg and taken from the field.
Major General Stephen Hurlbut assumed
command. Hurlbut sent artillery across the
river and extended the line to the north. Many
of the Confederates were running low on
ammunition and the slower rate of fire allowed
the Federals to strengthen their disorganised
line.
Major General Earl Van Dorn
Major General Edward O. C. Ord
Escape to Crum’s Mill
As the fighting raged along the banks
of the Hatchie, Van Dorn sought an
alternate route across the river and
back into Mississippi. Six miles to the
south, at Crum’s Mill, Confederate
cavalrymen were ordered to rebuild
a damaged mill dam which would
allow the army to cross to safety. As
the repairs commenced, Van Dorn
sent his wagons and troops down
the Boneyard Road to the crossing at
Crum’s.
Meanwhile, at Davis Bridge, Hurlbut
had brought order to the Union
lines and ordered an attack up the
heights. The Confederates, many
out of ammunition, fell back fighting
and then slipped away down the
Boneyard Road. General Hurlbut did
not pursue, his forces having suffered
46 killed and 493 wounded, most of
them to the devastating fire on the
east bank of the river.
On the Banks of the
Tuscumbia
While the head of Van Dorn’s army was
engaged at Davis Bridge, the rear guard was
busy fending off the pursuing Union forces
marching from Corinth. Brigadier General
John S. Bowen kept the Union advance at
arms length throughout the day, skirmishing
when necessary to buy time for the retreating
army. Near sunset the lead Federal troops
under Brigadier General James B. McPherson
attacked, driving Bowen’s men to the banks of
the Tuscumbia River. A Confederate counterattack pushed McPherson’s force back,
A sketch of the east bank of the battlefield by an
unknown soldier of the 53rd Illinois Infantry.
allowing the Southerners to cross the river
at Young’s Bridge then burning the structure
behind them. Bowen’s column rejoined Van
Dorn’s army and by midnight the last of the
Confederate troops slipped across the Hatchie
River. By the narrowest of margins, the
Confederate army had escaped being trapped
between two rivers and two converging forces.
The escape was not without cost however, as
over 500 Confederates became casualties of
the fighting.
The Davis Bridge Battlefield
Map courtesy of Civil War Preservation Trust
Saving the Battlef eld
The efforts to preserve the site of the fight at
Davis Bridge began in 1987 when the Davis
Bridge Memorial Association purchased
4.5 acres on the west bank of the Hatchie
River. In the following years the State of
Tennessee, with the assistance of the Civil War
Preservation Trust and the Tennessee Heritage
Conservation Trust Fund, has secured land
on both banks of the river. Today 839 acres
of the battlefield have been protected and is
administered by the State of Tennessee (Big
Hill Pond State Park) and Shiloh National
Military Park.
EXPERIENCE YOUR AMERICA™
Notice: The possession or use of metal
detectors and the hunting, collecting, or
possession of archeological artifacts within
national park boundaries is prohibited
by federal law. The intentional or wanton
destruction, defacement, or removal of any
natural or cultural feature or non-renewable
natural resource is prohibited.
Use good judgement when near the river bank.