Gen. Forrest got Whipped on this date June 13, 1863...

[5fish]

Here is a recount of what happen to Gen. Forrest on this date June 13, 1863.... by some unknown union officer... When you read it sounds like a Forrest story defeating his adversary and chasing them in retreat but this time it was Forrest on the run...

I like making old Forrest look bad...

This story appeared in the June 13, 1863 NY Evening Post

Defeat of the Rebels with a Loss of 100 Men
Nashville, Tenn., June 12th – The Rebels made another attack on Triune, Tenn., yesterday.
At about 5 a.m. General Forrest with his 5,000 Rebel cavalry and two batteries attacked the cavalry division commanded by General Mitchell.
The federal troops formed in line of battle, and replied vigorously to the fire of the rebels, who retreated as the federals advanced.
The federals pursued the rebels six miles, when scouts were sent out, who reported that the rebels were still retreating.
The pursuit of the rebels was then abandoned.
The rebels lost twenty-one killed, sixty or seventy wounded and ten prisoners.
The federal loss is six killed and among them Lieutenant N.C. Blair, of the 4th Indiana Cavalry.
Lieutenant Blair’s body arrived here to-night.

 

[5fish]

Here another account notice it does not say Forrest defeated and put on the run...

June 11 TN Forrest attacks Gen. Mitchell’s troops at Triune; Morgan departs Alexandria with 2,500 troops for a series of raids into Kentucky, Ohio, and Indiana. Morgan’s raids represent the most northern penetration by uniformed Confederate troops at any time during the war.

 

[diane]

Forrest didn't lose at Triune - he was the one who broke through the Union lines and scattered them...then left. It was his job to clear the way for Bragg's army to haul through middle Tennessee and Triune had many, many skirmishes like this one but never a major battle. No, as much as the NY papers loved to punch Forrest, they were less than truthful about this battle!

Thanks for bringing it up, though. These small battles are key to the larger battles - always overlooked because tens of thousands didn't get killed!

 

[5fish]

I do not know here is one that note Forrest bringing the line and in the same space union troops repulse Forrest men... so what is the true.. It is obvious Forrest did not control the field of battle and had fled the area. If he broke the line why did he turn and run...

Remembering the Battle of Triune, 153 Years Later

The Battle of Triune will be reenacted this weekend. Read more for the details, and the story of the fighting there century and a half ago.

williamsonsource.com

Before the Civil War, Triune was a growing area of central Tennessee. The first non-native American settler was a Virginian named William Jordan, who built a log cabin there in 1796. A community grew, then, that came to be called Hardeman’s Crossroads. By the 1820s it had stores, saloons and leather shops.Several local plantations, also, had set up mills and cotton gins there. Its current name, Truine, comes from the area’s first church, the Triune Methodist Church, built in 1849. By the 1860s it was a thriving, small rural community.
But the Civil War would change all that.
Confederate brigades, under General Braxton Bragg, were stationed at the crossroads early in the war. Federal troops, on the way to what would be the Battle of Stones River in Murfreesboro in late 1862, encountered the Rebels and a fight broke out.
Bragg was defeated.
The Federal Army, after winning the subsequent battle at Stones River, occupied Triune in force and built fortifications, some of the trenches from these can still be seen today.
That Spring, Rebel forces tried repeatedly to retake the ground. Between April and June there were several cavalry skirmishes, including one in June led by General Nathan Bedford Forrest that broke through the Yankee lines.
The local people resisted Federal occupation and many were detained, and the namesake Triune church, a school and many homes were damaged or destroyed in the fighting.
From a New York Times article published at the time:

