ftermath The Confederate victory at Coffeeville halted the Union pursuit and allowed the retreating Confederate force to continue south toward Grenada. The action formed part of the wider Mississippi Central Railroad Campaign, in which Grant sought to advance along the railroad toward Vicksburg. The engagement also demonstrated the value of using artillery and concealed infantry positions to slow an advancing cavalry column.
The Battle of Coffeeville, fought December 5, 1862, was a military engagement of the American Civil War fought near Coffeeville, Mississippi.
Background
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.
Order of battle Abbreviations used MG = Major General BG = Brigadier General Col = Colonel Ltc = Lieutenant Colonel Maj = Major Cpt = Captain
Union Cavalry, Army of the Tennessee – Col Theophilus Lyle Dickey Brigade Regiments and Others Cavalry4th Illinois Cavalry: Col Theophilus Lyle Dickey 6th Illinois Cavalry: Col Benjamin Grierson 2nd Iowa Cavalry: Col Edward Hatch 7th Kansas Cavalry: BG Albert Lindley Lee 3rd Michigan Cavalry: Col John Kemp Mizner 5th Ohio Cavalry: Maj Elbridge G. RickerArtilleryBattery G, 2nd Illinois Light Artillery
Confederate 1st Corps, Army of West Tennessee – MG Mansfield Lovell Division Brigade Regiments and Others1st Division
BG Lloyd Tilghman 1st Brigade
BG William Edwin Baldwin8th Kentucky Infantry: Col Hylan B. Lyon 14th Mississippi Infantry: Maj Washington L. Doss 23rd Mississippi Infantry: Ltc Moses McCarley 26th Mississippi Infantry: Maj Tully F. ParkerCavalry
Col William Hicks Jackson7th Tennessee CavalryArtillery
Cpt CulbertsonCumberland Light Artillery, Kentucky (one section): Cpt W. H. Hedden2nd Division
BG Albert Rust 2nd Brigade
Col Albert P. Thompson9th Arkansas Infantry: Col Isaac L. Dunlop 3rd Kentucky InfantryUnattachedInfantry 20th Arkansas InfantryArtilleryA section of Co. A and a section of Co. B, Pointe Coupee Artillery: Cpt Alcide BouanchaudSides, Don, (2015) The Essential Guide to the Battle of Coffeeville, Mississippi, p. 54. Cpt Bouanchaud is mentioned as Cpt Bouchard in Tilghman's battle report.
The Battle
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."
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. The Battle of Coffeeville brought Grant's Mississippi invasion via Tennessee to a halt. He pulled his army back to Oxford.
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