The Battle of Lexington in Tennessee was a small battle of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

, fought at

Lexington, Tennessee Lexington is a city in Henderson County, Tennessee, United States. Lexington is midway between Memphis and Nashville, lying south of Interstate 40, which connects the two cities. The population was 7,956 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat ...

on December 18, 1862, as part of General

Nathan Bedford Forrest Nathan Bedford Forrest (July 13, 1821October 29, 1877) was a prominent Confederate Army general during the American Civil War and the first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan from 1867 to 1869. Before the war, Forrest amassed substantial wealt ...

's cavalry raid into western Tennessee. In late 1862, the main

Union army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...

in the west was in northern

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

. General

Braxton Bragg Braxton Bragg (March 22, 1817 – September 27, 1876) was an American army officer during the Second Seminole War and Mexican–American War and Confederate general in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War, serving in the Weste ...

sent General Forrest to raid into Tennessee against the

Mobile and Ohio Railroad The Mobile and Ohio Railroad was a railroad in the Southern U.S. The M&O was chartered in January and February 1848 by the states of Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Tennessee. It was planned to span the distance between the seaport of Mobile ...

, which was a Union supply line. Forrest left

Columbia, Tennessee Columbia is a city in and the county seat of Maury County, Tennessee. The population was 41,690 as of the 2020 United States census. Columbia is included in the Nashville metropolitan area. The self-proclaimed "mule capital of the world," Colum ...

, on December 11, 1862 and crossed the

Tennessee River The Tennessee River is the largest tributary of the Ohio River. It is approximately long and is located in the southeastern United States in the Tennessee Valley. The river was once popularly known as the Cherokee River, among other names, ...

. On December 16, General

Jeremiah Sullivan Jeremiah C. Sullivan (July 21, 1794 – December 6, 1870) was a justice of the Indiana Supreme Court from 1837 to 1846 and coined the name " Indianapolis" for the new state capital. Jeremiah Sullivan's father, Thomas Littleton Sullivan, was th ...

sent Colonel

Robert G. Ingersoll Robert Green Ingersoll (; August 11, 1833 – July 21, 1899), nicknamed "the Great Agnostic", was an American lawyer, writer, and orator during the Golden Age of Free Thought, who campaigned in defense of agnosticism. Personal life Robert Inge ...

from

Jackson, Tennessee Jackson is a city in and the county seat of Madison County, Tennessee, United States. Located east of Memphis, Tennessee, Memphis, it is a regional center of trade for West Tennessee. Its total population was 68,205 as of the 2020 United States ...

to Lexington. At Lexington, Ingersoll had 670 men (mostly raw recruits) and two 3-inch guns; part of his force was a contingent of cavalry under future governor

Alvin Hawkins Alvin Hawkins (December 2, 1821 – April 27, 1905) was an American jurist and politician. He served as the 22nd Governor of Tennessee from 1881 to 1883, one of just three Republicans to hold this position from the end of Reconstruction to the ...

. Forrest had about 2,500 troopers. As Forrest approached, Ingersoll ordered the destruction of a bridge across Beech Creek at Lower Road, and concentrated his forces along Old Stage Road, where he guessed that Forrest must attack. But the bridge across Beech Creek had not been destroyed, and Forrest crossed it, fell upon the flank of Ingersoll's command, and routed it. The Confederates captured Ingersoll, 140 men, both guns, and other equipment. Forrest then moved to

and fought there, then raided the railroad depot at Trenton, before moving to Union City and Clarksburg and withdrawing. Union forces attempted to cut off his withdrawal at the

Battle of Parker's Cross Roads The Battle of Parker's Cross Roads was fought on December 31, 1862, in Henderson County, Tennessee, during the American Civil War. Background As Confederate Brig. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest's expedition into West Tennessee neared its conclus ...

on December 31, 1862, but were not successful.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lexington, Tennessee, Battle of Confederate victories of the American Civil War Forrest's Expedition into West Tennessee Battles of the American Civil War in Tennessee December 1862 events 1862 in Tennessee