THE WAR IN TENNESSEE; ANOTHER FIGHT AT TRIUNE THE REBELS REPULSED. National Soldiers to be Executed for Desertion.
Published: June 14, 1863
NASHVILLE, Tenn., Friday, June 12.
The rebels made another attack on Triune, Tenn., yesterday.
At about 5 A.M., General FOREST, with 5,000 rebel cavalry and two batteries attacked the cavalry division commanded by General MITCHELL.
The Federals formed in line of battle, and replied vigorously to the fire of the rebels, who retreated as the Federals advanced.
The Federals pursued the rebels six miles, when scouts were sent out, who reported that the rebels were still retreating.
The pursuit of the rebels was then abandoned.
The rebels lost 21 killed, 60 or 70 wounded, and 10 prisoners.
The Federal loss is six killed, and among them is Lieut. N.C. BLAIR, of the Fourth Indiana cavalry.
Lieut. BLAIR’s body arrived here to-night.
Several executions of Federal soldiers for desertion will take place next week.
There was a grand review of the troops here today.
The weather is very hot.
In the river the water is twenty inches deep on the shoals.

 

[5fish]

Here is a book of a regiment that engaged Forrest again on line broken.. half way down the page..

Ohio in the War

books.google.com

 

[diane]

The Campaigns of Lt Gen Forrest by Jordan and Pryor are considered a primary source, as the authors had access to Forrest's personal and official records. Here's Forrest's side of the story!

The Campaigns of Lieut.-Gen. N.B. Forrest, and of Forrest's Cavalry ...

www.google.com

Begin at about page 284 and end at about page 290. The details are very clear, and can be supported by Union records as well. The town of Triune was on the outskirts of Franklin and one of many transportation spots that needed to be taken care of. Forrest did well there! He was driven back once, but was not one to give up that easily. He took another try and this time succeeded.

 

[5fish]

I found this more details... they call is a skirmish but it lasted hours... https://www.loc.gov/item/2013645749/

 

[5fish]

Here a is book look at Triune, Tn... page 878...

The Union Army: Cyclopedia of battles

books.google.com

Here is a book that says Forrest fought the Union forces on the June 9th and on the June 10th at Triune, Tn. Its a book pages 325 and 326...

Every Day of the Civil War

From the early seizure of government property during the latter part of 1860 to the final Confederate surrender in 1865, this book provides a day-to-day account of the U.S. Civil War. Although the book provides a daily chronicle of the combat, it is written in narrative form to give readers some...

books.google.com

 

[5fish]

I found Col. Mitchell OR ... its a paragraph... page 375...

The War of the Rebellion

Official records produced by the armies of the United States and the Confederacy, and the executive branches of their respective governments, concerning the military operations of the Civil War, and prisoners of war or prisoners of state. Also annual reports of military departments, calls for...

books.google.com

Here a more detail account where Forrest was luck... need to read... luck save Forrest.... They set up a killing field and missed Forrest... page 86

Ninety-Second Illinois Volunteers

books.google.com

 

[diane]

5fish - sounds like Bragg's cavalry was doing its job! Luck was either in love with Forrest or liked him a whole lot. (He figured it was his wife's prayers.) Not only that situation, but another even worse - Forrest mistook a signal flag for a white flag of truce and came forward. A Union officer yelled, "Go back, General! I know you and I don't want to see you get hurt! It is not a truce!" Forrest waved his hat and rode back into his own lines. It was a while after the war Forrest discovered this helpful officer was someone he'd taken prisoner during his first Murfreesboro raid.

There were numerous small actions and skirmishes around the area, and all were cavalry in support of the movements of the large armies. Triune was in one of those 'cross-roads' areas - like Poland or Korea - that gets trampled by both sides trying to get at each other!

Triune skirmishing led to one of the strangest things Wheeler ever did. As above sources noted, there was a lot of skirmishing and engagements around the area as Rosecrans was trying to force Bragg onto a battlefield of his (Rosy's) selection, and Bragg's cavalry was trying to screen the real movements. They were doing well. And, while Forrest was skirmishing near Triune, Wheeler thought to make a stab at the garrisons outside the Union stronghold of Shelbyville. He got word that Forrest was between - trapped - and so he created a diversion which turned into a real fight. He ended up with one of the most dramatic escapes in the war - he and his men rode straight off a cliff into the Duck River. The Federals were gobsmacked but it didn't stop them from running up to the ledge and shooting everything in the water! Meanwhile, downriver a piece, Forrest heard the gunfire and decided to take the back way. Wheeler had gotten misinformation - Forrest was fine, and always had been!