“What is all this war for anyhow”

The Battle of Paris, Tennessee

By Dieter C. Ullrich

Beneath a pale and amber sky the advance party of a Union cavalry battalion noticed the distant spires of the city of Paris, Tennessee upon the horizon. As the soldiers continued southwest toward Paris, two mounted men at a slow trot appeared before them. Instinctively an order was shouted and the blue clad cavalrymen raced rapidly toward the unwary scouts. Shots rang out and within minutes the two Confederate soldiers were killed and their weapons seized. As the dust settled Captain John T. Croft, the commanding officer of the Union force, directed Lieutenant Frederick A. Williams and a detail of twenty men to press on and secure the roadway. Marching from the northeast was the rest of Croft’s command of four companies of cavalry and a battery of artillery. Within a few miles of the town, Lieutenant Williams’ came upon an outlying picket of eight Confederates. His men quickly encircled the rebels and they surrendered without a firing a shot.[1] The road to Paris now lay open to Croft and his main force.                    

It was near dusk on March 11^th, 1862, when Captain Croft ordered three companies of cavalry followed by a battery of artillery under Captain Robert E. Bulliss to storm the town. They rumbled through the streets of Paris to find only empty storefronts, white flags draped from windows and the wide-eyed stares of awestruck citizens. After being informed of a rebel encampment upon the wooded heights just west of town, Croft ordered Captain Bulliss to position his battery and shell the Confederate camp.  Upon the crest of the hill one battalion of Confederate cavalry and two militia companies of mounted infantry, under the direction of Major Henry Clay King, hastily prepared a defensive line behind large fallen timbers. After a brief artillery barrage, two Union cavalry companies charged into the thick underbrush of the hill. Nearing the apex, the Confederates rose en mass from behind their defenses and fired upon the mounted Union troops. The attackers withstood the first couple of volleys but quickly turned about and retreated down the hill. Major King promptly took the offensive and followed in pursuit. They reached the foot of the hill before Union artillery again open fire and stalled the counterattack. As darkness overtook the battlefield, the Union force retired towards Paris and hours later departed the city having fired 250 rounds of artillery and leaving behind five killed and five wounded. The Confederate defenders ended their pursuit at sunset and returned to camp with the loss of two soldiers and about dozen wounded.[2]    

The four companies of Union cavalry that took part in the Battle of Paris consisted of Companies A, B, C, and D of the “Curtis Horse”. Companies A, B and C were organized in Omaha with men recruited from the southeastern part of the Nebraska Territory and the southwestern part of the State of Iowa. The companies were mustered into service in Omaha between September 14^th and October 3^rd, 1861. Company D was partially organized in Omaha with recruits from the Nebraska Territory and men from the disbanded Twentieth Missouri Infantry. The company was mustered into the service in St. Louis, Missouri on November 13^th, 1861.[3] Soon after being organized, the four companies became known as the “Nebraska Battalion” and later as the “Nebraska Cavalry” as the unit was equipped with horses and carbines.[4] On December 20^th, the “Nebraska Cavalry” was united with eight other independent cavalry companies from Iowa, Minnesota and Missouri to form the Curtis Horse.[5] In total 352 officers and enlisted men filled the ranks of the four companies when they became part of the Curtis Horse.[6]     

The men from Nebraska and Iowa arrived at St. Louis in late October and began training at Benton Barracks.[7] Throughout November and early December more recruits enlisted and the battalion outfitted with Hall carbines, Remington revolvers and heavy dragoon sabers.[8] In late December the Nebraska Cavalry was organized into companies and placed under the regimental command of Colonel William Warren Lowe, a graduate of the United States Military Academy and veteran officer who had served in the regular army in the western frontier. When war was declared Lowe remained in the United States Army and saw action as a cavalry officer during the First Battle of Manassas.[9] On December 20^th he was appointed commander of the newly organized Curtis Horse, named after General Samuel Ryan Curtis who was then commander at Benton Barracks.[10]       

