The Battle of Lockridge Mill or the Battle of Lockridge's Mills, also called Skirmish near Lockridge's Mill was a skirmish fought on May 6, 1862, in the Western Theater of the American Civil War. The skirmish took place near modern-day Palmersville, Tennessee. The skirmish derives its name from the ford and gristmill on the nearby northern fork of the Obion River owned by Marshall Lockridge.
After the successful capture of Paris, Tennessee in March, 1862 Colonel William Warren Lowe of the 5th Iowa Cavalry Regiment, at the time nicknamed the "Curtis Horse", detached several of his cavalry companies to different areas of central and western Tennessee. On March 27, 1862, a detachment of Companies C, I, and M under the command of Alfred Bruce Brackett were sent to Savannah, Tennessee to protect telegraph wires of the U.S. Military Telegraph Corps. Brackett's detachment was later sent to Fort Heiman on August 29, 1862. Other detachments of the 5th Iowa were also operating in western Tennessee under Colonel Lowe. Up until this point in time the 5th Iowa Cavalry Regiment had not yet taken part in any battles.
Following the Battle of Shiloh Colonel Lowe ordered a detachment of Companies E, F, and G under the command of Major Carl Schaeffer Boernstein, a German emigrant, nobleman, and veteran of the 1st Iowa Infantry Regiment, to perform reconnaissance in the direction of Dresden and Como, Tennessee. Major Boernstein's officers included; Captain Charles C. Nott (Company E), Captain William A. Haw (Company F), and Captain Henning Von Minden (Company G). Roughly two-thirds of Boernstein's command were German Americans including the majority of the officers of the detachment.
Boernsein's force was ordered to travel to Henry Station to intercept the supplies, they were successful in this endeavor and captured roughly $15,000 worth of food along with other military supplies. On May 3, 1862, Colonel Lowe ordered Boernsein's detachment to travel to Como, Tennessee in order to intercept a wagon train of supplies including medicine which was reportedly taken from Paducah, Kentucky by elements of the Army of West Tennessee. While at Como the column found no trace of the wagon train an set up camp. Meanwhile, Captain Nott and 25 men stayed behind the main column to capture any guerrilla fighters following them. The column later continued westward towards the direction of Dresden, Tennessee. While staying behind Notts ascertained that there was a significant force of nearly 3,000 Confederate cavalry were near Caledonia, Tennessee marching towards Paris.
During this time Confederate States Army General P. G. T. Beauregard had planned to raid Paris, Tennessee and sent elements of the 7th Tennessee Cavalry Regiment, under the overall command of Colonel Thomas Claiborne and Colonel William Hicks Jackson, some 1,250 men in total. Colonel Claiborne and the 6th Tennessee Cavalry Battalion reached Trenton, Tennessee on May 2, when they received word that the 7th Tennessee Cavalry Regiment under Colonel Jackson were on its way to McKenzie's Station to support them. While on his way towards Paducah Claiborne was warned of Borenstein's detachment, Clairborne chose to intercept the Federal force and destroy it before his troop movements were discovered. Clairborne's column was broken up into 3 detachments; one column was under Lieutenant colonel James Pell, which was ordered to Boydsville, Kentucky and Tennessee to cut off a possible retreat, the two other columns were sent to pursue and overtake the intruders. Colonel Jackson was given the lead column which consisted of several companies of the 7th Tennessee Cavalry Regiment. Claiborne would remain with the final column and serve as the main attacking force.
The American Civil War (1861–1865) was the deadliest conflict in American history, killing an estimated 620,000 to 750,000 soldiers and an unknown number of civilians. The Confederate States of America, formed by eleven seceding Southern states, faced the Union in four years of warfare across 23 states and territories. Major engagements included First and Second Bull Run, Antietam (the bloodiest single day in American history, September 17, 1862), Chancellorsville, Gettysburg (July 1–3, 1863), Vicksburg (surrendered July 4, 1863), and Sherman's March through Georgia and the Carolinas (1864–1865). President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, transforming the war's stated purpose to include the abolition of slavery and enabling the enlistment of approximately 180,000 Black men in the United States Colored Troops. Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865. The war resolved the question of secession and ended American slavery, though Reconstruction would face sustained resistance in its attempt to secure civil rights for formerly enslaved people.
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