Wilson's Raid was a cavalry operation through Alabama and Georgia in March-April 1865, late in the American Civil War. Brigadier General James H. Wilson led his Union Army Cavalry Corps to destroy Southern manufacturing facilities and was opposed unsuccessfully by the smaller force under Confederate Lieutenant General Nathan Bedford Forrest. This history article needs to be wikified. ... The Battle of West Point was fought on April 16, 1865 in West Point, Georgia, during the American Civil War. ... Cavalry is also a common misspelling of the Biblical hill Calvary. ... Official language(s) English Capital Montgomery Largest city Birmingham Area  - Total  - Width  - Length  - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 30th 135,775 km² 306 km 531 km 3. ... Combatants United States of America Confederate States of America Commanders Abraham Lincoln† Ulysses S. Grant Jefferson Davis Robert E. Lee Strength 2,213,363 1,064,200 Casualties KIA: 110,100 Total dead: 359,500 Wounded: 275,200 KIA: 74,500 Total dead: 198,500 Wounded: 137,000+  The American... A Brigadier General, or one-star general, is the lowest rank of general officer in the United States and some other countries, ranking just above Colonel and just below Major General. ... Portrait of James Wilson during the Civil War General James Wilson graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1860. ... The 21st Michigan Infantry, a company of Shermans veterans. ... Southern United States. ... Some Confederate soldiers The Confederate States Army (CSA) was formed in February, 1861, to defend the Confederate States of America, which had itself been formed that same year when seven southern states seceded from the United States (with four more to follow). ... Lieutenant General is a military rank used in many countries. ... Nathan Bedford Forrest Nathan Bedford Forrest (July 13, 1821 – October 29, 1877), was a Confederate general and perhaps the American Civil Wars most highly regarded cavalry and partisan ranger (guerrilla leader). ...

Background and opposing forces

After his victory at the Battle of Nashville, Union Major General George H. Thomas and his Army of the Cumberland found themselves with virtually no organized military opposition in the heart of the South. Thomas ordered Brig. Gen. James H. Wilson (who commanded the Cavalry Corps of the Military Division of the Mississippi, but was attached to Thomas's army) to lead a raid to destroy the arsenal at Selma, Alabama, in conjunction with Maj. Gen. Edward Canby's operations against Mobile. Selma was strategically important as one of the few Confederate military bases remaining in Southern hands. The town held an arsenal, a naval foundry, gun factories, a powder mill, military warehouses, and railroad repair shops. The Battle of Nashville was a two-day battle in the Franklin-Nashville Campaign that represented the end of large-scale fighting in the Western Theater of the American Civil War. ... Insignia of a United States Air Force Major General German Generalmajor Insignia Major General is a military rank used in many countries. ... General George Henry Thomas (July 31, 1816 - March 28, 1870), Northern general during the American Civil War, was born in Southampton County, Virginia. ... Union army in the west during the American Civil War, commanded at various times by Generals Robert Anderson, Don Carlos Buell, William S. Rosecrans, and George Thomas. ... Selma is a city in Alabama located on the banks of the Alabama River in Dallas County, Alabama, of which it is the county seat. ... Major General E.R.S Canby Edward Richard Sprigg Canby (November 9, 1817 – April 11, 1873) was a career U.S. Army officer and a Union general in the American Civil War and Indian Wars. ... Motto: Nickname: The Azalea City Map Political Statistics Founded 1702 Incorporated 1814 Mobile County Mayor Sam Jones Geographic Statistics Area  - Total  - Land  - Water 412. ...

