5fish
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The skirmish at Sparta... at a place called Wild cat... there details of the skirmish at the link...
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One example of this is a sharp skirmish that took place at Wildcat Creek near Sparta on Aug. 9, 1863. On July 27, 1863, Confederate colonel George G. Dibrell, commander of the Eighth Tennessee Cavalry, and his regiment departed Chattanooga for Sparta with orders from General Nathan Bedford Forrest to observe and report the movements of Union general William S. Rosecrans’ army, one brigade of which was located at McMinnville.
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Failing in his first attempt to defeat Dibrell, Minty returned to McMinnville, but he remained determined to locate and annihilate the rebel force. Minty’s second attempt took place five days later on Aug. 9. Having received intelligence that Dibrell, with between 800 and 900 men (Dibrell reported that he had fewer than half that number), was encamped two miles south of Sparta (also bad intelligence, for he was north of town), Minty departed McMinnville on Aug. 8, with nearly 800 men, hoping to catch Dibrell by surprise. The Federals arrived at Spencer at 11 p.m. and remained long enough for the men to rest and feed their horses. Minty’s troopers crossed the Caney Fork at the mouth of Cane Creek at daybreak and engaged Dibrell’s pickets four miles south of Sparta.
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The skirmish at Wildcat Creek was not a decisive engagement. Its outcome did not determine the course of the war, or even the war in Tennessee for that matter. However, it is significant for other reasons. The battle demonstrates that the Confederates, even in small numbers, were still willing in 1863 to contest parts of Middles Tennessee, a region that saw a significant Union presence beginning in early 1862. It furthermore suggests that many local citizens remained resolute in their support for the Confederate cause in August 1863, just weeks after the demoralizing Southern defeats at Vicksburg and Gettysburg.
snip...
One example of this is a sharp skirmish that took place at Wildcat Creek near Sparta on Aug. 9, 1863. On July 27, 1863, Confederate colonel George G. Dibrell, commander of the Eighth Tennessee Cavalry, and his regiment departed Chattanooga for Sparta with orders from General Nathan Bedford Forrest to observe and report the movements of Union general William S. Rosecrans’ army, one brigade of which was located at McMinnville.
snip...
Failing in his first attempt to defeat Dibrell, Minty returned to McMinnville, but he remained determined to locate and annihilate the rebel force. Minty’s second attempt took place five days later on Aug. 9. Having received intelligence that Dibrell, with between 800 and 900 men (Dibrell reported that he had fewer than half that number), was encamped two miles south of Sparta (also bad intelligence, for he was north of town), Minty departed McMinnville on Aug. 8, with nearly 800 men, hoping to catch Dibrell by surprise. The Federals arrived at Spencer at 11 p.m. and remained long enough for the men to rest and feed their horses. Minty’s troopers crossed the Caney Fork at the mouth of Cane Creek at daybreak and engaged Dibrell’s pickets four miles south of Sparta.
snip...
The skirmish at Wildcat Creek was not a decisive engagement. Its outcome did not determine the course of the war, or even the war in Tennessee for that matter. However, it is significant for other reasons. The battle demonstrates that the Confederates, even in small numbers, were still willing in 1863 to contest parts of Middles Tennessee, a region that saw a significant Union presence beginning in early 1862. It furthermore suggests that many local citizens remained resolute in their support for the Confederate cause in August 1863, just weeks after the demoralizing Southern defeats at Vicksburg and Gettysburg.