The New Year began with strict military discipline and intense drill as Colonel Lowe vigorously prepared the men for active duty.[11] By the middle of January, the Curtis Horse had become fairly efficient at drill but not all the men in the regiment had been issued weapons or horses.[12] It was not until the end of the month before every company was fully equipped and ready for the field. As the supply of arms and horses arrived, rumors frequently circulated that the regiment was soon to receive marching orders. The final days of January brought heavy rains and snow to the region, training was suspended and the men confined to their barracks. Within the walls of the barracks rumors circulated and the men questioned where they would be sent next.[13] The answer came on February 7^th when Major General Henry W. Halleck, overall commander of the Department of the Missouri, called for the Curtis Horse to be sent to the recently captured Fort Henry on the Tennessee River.[14] The following morning the regiment, which numbered twelve companies and about one thousand men, marched from Benton Barracks to the port of St. Louis. At the docks awaiting them were the transport steamers “Continental”, “W. Graham” and “Hannibal”. The regiment boarded the transports later the same day and embarked for Fort Henry via a brief stop at Cairo, Illinois. After an upriver voyage of three days the Curtis Horse arrived at Fort Henry on the morning of the 11^th. Throughout the day the troops disembarked and moved to an encampment about a one half mile from the fort.[15]       

The men were still settling into camp when scouting parties were organized on the evening of the 12^th to patrol the roads leading to Fort Donelson, which was eleven miles to the east of Fort Henry. The next day the Union attack on Fort Donelson commenced and the roar of artillery was heard in the camp. One regimental scouting party that came within three miles of the first day’s action however did not participate.[16] Simultaneously across the river from Fort Henry, two enemy cavalry battalions skirmished with Federal troops near Fort Heiman, Kentucky but were repulsed with only minor losses on both sides.[17] Though unrelated, the rebel encroachment on the western shore led to one battalion of the Curtis Horse being carried across the Tennessee to assist in the defense of Fort Heiman on February 14^th.[18] The battalion consisted of same companies that would march on Paris less than a month later.

As the battle raged on at Fort Donelson, Brigadier General Ulysses S. Grant ordered that the Memphis, Clarksville & Louisville Railroad Bridge that traversed the river at Danville, Tennessee be made impassible.[19] One hundred men of the battalion were selected on the morning of February 15^th to carry out the mission. Led by Lieutenant Colonel Mathewson T. Patrick, the detachment traveled over seventy miles in twenty-four hours, successfully burned the bridge and returned without receiving any casualties.[20] Following the capture of Fort Donelson in the days just prior to the engagement in Paris, the battalion performed guard duty in camp and engaged in scouting missions about Fort Heiman. They encountered little excitement except for the capture of  “a few guerillas and some horses”.[21]   

Bulliss’ Battery was recruited and organized at St. Louis as Buel’s Independent Battery of Light Artillery in July of 1861 under the command of Captain James T. Buel and was originally named “Buel’s Battery”.[22] Buel’s Battery saw immediate service in Missouri, first at Dug Springs in early August, Sulphur Springs during the middle of the month and was stationed at Cape Girardeau on August 25^th.[23] The battery remained at Cape Girardeau and nearby Jackson, Missouri until early September where they assisted in defending the region against Confederate raiders under Brigadier General M. Jeff Thompson.[24] One day after Grant seized Paducah, September 7^th, Captain Buel and his men boarded the steamer Illinois and departed Cape Girardeau for Cairo, Illinois.[25] Ten days later Buel’s Battery stepped ashore in Kentucky to serve with the Union troops fortifying Paducah.[26] From the middle September to early November, the men setup camp, trained and prepared for probable assault upon the Confederate works at Columbus. 

Between November 6^th and 9^th, two sections of Buel’s Battery served as part of a diversionary force under Brigadier General E. A. Paine upon the Confederate bastion at Columbus, which was to coincide with General Grant attacking across the river at Belmont, Missouri. The feint had limited success due to inexperienced troops, disagreeable weather and bad road conditions that caused delays.[27] One week later another section, led by Second Lieutenant Robert E. Bulliss, was assigned to a large foraging party that seized the village of Lovelaceville, Kentucky. The mission was a success, as the foragers confiscated a large amount of flour and wheat and captured a prominent southern sympathizer.[28] In late November the entire battery returned to winter quarters near Paducah. On December 10^th Captain Buel resigned his commission and returned to Missouri.[29] His replacement was Second Lieutenant Bulliss, who later was promoted to captain.  

