Battle of Egypt Station 1864

About the battle

The Battle of Egypt Station (December 28, 1864) was an engagement in Mississippi that took place during a successful Union cavalry raid during the American Civil War. A 3,500-man Union cavalry division under Brigadier General Benjamin Grierson defeated Confederate troops led by Franklin Gardner and Samuel J. Gholson. Grierson's raiding cavalry left Memphis, Tennessee on 21 December and first demolished a Confederate supply depot at Verona. Moving south while wrecking bridges and track along the Mobile and Ohio Railroad, the Union raiders encountered the Confederate defenders at Egypt Station. After their victory, Grierson's cavalry headed southwest to Vicksburg which it reached on January 5, 1865. The raiders destroyed a large amount of Confederate supplies and also damaged the Mississippi Central Railroad. Some of the men captured by Grierson's raiders proved to be former Union soldiers who volunteered to fight for the Confederacy rather than languish in prison camps. When John Bell Hood's army retreated into northern Mississippi after the Battle of Nashville, it was unable to obtain supplies because Grierson's raiders had damaged the railroad so badly.

Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Egypt Station (revision 1370439753), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; formatting and citations removed. No text added.

Nearby battles

• Battle of Okolona 1864 · 12 km
• Battle of Tupelo 1864 · 40 km
• Battle of Brice's Cross Roads 1864 · 68 km
• Battle of Coffeeville 1862 · 86 km
• Battle of Booneville 1862 · 86 km
• Battle of Iuka 1862 · 110 km

Browse more: battles in United States · North America · 19th century battles

Further reading

• Wikipedia: Battle of Egypt Station
• Wikidata Q104864641