Action, Booneville was a Civil War engagement fought in Mississippi, 1862.
The Battle of Booneville was fought on July 1, 1862, in Booneville, Mississippi, during the American Civil War. It occurred in the aftermath of the Union victory at the Battle of Shiloh and within the context of Confederate General Braxton Bragg's efforts to recapture the rail junction at Corinth, Mississippi, 20 miles (32 km) north of Booneville. Though greatly outnumbered, Union troops led by Colonel Philip Sheridan were able to rout the Confederate forces led by General James R. Chalmers.
Fighting broke out at Booneville, Mississippi on July 1, 1862, as part of the wider struggle of the American Civil War. This clash followed on the heels of the Union triumph at Shiloh and unfolded while Confederate General Braxton Bragg sought to reclaim the rail junction at Corinth, Mississippi, located some 20 miles (32 km) to the north. Despite facing a much larger enemy force, the Union soldiers under Colonel Philip Sheridan managed to scatter General James R. Chalmers's Confederate command.
Following the Union triumph at Shiloh, Maj. Gen. Henry W. Halleck advanced his troops at a crawl toward Corinth, a vital railway hub. Three weeks brought his army only 5 miles (8.0 km) closer, and by May 25, 1862, he stood ready to besiege the town. Yet four days later, on May 29, Confederate troops commanded by Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard vanished unnoticed and headed for Tupelo, Mississippi. Once June neared its end, Halleck sent his men southward and discovered that the Confederates, now under Bragg's command, were pushing toward Corinth once again. Col. Philip Sheridan, just 31, built defensive works south of the town at Booneville on June 28, bracing for the coming Confederate strike.
On the morning of July 1, advance troops from Confederate Brig. Gen. James R. Chalmers's force of 4,700, Chalmers himself also 31, ran into Sheridan's outposts a short distance southwest of Corinth, roughly three miles and 1.8 miles (2.9 km) out. Sheridan's pickets pulled back and formed a solid line where the Tupelo and Saltillo roads met. Their new Colt revolving rifles gave them an edge that let the line hold off the first Confederate push, though they eventually retreated to a second position 2 miles (3.2 km) nearer Corinth.
When Chalmers attempted to sweep around the left side of this fresh line, Sheridan's main body arrived and stopped the maneuver cold. Most of the Union troops held their ground defensively, while Sheridan directed Lt. Col. Edward Hatch, head of the 2nd Iowa Cavalry, to pick two companies from the 2nd Michigan Cavalry under Capt. Russell Alexander Alger, along with companies B and F of the 2nd Iowa Cavalry, to slip unseen around the Confederates and strike them from behind using sabers and pistols. Meanwhile, the remaining dismounted troopers of both the 2nd Michigan and 2nd Iowa Cavalry pressed the Confederate line head on. This combined assault forced Chalmers into retreat
Sheridan reckoned that Chalmers's force had suffered 65 men killed during the fighting, while on the Federal side the toll came to one dead, 24 wounded, and 16 missing. The engagement had the effect of pushing back Bragg's planned offensive against Corinth, which in turn gave Halleck extra time to bring his forces together. Sheridan's conduct in facing such lopsided odds did not go unnoticed, and afterward he was put forward for promotion to Brigadier General.
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