Fair Garden was a Civil War engagement fought in Tennessee, 1864. It was a Union victory.
Since the Battle of Dandridge, the Union cavalry had moved to the south side of the French Broad River and had disrupted Confederate foraging and captured numerous wagons in that area. On January 25, 1864, Lt. Gen. James Longstreet, commander of the Department of East Tennessee, instructed his subordinates to do something to curtail Union operations south of the French Broad. On the 26th, Brig. Gen. Samuel D. Sturgis, having had various brushes with Confederate cavalry, deployed his troopers to watch the area fords. Two Confederate cavalry brigades and artillery advanced from Fair Garden in the afternoon but were checked about four miles from Sevierville. Other Confederates attacked a Union cavalry brigade, though, at Fowler's on Flat Creek, and drove it about two miles. No further fighting occurred that day. Union scouts observed that the Confederates had concentrated on the Fair Garden Road, so Sturgis ordered an attack there in the morning. In a heavy fog, Col. Edward M. McCook's Union division attacked and drove back Maj. Gen. William T. Martin's Confederates until about 4:00 pm. At that time, McCook's men charged with sabers and routed the Rebels. Sturgis set out in pursuit on the 28th, and captured and killed more of the routed Rebels. The Union forces, however, observed three of Longstreet's infantry brigades crossing the river. Realizing his weariness from fighting, lack of supplies, ammunition, and weapons and the overwhelming strength of the enemy, Sturgis decided to evacuate the area. But, before leaving, Sturgis determined to attack Brig. Gen. Frank C. Armstrong's Confederate cavalry division which he had learned was about three or four miles away, on the river. Unbeknownst to the attacking Federals, Armstrong had strongly fortified his position and three infantry regiments had arrived to reinforce him. Thus, the Union troops suffered severe casualties in the attack. The battle continued until dark, when the Federals retired from the area. The Federals had won the big battle but the fatigue of continual fighting and lack of supplies and ammunition forced them to withdraw.
On January 27, 1864, Union cavalry from the Army of Ohio clashed with Confederate forces from the Department of East Tennessee near Fair Garden, in Sevier County, Tennessee. Though the engagement was limited in scale, it left both sides with heavy losses.
After the Battle of Dandridge on January 16 and 17, Union horsemen crossed to the southern bank of the French Broad River, where they broke up Confederate foraging efforts and seized a large number of loaded supply wagons in that region. James Longstreet, the lieutenant general commanding the Department of East Tennessee, responded on January 25, 1864, by directing his officers to limit Federal activity south of the river. The following day, Brig. Gen. Samuel D. Sturgis, who had already tangled with Confederate horsemen before, positioned his cavalry to guard the nearby river crossings. That afternoon two Confederate cavalry brigades supported by artillery pushed forward from Fair Garden but were stopped roughly four miles outside Sevierville. Elsewhere, Confederate forces struck a Federal cavalry brigade near Fowler's on Flat Creek and pushed it back about two miles. Fighting died down for the rest of that day.
Once Union scouts detected that Confederate forces had gathered along the Fair Garden Road, Sturgis ordered his men into action there on the morning of January 27. Amid a thick fog, the division under Col. Edward M. McCook pressed forward and pushed back the Confederate troops led by Maj. Gen. William T. Martin. Around four o'clock that afternoon, McCook's cavalrymen launched a saber char
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