The Battle of Jackson, also known as the Battle of Salem Cemetery, was fought on December 19, 1862, in

Madison County, Tennessee Madison County is a county located in the western part of the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, the population was 98,823. Its county seat is Jackson. Madison County is included in the Jackson metropolitan area. History Madis ...

, during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

Background

The engagement at Jackson occurred during

Confederate A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

Brig. Gen.

Nathan Bedford Forrest Nathan Bedford Forrest (July 13, 1821October 29, 1877) was an List of slave traders of the United States, American slave trader, active in the lower Mississippi River valley, who served as a General officers in the Confederate States Army, Con ...

's Expedition into West Tennessee, between December 11, 1862, and January 1, 1863. Forrest wished to interrupt the rail supply line to Maj. Gen.

Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was the 18th president of the United States, serving from 1869 to 1877. In 1865, as Commanding General of the United States Army, commanding general, Grant led the Uni ...

's army, campaigning down the Mississippi Central Railroad. If he could destroy the Mobile & Ohio Railroad running south from

Columbus, Kentucky Columbus is a home rule-class city in Hickman County, Kentucky, in the United States. The population was 140 at the 2020 census, a decline from 229 in 2000. The city lies at the western end of the state, less than a mile from the Mississippi ...

, through

Jackson, Tennessee Jackson is a city in and the county seat of Madison County, Tennessee, United States. Located east of Memphis, Tennessee, Memphis and 130 Miles Southwest of Nashville, it is a regional center of trade for West Tennessee. Its total population wa ...

, Grant would have to curtail or halt his operations. Forrest's 2,100-man cavalry brigade crossed the

Tennessee River The Tennessee River is a long river located in the Southern United States, southeastern United States in the Tennessee Valley. Flowing through the states of Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, it begins at the confluence of Fren ...

from December 15 to December 17, heading west.NPS
Grant ordered a troop concentration at Jackson under Brig. Gen. Jeremiah C. Sullivan and sent a cavalry force out under Col.

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 ...

, to confront Forrest. Forrest, however, smashed the Union cavalry at Lexington on December 18.

Battle

As Forrest continued his advance the next day, Sullivan ordered Col.

Adolph Englemann Adolph Engelmann (February 11, 1825 – October 5, 1890) was a farmer, lawyer, postmaster, Mexican–American War veteran, and Union Army colonel during the American Civil War. On May 18, 1866, the United States Senate confirmed his appointment ...

to take a small force northeast of Jackson. At Old Salem Cemetery, acting on the defensive, Englemann's two infantry regiments repulsed a Confederate mounted attack and then withdrew a mile closer to town. To Forrest, the fight amounted to no more than a feint and show of force intended to hold Jackson's Union defenders in place while two mounted columns destroyed railroad track north and south of the town and returned. This accomplished, Forrest withdrew from the Jackson area to attack Trenton and Humboldt. Thus, although the Federals had checked a demonstration by a portion of Forrest's force, a major accomplishment, other Confederates had fulfilled an element of the expedition's mission.

Rose Hill

Rose Hill is a large home built in 1823. During the Battle Of Jackson, Tennessee it was used as a hospital for both the injured Union and the Confederate soldiers. The house stands to this day and is currently a private residence.

Battlefield preservation

The

American Battlefield Trust The American Battlefield Trust is a charitable organization (501(c)(3)) whose primary focus is in the preservation of battlefields of the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, and the American Civil War, through the acquisition of battlefield lan ...

and its partners have acquired and preserved of the battlefield as of early 2024.

"Saved Land" webpage. Accessed February 16, 2024.

Notes

References

National Park Service battle description

CWSAC report update

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, Tennessee, Battle of Jackson Tennessee Forrest's Expedition into West Tennessee Battles of the Western Theater of the American Civil War Confederate victories of the American Civil War Battles of the American Civil War in Tennessee Madison County, Tennessee 1862 in the American Civil War 1862 in Tennessee December 1862