Wilson led approximately 13,500 men in three divisions, commanded by Brig. Gens. Edward M. McCook, Eli Long, and Emory Upton. Each cavalryman was armed with the formidable Spencer repeating rifle. His principal opponent was Lt. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest, whose Cavalry Corps of the Department of Alabama, Mississippi, and East Louisiana consisted of about 2,500 troopers organized into two small divisions, led by Brig. Gens. James R. Chalmers and William H. Jackson, two partial brigades under Brig. Gen. Philip D. Roddey and Colonel Edward Crossland, and a few militia. Portrait of Emory Upton during the Civil War Emory Upton (August 27, 1839 – March 15, 1881) was a U.S. Army general and military strategist. ... The Spencer repeating rifle was a falling block, repeating rifle fed from a removable magazine. ...

Raid

Wilson was delayed in crossing the rain swollen Tennessee River, but got underway on March 22, 1865, departing Gravelly Springs, Alabama. He sent his forces in three separate columns to mask his intentions and confuse the enemy; Forrest learned very late in the raid that Selma was the primary target. Minor skirmishes occurred at Houston (March 25) and Black Warrior River (March 26), and Wilson's columns rejoined at Jasper on March 27. March 22 is the 81st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (82nd in Leap years). ... 1865 (MDCCCLXV) is a common year starting on Sunday. ... March 25 is the 84th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (85th in leap years). ... The Black Warrior River is a tributary of the Tombigbee River, approximately 178 mi (286 km) long, in central Alabama in the United States. ... March 26 is the 85th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (86th in leap years). ... Jasper is a city located in Walker County, Alabama. ... March 27 is the 86th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (87th in Leap years). ...

On March 28, at Elyton, near present-day Birmingham, another skirmish occurred and the Union troopers destroyed the Oxmoor and Irondale iron furnaces. Wilson detached a brigade under Brig. Gen. John T. Croxton and sent them south and west to burn the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa, a training ground for militia and Confederate troops. This movement occupied Chalmer's division away from Forrest's main force. March 28 is the 87th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (88th in Leap years). ... Nickname: The Magic City, Pittsburgh of the South, BHam Official website: http://www. ... University of Alabama The University of Alabama (also known as Alabama, UA, or colloquially as Bama) is a public coeducational university located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. ... // Tuscaloosa is a city in west central Alabama in the southern United States. ...

On March 31, Forrest was routed by the larger, better-armed Union force at Montevallo. The cavalrymen under Chalmers had not arrived to reinforce Forrest, but he could not wait. During the action, Forrest's headquarters were overrun and documents captured that gave valuable intelligence concerning his plans. Wilson dispatched McCook to link up with Croxton's brigade at Trion and then led the remainder of his force rapidly toward Selma. Forrest made a stand on April 1 at Plantersville, near Ebenezer Church, and was routed once again. The Confederates raced toward Selma and deployed into a three-mile, semicircular defensive line anchored at both ends by the Alabama River. March 31 is the 90th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (91st in Leap years), with 275 days remaining. ... Montevallo is a college town located in Shelby County, Alabama. ... April 1 is the 91st day of the year (92nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 274 days remaining. ... The Alabama River at Montgomery in 2004 The Alabama River, in the U.S. state of Alabama, is formed by the Tallapoosa and Coosa rivers, which unite about six miles above Montgomery. ...

The Battle of Selma occurred on April 2. The divisions of Long and Upton assaulted Forrest's hastily constructed works. The dismounted Union troopers broke through by afternoon, after brief periods of hand-to-hand combat; the militia troops abandoning their positions and fleeing were a primary reason for the entire line breaking. General Wilson personally led a mounted charge of the 4th U.S. Cavalry against an unfinished portion of the line. General Long was severely wounded in the head during the assault. Forrest, who was also wounded, and whose tiny corps was severely damaged, regrouped at Marion, where he finally rejoined with Chalmers. Wilson's men worked for over a week at destroying military facilities before departing for Montgomery, which they occupied on April 12. This history article needs to be wikified. ... 2 April is the 92nd day of the year (93rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 273 days remaining. ... Marion is a city located in Perry County, Alabama. ... Montgomery skyline from the banks of the Alabama River Montgomery is the capital of the U.S. state of Alabama. ... April 12 is the 102nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (103rd in leap years). ...

