Thompson's Station was a Civil War engagement fought in Tennessee, 1863. It was a Confederate victory.
In a period of relative inactivity following the Battle of Stones River, a reinforced Union infantry brigade, under Col. John Coburn, left Franklin to reconnoiter south toward Columbia. Four miles from Spring Hill, Coburn attacked with his right wing, a Confederate force composed of two regiments; he was repelled. Then, Maj. Gen. Van Dorn seized the initiative. Brig. Gen. W.H. "Red" Jackson's dismounted 2nd Division made a frontal attack, while Brig. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest's division swept around Coburn's left flank, and into his rear. After three attempts, characterized by hard fighting, Jackson carried the Union hilltop position as Forrest captured Coburn's wagon train and blocked the road to Columbia in his rear. Out of ammunition and surrounded, Coburn surrendered. Union influence in Middle Tennessee subsided for a while.
On March 5, 1863, fighting broke out at Thompson's Station in Williamson County, Tennessee, part of the ongoing Civil War.
Things had been fairly quiet in the wake of Stones River when Col. John Coburn led a bolstered Union infantry brigade out of Franklin, aiming to scout the terrain south toward Columbia. When his column reached a point four miles from Spring Hill, Coburn ordered his right wing forward against a Confederate force made up of two regiments, only to be pushed back. Maj. Gen. Earl Van Dorn then took charge of the situation. Brig. Gen. W.H. "Red" Jackson sent his dismounted 2nd Division straight at the Union line, while Brig. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest's division circled around to strike Coburn's left flank and rear. The fighting proved brutal, and only on the third try did Jackson finally take the hilltop the Federals held, just as Forrest seized Coburn's wagon train and cut off the Nashville road behind him. With his ammunition exhausted and his men encircled, Coburn had no choice but to surrender, and nearly every one of his field officers went into captivity with him. For a time afterward, Union control over Middle Tennessee weakened considerably.
Among the Union forces caught up in the battle were the 19th Michigan Infantry Regiment, which lost 20 killed, 92 wounded, and 345 captured for a total of 457, and the 33rd Indiana Infantry Regiment, which suffered 13 killed, 85 wounded, and 407 captured, totaling 505.
An unexpected figure played a role in securing the Confederate triumph for Van Dorn and Forrest. Seventeen-year-old Alice Thompson had taken refuge in the cellar of Lieutenant Banks's home. As the 3rd Arkansas Cavalry Regiment pushed across the yard outside, it lost both its commander, Colonel Samuel G. Earle, and its flag bearer, throwing the unit into chaos. Thompson emerged from hiding, snatched up the fallen flag, and rallied the regiment onward to victory, an act that even the opposing side praised.
Victory aside, bitterness soon festered between the two Confederate commanders. Forrest felt Van Dorn had left his men without adequate backing and grew furious with him over it. Their quarrel escalated until one of them proposed a duel, though it never took place on schedule. Within a month, someone Van Dorn had wronged through an affair shot him dead, rendering the matter of the duel irrelevant.
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