Conflict: American Civil War
Combatants: Confederates vs. Federals
Location: Alabama (USA)
Outcome: Federal victory
Intending to launch an invasion of Tennessee, Confederate General John Bell Hood found a small Federal force entrenched at Decatur. While slowly deploying his army to encircle the enemy troops, Federal reinforcements arrived to bolster the defense. By the time Hood launched a probing attack on the 27th, the Federals drove off the skirmishers, capturing over 100. Low on supplies, Hood chose to withdraw and move farther west.
Points of Interest:
Hood had expected to meet General Nathan Bedford Forrest's cavalry at Decatur, but Forrest had been delayed.
On this same day in Missouri, Federal troops killed 'Bloody' Bill Anderson, one of William Quantrill's infamous 'raiders'.
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Sources:
Bowman, John S. (Ed.) (1983). The Civil War Almanac. New York: World Almanac.
Catton, Bruce (1955). This Hallowed Ground. Kingsport, Tennessee: Kingsport Press, Inc.
Dupuy, Trevor N., Johnson, Curt, & Bongard, David L. (1992). The Harper's Encyclopedia of Military Biography. New York: Castle Books (HarperCollins).
Dupuy, R. Ernest & Dupuy, Trevor N. (1993). The Harper's Encyclopedia of Military History. New York: HarperCollins.
Eggenberger, David (1985). An Encyclopedia of Battles: Accounts of Over 1,560 Battles from 1479 B.C. to the Present. New York: Dover Publications, Inc.
Hogue, James M. & McPherson, James M. (2009). Ordeal By Fire. New York: MaGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Long, E.B & Long, Barbara (1971). The Civil War Day by Day: An Almanac 1861-1865. New York: De Capo Press, Inc.
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