Prior to Buel’s resignation, the battalion reported 144 officers and men, about 120 horses and mules, and six light artillery pieces.[30] The battalion was again called to support a diversionary force on January 15^th, this time under Brigadier General John A. McClernand. Several days earlier Grant had received orders from Major General Halleck to march on Mayfield and Murray, Kentucky in an effort to deceive the Confederate army of an advance upon Nashville.[31] Detached from McClernand’s main force, Bulliss’ Battery was on the march almost continuously from the 15^th to the 25^th.  Marching southeast from Paducah the battery traveled as far as “twenty miles below Fort Henry” before being recalled to their camp at Paducah.[32] The expedition, though frustrated by bad roads and cold weather, was considered a success.[33] The month of January ended with the Bulliss and his men back in camp awaiting orders for redeployment.

The anticipated orders arrived late on the evening of February 4^th as Captain Bulliss was instructed to have his unit packed and ready to leave Paducah the subsequent morning. The battery filed onboard the steamer Aleck Scott before dawn of the 5^th. After a three-hour trip up the Tennessee River, the transport sank anchor upon the eastern shore three miles north of Fort Henry. The men waited aboard the vessel as heavy rain and swift currents prevented further navigation on the river. It was not until the 11:00 a.m. of the 6th that the Aleck Scott was able to cross to the western shore and allow the disembarkation of Bulliss’ Battalion. Once ashore the battalion proceeded three miles to the recently evacuated Fort Heiman.[34] The following morning, the men witnessed the bombardment of Fort Henry by Union gunboats and its surrender early that afternoon. A week after the fall of Fort Henry the battery was assigned to Brigadier General Lewis Wallace’s division, who commanded the two brigades stationed at Fort Henry and Fort Heiman.[35] There the battery remained until being moved to safeguard a supply base at Paris Landing.[36] Two weeks later they were given the order to march for Paris.

The Confederate troops that were involved in the Battle of Paris were composed of men from the 1^st Kentucky Cavalry Battalion under Major Henry Clay King and two unattached companies of cavalry under captains John G. Stocks and H. C. McCutchen.[37] The 1^st Kentucky Cavalry was organized in the fall of 1861 with men recruited from the Western Kentucky counties of McCracken, Graves and Calloway.[38] Its leader, H. Clay King, was a native Kentuckian and prominent attorney from Paducah. Early in the war King served as an officer in the 21^st Tennessee Infantry Regiment, but was transferred to the newly created “Kentucky Battalion” in September of 1861.[39] He personally equipped one company into a cavalry unit and by late fall five other companies filled the ranks.[40] Captain Stocks’ company was organized in Paris on November 13^th, 1861 with recruits from Henry County, Tennessee, while Captain McCutchen’s troops were organized in adjacent Weakley County on December 10^th, 1861.[41]

            Major King’s battalion was initially assigned to Major General Leonidas Polk’s division at Columbus, Kentucky in early October of 1861.[42] After being in Columbus during the early half of the month, King’s battalion was marched to winter quarters at Camp Beauregard near Morris Station, Kentucky (present day Water Valley).[43] The monthly returns of Camp Beauregard for October numbered King’s battalion at 233 officers and men.[44] The battalion remained at Camp Beauregard for the entire month of November where it continued to recruit, acquire equipment, and perform scouting missions toward Mayfield and Columbus. Before the month concluded, King’s recruiting efforts had added another 118 men to his ranks bringing the total of officers and men to 351.[45] As the year concluded, the Kentucky Battalion was reassigned as an unattached cavalry unit to Brigadier General A. P. Stewart’s brigade.[46]

In January of 1862, King’s men departed Camp Beauregard to assist Colonel John H. Miller’s battalion by patrolling the network of roads between the Mississippi and Tennessee rivers. The battalion’s sick and unarmed men were left behind at Camp Beauregard to guard the commissary stores at Morris Station.[47] After the evacuation of Fort Heiman and the surrender of Fort Henry on February 5^th and 6^th, the Confederate high command began to focus its attention on protecting the railroad and telegraph lines at Paris.[48] On February 8^th the Memphis Daily Avalanche reported that Major King arrived in Paris “with five battalions of cavalry – from three to five hundred strong” and were preparing a “stout resistance” against the advance of Union forces.[49] King’s men encamped near town at Camp Porter as more cavalry units arrived during the next few days, including Colonel Miller’s battalion and Captain Stocks’ company.[50]  King’s Battalion was sent to burn the bridges that crossed the Obion River and destroy the commissary stores left at Columbus after Confederate forces evacuated the city on February 20^th.[51] They returned to Paris during the first two days in March and set camp upon the wooded hill west of town.[52] Major King ordered scouting parties east of Paris to the Tennessee River in the days just preceding the battle.[53]

