Day's Gap

On April 30, 1863, Union and Confederate troops clashed at Day's Gap, opening a string of engagements across Cullman County, Alabama, that would stretch on until May 2. Historians remember this campaign as Streight's Raid. Col. Abel Streight held command on the Union side, while the Confederates fought under Brig. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest.

Background

Streight set out to sever the Western & Atlantic Railroad, the vital supply line feeding General Braxton Bragg's Confederate forces in Middle Tennessee. His route began in Nashville, Tennessee, from which he and his command pushed on to Eastport, Mississippi, before turning east toward Tuscumbia, Alabama. Departing Tuscumbia on April 26, 1863, he pressed onward in a southeasterly direction. Union Brig. Gen. Grenville Dodge and his troops provided cover for these early stages of the march, shielding Streight's movements from Confederate detection.

Battle

On the morning of April 30, Forrest's pursuit finally closed the gap with Streight's column at Day's Gap on Sand Mountain, where he fell upon the rear guard. Anticipating the assault, Streight's troops had taken up concealed positions behind a series of rises across the rolling terrain, waiting for the Confederates to come within range. As the fighting developed, Forrest called on Gould to push the artillery forward. It was at that moment that Streight's men sprang their ambush, striking from their hidden perch atop one of the rises. Caught off guard and heavily outnumbered, Gould's soldiers had no choice but to abandon their guns on the field. This delaying action gave Streight the window he needed, and his command pressed on with its march, determined to stay ahead of further Confederate attempts at envelopment and to avoid losing any more time.

Union order of battle

Streight's raid drew on a small but varied collection of units. From Illinois came the 80th Infantry, while Indiana contributed both the 51st and 73rd Infantry regiments. Ohio's 3rd Infantry also took part, joined by two companies of the 1st Middle Tennessee Cavalry.

Aftermath

The clash triggered a series of follow-on fights across northern Alabama: at Crooked Creek and Hog Mountain on April 30, at Blountsville on May 1, and at both Black Creek near Gadsden and Blount's Plantation on May 2. The pursuit ended on May 3, when Forrest's cavalry closed in on Streight's worn-out command roughly three miles east of Cedar Bluff, Alabama, compelling them to lay down their arms. The captured Union soldiers were transported to Libby Prison in Richmond, Virginia, though Streight and a number of his men later broke free on February 9, 1864.

A darker consequence of the campaign unfolded away from the battlefield itself, involving Confederate Lieutenant A. Wills Gould, an artillery officer whose two years of service had earned him a reputation for courage. Chafing at being reassigned, Gould approached Forrest's headquarters tent to plead his case, only to be met with the harsh scolding Forrest was known for delivering, witnesses recalling that he cursed the young officer without restraint. Gould pushed back, insisting that what Forrest had asked of him could not reasonably be done, and the exchange quickly turned into a full-blown quarrel. Because no one present had a clear line of sight, exactly what happened next remains murky. What is certain is that Forrest walked away with a gunshot wound to his abdomen, while Gould had been stabbed in the lung, an injury that would kill him. The killing took place on June 14, 1863. Whatever the precise sequence, the underlying demand, that an artillery officer repeatedly limber and unlimber his guns while crossing uneven, hilly terrain, had been a flawed order from the start.