Action, Cherokee Station was a Civil War engagement fought in Alabama, 1863. It was a Union victory.
On October 21, 1863, Union and Confederate forces clashed near the Alabama town of Cherokee Station in an engagement that became known as the Battle of Cherokee Station, one of the many armed encounters that marked the American Civil War.
Fighting broke out near Cherokee Station, Alabama, on 21 October 1863, pitting Union troops against Confederate forces in one of the engagements of the American Civil War.
Behind this clash lay General Sherman's effort to restore the Memphis and Charleston Railroad, a project meant to ease the movement of Union soldiers from Mississippi toward Chattanooga. Corinth, Mississippi served as the starting point for this rebuilding work, from which Sherman's men advanced steadily into the northern reaches of Alabama.
The prior day, October 20, Union soldiers seized Barton's Station and opened their move on Cherokee Station with a short clash between cavalry units. When XV Corps struck the Confederates stationed near the town, roughly an hour of musket fire passed before the Southern troops began pulling back. As they withdrew, the First Division of XV Corps wheeled several Parrott rifles into position, inflicting heavy losses on the retreating men.
Union momentum carried forward on October 27, when a clear win at Little Bear Creek, close to Tuscumbia, compelled the Confederates to give up that town. Yet the Confederates kept resisting, and this persistence led Union commanders to abandon this route in favor of paths farther north that promised greater safety on the way to Chattanooga.
General Sherman set out to restore the Memphis and Charleston Railroad, a project meant to smooth the path for Union troops heading toward Chattanooga and Missionary Ridge as groundwork for a strike on Atlanta, Georgia. The effort got underway close to Corinth, Mississippi, with progress extending through the northwestern part of Alabama.
On October 20, Sherman launched his advance near Cane Creek and came out on top against Confederate forces there. That same day brought two more clashes, at Barton's Station and Dickson's Station, both of which also ended favorably for the Union side. Sherman then continued moving eastward toward Cherokee Station as the day went on.
That evening, fighting broke out when the 5th Ohio Cavalry encountered a sizable Confederate cavalry force. Although the 3rd U.S. Cavalry arrived to lend assistance, the men of the 5th managed to defeat the enemy without needing that help. Casualties for the 5th amounted to three soldiers and two horses lost.
At eight in the morning on 21 October, the XV Corps advanced toward the Confederate position, its 1st Division out in front. Soon they ran into a sizable body of Confederate troops and began firing on them. For a full hour the two sides traded musket fire, and the Confederates bore the brunt of it, suffering heavy losses. Their ranks thinned by these losses, the Confederates finally pulled back. As they withdrew, the division wheeled up several 20-pound Parrott rifles, which accounted for several dozen additional casualties. A number of Confederate soldiers fell into Union hands as prisoners during the fighting.
Pushed off the field, Confederate troops fell back to defensive works positioned near Tuscumbia. The toll of the fighting left Union forces with 35 casualties, whereas the Confederate side absorbed losses ranging from 300 to 400 men.
Stephen Dill Lee, holding the rank of lieutenant-general, relied on his artillery and infantry to slow the advancing Union push toward Tuscumbia, punctuating this delaying effort with brief clashes against Union soldiers, including one fought at Barton's Station. That effort collapsed on 27 October, when a setback at Little Bear Creek compelled Lee to abandon Tuscumbia. With Union columns pressing onward into Georgia, Lee mounted a further attack near Cherokee Station, only to be driven back by the XV Corps. Following that setback, Confederate forces made another attempt at Barton's Station, again engaging in skirmish fighting there. Dwindling supplies eventually left Lee no option but to pull his troops out of Alabama entirely and move into the northern part of Georgia.
Even so, Lee's stubborn resistance had lasting consequences: it kept the Memphis and Charleston Railroad from being rebuilt, forcing Union forces to rely on longer, northern routes to reach Chattanooga. In recognition of this, Bragg praised Lee for slowing the Union advance and for blocking the railroad's restoration.
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