April 22 – 24, 2021
Nine days after starting this adventure, we left Florida behind and entered Alabama. To break up the drive to our next destination, we planned an overnight stop near Montgomery, Alabama. Bill had warned me that this stop was basically in a parking lot and he was right.
Overnight Stop
Montgomery Marina RV Resort was convenient, with an easy on/off of I-65, a security gate, great internet speed, and an adjacent restaurant – but it was a gravel parking lot. At least it was quiet.
Tupelo, Mississippi
The next day, we were on our way to the next destination. As we were planning our trip, we started looking for convenient, interesting waypoints to visit. Neither of us had ever been to Tupelo and since it was along our route we decided to spend a couple of nights there.
We selected the Campground at Barnes Crossing for our stay. This campground, set in a secluded woods, was just off of Natchez Trace Parkway and close to restaurants and shopping. The campground had a lot of character with landscaped and terraced sites plus an adjacent horse pasture.
Dinner that evening was at a nearby Mexican Restaurant – Cantina Del Sol – good margaritas and great food!!
So, what does one do around Tupelo? If you are an Elvis Presley fan you’ll want to see his childhood home and museum. If the weather is suitable, you’ll want to drive part of the Natchez Trace Parkway. If you are a Civil War buff, you can visit the Tupelo National Battlefield or Brices Cross Roads National Battlefield. Since we’re not Elvis fans and it was cloudy/rainy, we opted for Brices Cross Roads.
Brices Cross Roads National Battlefield
Located near Baldwyn about 30 minutes north of Tupelo, the Brices Cross Roads National Battlefield Site was established in 1929. It commemorates the Battle of Brices Cross Roads and is considered one of the best preserved of the American Civil War.
During the first week of May in 1864, William Tecumseh Sherman began his Atlanta Campaign. During the four-month campaign, the U.S. Army advanced steadily, but in the process extended their supply lines that stretched back to Nashville, Tennessee. As the campaign progressed, Sherman grew concerned the brazen General Nathan Bedford Forrest might move his Confederate cavalry force out of North Mississippi into Middle Tennessee, strike the supply lines, and perhaps jeopardize the entire Federal effort. As a result, Sherman in late May ordered General Samuel Davis Sturgis out of Memphis and into North Mississippi with a force of just over 8,000 men. Sturgis’s mission was to keep Forrest occupied and, if possible, destroy the Confederate cavalry force that Forrest commanded. Sherman’s orders to Sturgis came just in time, as Forrest’s cavalry had just left for Middle Tennessee and was forced to turn back to Mississippi to once again defend the northern part of the state. The Federal expedition marched out of Memphis on June 1. Sturgis had a great deal of discretion in his movements, but was generally expected to “proceed to Corinth, Mississippi, by way of Salem and Ruckersville, capture any force that may be there, then proceed south, destroying the Mobile and Ohio Railroad to Tupelo and Okolona, and as far as possible toward Macon and Columbus.”
At 9:45 a.m., on June 10, a brigade of Benjamin H. Grierson’s Cavalry Division reached Brices Cross Roads. The battle started at 10:30 a.m. when the Confederates performed a stalling operation with a brigade of their own. Forrest ordered the rest of his cavalry to converge around the cross roads. The remainder of the Federal cavalry arrived in support, but a strong Confederate assault soon pushed them back at 11:30 a.m., when the balance of Forrest’s Cavalry Corps arrived on the scene. Grierson called for infantry support and Sturgis obliged. The line held until 1:30 p.m. when the first regiments of U.S. infantry arrived.
The Federal line, initially bolstered by the infantry, briefly seized the momentum and attacked the Confederate left flank, but Forrest launched an attack from his extreme right and left wings, before the rest of the Federal infantry could take the field. In this phase of the battle, Forrest commanded his field artillery to unlimber, unprotected, only yards from the Federal line, and to shred their troops with canister. The massive damage caused Sturgis to reorder his line in a tighter semicircle around Brices Cross Roads, facing east.
At 3:30, Forrest’s 2nd Tennessee Cavalry assaulted the bridge across the Tishomingo. Although the attack failed, it caused severe confusion among the U.S. troops, and Sturgis ordered a general retreat. With the Tennesseans still pressing, the retreat bottlenecked at the Tishomingo bridge and a panicked rout developed instead. Sturgis’ forces fled wildly, pursued on their return to Memphis across six counties before the exhausted Confederate attackers retired.
wikipedia.org
The Union lost three men to every Southern casualty and General Forrest’s troops managed to capture desperately needed supplies, including guns, ammunition, artillery, and wagons. The battle was considered a major tactical victory for the Confederacy, but did not diminish the effectiveness of Sherman’s campaign as supplies continued to flow. Brices Cross Roads is an excellent example of winning the battle, but losing the war.
nationalparks.org
After touring the battlefield, we returned to the RV and began preparation for travel to our next destination. Tomorrow we hit the road again.