John G. Stocks arrived in Paris from Memphis in the autumn of 1861 with the intention of raising a cavalry company from Henry County. By November 100 men had signed up and were mustered into his company. The men encamped and trained at the old fairground outside of Paris until the end of the year. On the last day of December, Stocks’ men were ordered from Paris to Columbus to conduct scouting patrols in the region. In early January the company was stationed at Poyner’s Mill near Columbus and was later sent to Camp Beauregard at the end of the month. At Camp Beauregard, Stocks’ Company merged with McCutchen’s Company to form a cavalry squadron. The two companies served side by side until the day of the battle and afterwards throughout the war.[54]

H. C. McCutchen, a prosperous merchant from Dresden, Tennessee, raised a moderately sized cavalry company of around 100 men from Weakley County in late fall of 1861.[55] On December 10, the company was organized into Confederate service at Dresden and marched to Camp Beauregard for assignment and to drill.[56]    

The combined squadron of Stocks’ and McCutchen’s marched to Paris in the first week of February. Once there, they were temporarily attached to Colonel Miller’s battalion, which was assigned to monitor troop movements out of Paducah and to reconnoiter along the Tennessee River.[57] On February 13^th, while out on a scouting mission, Miller’s combined force encountered a Union detachment on the road between Concord, Kentucky and Fort Heiman. A spirited confrontation ensued whereby Stocks’ cavalry, serving as skirmishers, engaged enemy infantry posted a mile and half outside the walls of Fort Heiman. Being outnumbered Stocks fell back leaving one severely wounded soldier upon the field and returned to Concord with two other men with minor wounds. Miller retired his entire command toward Paris later that afternoon. He wrote favorably of Stocks actions in his official report on the 14^th: “…my advance guards and skirmishers saved us from surprise.”[58] 

 On March 1^st, Stocks’ Company was sent to assist in the destruction of stores left at Columbus and was one of the last units to depart the former Confederate stronghold. When they returned to Paris, Stocks’ men rejoined McCutchen’s Company, which was encamped with King’s Kentucky Battalion west of town on land owned by Blake Crutchfield of Paris. For the remaining days prior to the battle, Stocks’ and McCutchen’s men undertook the task of securing supplies from the surrounding countryside and loading them upon southbound railroad cars.[59]

At the outbreak of the war, Paris was a bustling community at the center of a prosperous and thriving county.  The population of the town had swelled to over two thousand by 1861, due in large part to the completion of the Memphis and Ohio Railroad in May of 1860 and connection of the Memphis, Clarksville & Louisville Railroad in March of 1861.[60] Besides the railways, Paris also had a series of roads that fanned out from the city much like spokes from a hub of a wheel. The key thoroughfares that left the city were the road north to Conyersville and Murray, Kentucky; the road northeast to Paris Landing (also known as the Mouth of Sandy Road); the road southeast to Big Sandy; the road south to Huntingdon; the road west to Dresden; and the road northwest to Boydsville, Kentucky that branched to other highways that led to Paducah and Columbus.[61] The railways and roads that converged on Paris made the community a regional center for transportation and communication, which as the war progressed became important militarily.

The prevailing issues of slavery and states’ rights that had split the nation during the antebellum period were in a large part supported and defended by white Parisians. The very prosperity of the town was based upon the agricultural labors provided by slaves working on nearby tobacco farms and cotton plantations. In the decade preceding the war, close to one-third of the family farms in the region owned slaves and approximately one-fourth of the population was of African descent.[62] Like many communities in West Tennessee, slavery had become a deeply rooted institution both economically and socially.

