Davis Bridge

Maj. Gen. Earl Van Dorn’s Confederate Army of West Tennessee retreated north from Corinth, Mississippi after their defeat there on October 4, 1862. Maj. Gen. William S. Rosecrans did not send forces in pursuit until the morning of October 5th. Maj. Gen. Edward O.C. Ord, commanding a detachment of the Union Army of the Tennessee, had been advancing south toward Corinth to assist Rosecrans. On the night of October 4-5th, Ord camped near Pocahontas, Tennessee. In the morning, a division of Illinois and Indiana regiments in the area under Maj. Gen. Stephen A. Hurlbut discovered Confederates in their front, two miles south of the town. Ord took command of the combined Union forces and pushed Van Dorn’s advance line, Gen. Sterling Price’s Army of the West, back about five miles to the Hatchie River and across Davis’ Bridge. Price and Van Dorn put up a stubborn defense of the bridge to protect their line of retreat. During the action, Ord was wounded and Hurlbut assumed command. While Price’s men were hotly engaged with Hurlbut’s force, Van Dorn’s scouts found another crossing of the Hatchie further south at Crum's Mill. Van Dorn then led his army back to Mississippi. Ord had forced the Confederates to retreat, but they had escaped capture or destruction.