Vaught's Hill was a Civil War engagement fought in Tennessee, 1863. It was a Union victory.
During the inactivity following the Battle of Stones River, a Union brigade-sized reconnaissance force, under Col. Albert S. Hall, left Murfreesboro on March 18. Circling to the northeast, Hall encountered Confederate Brig. Gen. John Hunt Morgan's cavalry command which caused him to fall back to a position east of Milton. Pursuing Hall, Morgan's men caught up with him on the morning of the 20th, at Vaught's Hill. Dismounted, Morgan struck at both Union flanks, even to the point of encircling Hall's hilltop position. Hall conducted a perimeter defense and withstood all Confederate attacks, which lasted till after 2:00 pm. Morgan continued to bombard the Yankees until 4:30 pm, when he broke off the engagement, after learning that Union reinforcements were en route from Murfreesboro. Union forces continued to strengthen their position in Middle Tennessee.
On March 20, 1863, Union and Confederate forces clashed in Rutherford County, Tennessee, in an engagement known as the Battle of Vaught's Hill, sometimes called the Battle of Milton. Colonel Albert Sereno Hall led an infantry brigade for the Union side, facing a cavalry division under Confederate brigadier general John Hunt Morgan. Hall's men emerged victorious in the fighting.
The Union Army in Tennessee suffered a defeat at the Battle of Thompson's Station on March 5, 1863, during the Civil War. Two weeks later, on March 18, Colonel Albert S. Hall departed Murfreesboro with 1,300 men, heading northeast on a reconnaissance mission. His objective was to locate Confederate brigadier general John Hunt Morgan, who had been leading raids across Tennessee with his army. Hall's force consisted of infantry from the 101st Ohio, 105th Indiana, 80th Illinois, and 123rd Illinois, along with the 1st Tennessee Cavalry and a battery from the 9th Indiana Artillery.
Eventually Hall began his march back toward Murfreesboro, and on March 20 he encountered Morgan's cavalry division, numbering roughly 3,500 troops. Upon discovering the size of Morgan's force, Hall moved to establish a defensive position atop Vaught's Hill, located in Rutherford County a mile west of Milton and fourteen miles from Murfreesboro.
At 11:30 in the morning on March 20, fighting erupted at what became known as both the Battle of Vaught's Hill and the Battle of Milton. Morgan's troops climbed down from their horses and pressed toward the sides and back of Hall's force, catching them before they could fully settle into position. This maneuver nearly closed a ring around Hall's men, yet Morgan found himself unable to push the advantage any further. Large rocks shielded Hall's soldiers, giving them solid cover. For three hours Morgan's men threw themselves forward again and again, only to have Hall's artillery beat back every attempt. By roughly 2:00 in the afternoon, word reached Morgan that Union reinforcements were on their way, prompting him to call off the fight. Even so, his men continued firing shells for a while longer before finally breaking off.
The clash concluded with casualty counts that vary depending on the source: one tally puts Confederate losses at 373 and Union losses at 62, while another lists 180 Confederate casualties, comprising 30 killed and 150 wounded, against 48 for the Union, made up of 6 dead and 42 injured. Only five days afterward, Union forces endured a serious setback at the Battle of Brentwood. Meanwhile, Morgan's troops launched an ambitious push into the North, an effort that also resulted in heavy losses for them.
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