As the nation continued to drift apart ideologically over the issue of slavery, local politicians and newspaper publishers began to actively promote southern rights and gravitate toward the secessionist movement gathering momentum in the lower south. The Paris Weekly Sentinel, a local paper published prior to the war, moralized about the southern perspective and encouraged its readers to seek independence from the north. Former Congressman John D. C. Atkins, a resident of Paris, was a strong proponent of the southern cause and pressed a pro-slavery agenda while in Washington. Other local leaders, such as State Representative James D. Porter and the county’s leading attorney Calvin D. Venable, also promoted the ideals of southern rights. It was no surprise that John C. Breckinridge, the candidate for the Southern Democrat Party, claimed the majority of votes in Henry County during the presidential election of 1860. [63]                  

With the election of Abraham Lincoln as president, Paris and the State of Tennessee inevitably ventured down the path toward secession. Governor Isham G. Harris, a former resident of Paris and whose brother was a prominent Methodist minister in the district, called the Tennessee legislature into a special session and set forth a referendum whereby registered voters of Tennessee would decide on whether to hold a state convention to determine what actions the state government should take with the incoming Lincoln administration. The referendum was held on February 9^th, 1861, with a majority voting against formation of a convention. The voters of Paris and Henry County enthusiastically voted in favor of a convention.

Shortly after the inauguration of Lincoln, the residents of the county held a meeting in Paris where local leaders debated whether the state should secede from the Union. The seemingly pro-southern crowd listened with interest but could only await the actions of Governor Harris. Following the surrender of Fort Sumter, Governor Harris refused to comply with Lincoln’s request for volunteer troops from Tennessee to suppress the rebellion. Ten days later Congressman Emerson Etheridge, an ardent Unionist from Dresden, was scheduled to deliver a speech in Paris criticizing Governor Harris’ refusal to support President Lincoln’s solicitation for troops. However, before he entered the city limits a committee of citizens from Paris threatened him and his entourage with bodily harm if Etheridge chose to proceed with his presentation. A bitter exchange of words and a struggle ensued whereby four men were shot and one man killed. Etheridge returned to Dresden with diminished hopes of preserving the Union in West Tennessee. On May 6^th, the state legislature drafted a declaration of independence that included an article to dissolve relations with the United States government.  The people of Tennessee ratified the declaration on June 8^th, with the vast majority of Henry County voters preferring to separate from the Union.[64]

When Tennessee joined the Confederacy, an enthusiastic patriotism aroused the community of Paris. Men lined up to enlist at a military camp located at the old fairgrounds northwest of town and many businesses suspended their activities to support the war effort.[65] For several months Paris remained distant from the brewing conflict to the north. All that changed in January of 1862, when it became evident that Federal forces intended to strike south along the Tennessee River. On January 17^th Union gunboats tested the defenses of Fort Henry. The next day Confederate scouts stationed at Paris spotted a large detachment of reconnaissance troops near Murray.[66] The presence of a reported 6,000 Federal troops within 25 miles created a “great state of excitement” in Paris.[67] There was much talk within the city but only a concerned few began relocating valuables and slaves to safer areas further south.[68] General Polk ordered “1,000 cavalry and two regiments of infantry” to locate and engage the enemy troops but bad weather and muddy roads impaired his plans. Polk’s rain soaked men reached Paris on January 22^nd.[69] On the last day of the month Polk reported four battalions of cavalry, which included Major Richard H. Brewer’s Battalion, King’s Kentucky Battalion, the 1^st Mississippi Battalion and the 6^th Tennessee Battalion, stationed at or close to Paris. Captain Stocks’ Company was also present in the city.[70]

General Grant’s target became obvious on the afternoon of February 4^th as troop transports landed on the shores north of Fort Henry.[71] Federal troops crossed the river on the 5^th and captured the evacuated Fort Heiman.[72] News of the fort’s defeat reached the city that evening but more devastating news followed as Fort Henry surrendered on the afternoon of the 6^th. A public meeting was called the next day as a frightened citizenry came to realize that Grant’s army was now within striking distance of Paris. At that meeting, political leaders immediately organized a “guard to act as scouts”.[73] Confederate reinforcements arrived on the 8^th bringing the total number of troops to about 1,500 men, most being cavalry and local militia.[74] Fortunately, the people of Paris were spared from an attack as the Union army marched eastward to Fort Donelson.