Word reached the Union force of the surrender of Robert E. Lee (April 9) and the assassination of Abraham Lincoln (April 14), but the raid continued, heading east into Georgia. The Battle of West Point, Georgia, occurred on April 16 when the brigade of Colonel Oscar H. La Grange attacked an earthwork defensive position named Fort Tyler. Although the Union men had to bridge a ditch under the fire of two 32-pounder guns inside the earthwork, Fort Tyler was captured. Confederate Brig. Gen. Robert C. Tyler, who had originally commanded the garrison at Selma before Forrest recommended that he evacuate the city, was mortally wounded by a sharpshooter, becoming the last general officer to be killed in the Civil War. For the author of Inherit the Wind and other works, see Robert Edwin Lee. ... April 9 is the 99th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (100th in leap years). ... Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865), sometimes called Abe Lincoln and nicknamed Honest Abe, the Rail Splitter, and the Great Emancipator, was the 16th President of the United States (1861 to 1865), and the first president from the Republican Party. ... April 14 is the 104th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (105th in leap years). ... The Battle of West Point was fought on April 16, 1865 in West Point, Georgia, during the American Civil War. ... April 16 is the 106th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (107th in leap years). ...

Also on April 16, Upton's division clashed with Confederate forces at Columbus, capturing the city and its naval works and burning the "cottonclad" ramming ship, CSS Jackson. On April 20, Wilson's men captured Macon, Georgia, and Wilson's Raid came to an end, only six days prior to General Joseph E. Johnston's surrender of all Confederate troops in the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida to William Tecumseh Sherman in North Carolina. April 16 is the 106th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (107th in leap years). ... Columbus is a city located in Muscogee County, Georgia. ... April 20 is the 110th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (111th in leap years). ... Macon is a city located in Bibb County, Georgia, USA. It lies near the geographic center of Georgia, approximately 80 miles (129 km) south of Atlanta, hence the citys nickname as the Heart of Georgia. ... Joseph E. Johnston Joseph Eggleston Johnston (February 3, 1807 – March 21, 1891) was a career U.S. Army officer and one of the most senior generals in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. ... William Tecumseh Sherman (February 8, 1820 – February 14, 1891) was an American soldier, businessman, educator, and author. ...

Aftermath

Wilson's Raid had been a spectacular success. His men captured five fortified cities, 288 cannons, and 6,820 prisoners, at a cost of 725 Union casualties. Forrest's casualties, from a much smaller force, numbered 1,200. The raid was done without the collateral damage that characterized Sherman's March to the Sea of the previous year. Wilson and his commander, George H. Thomas, did not tolerate uncontrolled behavior, such as looting, from their men. Residents accused Wilson's men of sacking Selma after the battle, but during house-to-house fighting, fires broke out, and renegades from both armies, along with escaping slaves, looted. Wilson quickly re-established discipline. Shermans campaigns through Georgia and the Carolinas, 1864–65 Shermans March to the Sea (also referred to as the Savannah Campaign) is the name commonly given to a military campaign conducted in late 1864 by Major General William Tecumseh Sherman of the Union Army during the American Civil...

A sad postscript followed the raid. Union prisoners of war were released from Confederate prisons near Selma by Wilson's Raid. Over 2,000 of these prisoners would be victims of one of the greatest disasters of the era, the explosion of the steamship Sultana on April 27. The steamboat Sultana was a Mississippi River paddlewheeler which was destroyed in an explosion on 27 April 1865, the greatest maritime disaster in United States history. ... April 27 is the 117th day of the year (118th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 248 days remaining. ...

References

• Eicher, David J., The Longest Night: A Military History of the Civil War, Simon & Schuster, 2001, ISBN 0-684-84944-5.
• National Park Service battle description for Selma
• Alabama state history
• Army of the Cumberland website on Wilson's Raid