The threat of invasion, nonetheless, was ever present as more and more residents began removing their costly possessions and slaves by wagon and rail. On February 14^th, a scathing editorial was written in the Memphis Daily Avalanche that addressed the exodus of the community’s wealthier citizens. It read in part:

“Let our patriotism and love of Southern rights and Southern honor, rise superior to every consideration of a pecuniary character, and let us, like the penitent at the foot of the Cross, if necessary, make a full surrender upon the altar of our liberties, and if we have to retreat from these advancing hordes, let us lay waste to our beautiful homes as we go, and never surrender to Northern aggression until we have spent the last dollar and spilt the last drop of blood – so that if we should ever have to leave the disgraceful record upon future history, that it may be, we were destroyed, annihilated, but conquered – never, no never.” [75]

The writer’s patriotic call fell on deaf ears, as still others continued to leave the city. Less than two weeks after the article was published, the same Memphis paper reported:

 “There is another panic in Paris. The people are fleeing in every direction. A number of families came down upon the train last night, and a car load of negroes”.[76]  

Up until the day of the battle there was a steady flow of refugees that fled the city and surrounding areas.

            The fear of enemy soldiers pillaging and punishing Southern sympathizers were primary reasons for the departure of citizens from the city, but there also was a lesser publicized and even more unpopular motive for some to seek refuge elsewhere. After the fall of Forts Henry and Donelson and the evacuation of the state capital at Nashville, exiled Governor Harris issued a proclamation to quickly raise troops. His proclamation, published in local newspapers on February 20^th, called “upon every able bodied man of the state without regard to age to enlist in its service”.[77]  Though it was not proposed as a legal form of conscription it did place an enormous amount of pressure on those unwilling to support the Southern cause and serve in the Confederate military.

General orders and notices followed the Governor’s proclamation. One announcement directed that “all the male inhabitants between the ages of eighteen and forty five years”, not currently serving in the state militia or Confederate army, to provide evidence of exemption to local military commanders.[78] On March 5^th, Governor Harris ordered one-fourth of the Tennessee Militia in the northwestern part of the state to “rendezvous at Henderson and Bethel Springs on the Mobile and Ohio Railroad”.[79] The date for the rendezvous was set for March 15^th.[80] Men that feared public humiliation and pressured enlistment fled east to Union lines. A few arrived at Fort Heiman where they told Federal officers of the Governor’s call to service and a compulsory draft. 

            The Union high command recognized the military significance of Paris soon after the fall of Fort Henry. General Halleck on February 7^th wrote to Major General George B. McClelland, general in chief of the army, that the “enemy is collecting forces at Paris” and that the city “must be taken”.[81] Plans to advance upon Paris were placed on the backburner as Grant captured Fort Donelson and pressed on to Nashville. It was not until March 1^st that Halleck revisited the idea of moving on Paris. In a telegraphed message to Grant, Halleck outlined a series of complex maneuvers whereby “strong detachments of cavalry and light artillery supported by infantry” would strike and destroy the railroad connections at Humbolt, Jackson and Corinth. Once those objectives were achieved the troops were to capture Paris from either Danville, Jackson or Humbolt.

To accomplish this mission, Grant chose to split his command with Brigadier General Charles F. Smith. Grant would lead the expedition to Jackson, Corinth and Eastport, while Smith marched upon Paris and Humbolt.[82] Instructions were sent to Smith at Clarksville the following day with one modification, that the expedition to Paris be launched from Fort Heiman rather than Danville. Smith received Grant’s instructions along with Halleck’s original plan but could not decipher what specifically he was to do once his troops arrived at Paris. Smith replied to Grant requesting clarification on his instructions.[83]

At the same time that Smith was corresponding with Grant, the line of communication between Halleck and Grant unintentionally became detached. Since the capture of Nashville on February 26^th, a communication breakdown and a lingering distrust of Grant by Halleck ballooned into a determined attempt by Halleck to remove Grant from command. Halleck, claiming Grant had disobeyed his orders to send troop location and strength reports, replaced him with Smith as overall commander of the expedition up the Tennessee River on March 4^th.[84] Grant was sent to Fort Henry and ordered to remain there for further instructions.[85] On March 5^th Halleck changed his plan by informing Grant, that “the expedition will not return to Paris but will encamp at Savannah, unless threatened by superior numbers”.[86] Paris was bypassed as the Union expedition landed in force at Savannah.

While at Fort Henry, Grant received reported from the other side of the river that the Confederate government in Tennessee sought to conscript men into the rebel army at Paris.[87] On the evening of March 10^th, Grant telegraphed Halleck that he intended to send a small force to Paris to prevent conscription.[88] Before dawn on the 11^th, Grant ordered Colonel William Warren Lowe, commander of the Curtis Horse, to send a detachment to “protect the citizens as far as possible from conscription”. He reminded Lowe to issue receipts for all items foraged from residents while at Paris or along the way.[89] Lowe responded with an inquiry on the number of men to be sent and whether he should command the detachment. Grant instructed Lowe to send two battalions under the command of a “senior officer” but that Lowe need not accompany the detachment.[90]

Lowe handed command over to Lieutenant Colonel Matthewson T. Patrick, who was ordered to transport two battalions of the Curtis Horse across the river from Fort Henry and march on Paris. On the opposite side of the river at Fort Heiman, Captain John T. Croft was given the task of leading the advance battalion.[91] Croft, a 40 year-old resident of Omaha and a native of the State of Massachusetts, had limited military experience and like most of his battalion had yet to see combat.[92] Grant issued Croft the following orders:

“With the troops now at your disposal give the citizens of Tenn[essee] who are disposed to be loyal, the best protection, you can. It is impossible for us to send a force to Paris, today, but you can go in that direction, and encamp for the night. You need not return tomorrow unless the approach of an enemy, in superior force, make such a course necessary”.[93]

At 4 a.m., four companies of the Curtis Horse assembled at Fort Heiman and marched south along the river shore about ten miles to the intersection of the Paris Landing to Paris road.[94]       

            Later that same morning, Captain Robert E. Bulliss received orders at Paris Landing to prepare his artillery battery and march west toward Paris. Bulliss met Croft at the crossroads at around noon, where Croft had been waiting for Bulliss most of the morning.[95] Believing Patrick’s command must not be far behind and anxious to reach the outskirts of Paris before dusk, Croft pressed on without further delay. About 250 men saddled up their horses, boarded caissons and loaded wagons for the journey to Paris. 

The road was “tolerably good”, lined with “small oak trees with little underwood” yet was “often crossed by small creeks” and other minor impediments to travel.[96] The farms along the way were frequent though “poor and neglected” and the dwellings mostly small “backwoods timber houses”.[97] About quarter of the way to Paris the detachment crossed a long narrow wooden bridge above a swamp. Bulliss had concerns about whether the bridge could support his artillery but they managed to cross without incident.[98] As they progressed further inland from the Tennessee River, “large numbers” of “Union men, friends and citizens of the county” approached Croft to seek protection from the draft. Many fell in behind the Federals as they marched onwards to Paris.[99] By 3:30 p.m., Croft was within ten miles of the city. His lead battalion had met no resistance nor spotted any rebel scouting parties. 

Meanwhile at the Confederate camp, Major King supervised a depleted force of some 600 men of which 200 were either scouting the roads east of town, absent on leave or too sick to perform their duties.[100] It was only a few weeks earlier that the cavalry battalions of Colonel Brewer, the 1^st Mississippi and the 6^th Tennessee were ordered to other outposts along the west Tennessee and Kentucky border, reducing the number of troops stationed at Paris by nearly two-thirds. Of those assigned to scout the roads was a squad of a about a dozen men sent by Captain Stocks under Corporal William H. Courts. Stocks ordered his men on the road to Paris Landing that afternoon. Courts set up a picket near Currier’s Mill, a few miles outside of town, and forwarded a few scouts on horseback to patrol further up the road.[101] Not long afterwards, Stocks sent another scouting party, which included Privates Asa Cox, Charles W. Tandy and two other soldiers, north-northwest on a less traveled cart path between the roads going to Conyersville and Paris Landing. The locals knew the path as the Obion road.[102]                           

Croft’s advance guard spotted Stocks’ patrol about six miles from the city. The advance guard swiftly overwhelmed the two scouts as they attempted to wheel their mounts and return to Paris. In an effort to ascertain the position and number of enemy troops within the city, Croft detailed twenty men under Lieutenant Williams to “advance cautiously and secure their pickets”.[103] Williams’ detail slowly moved forward about four miles when they came upon Courts and several other men playing cards along the side of the road. Williams’ men surreptitiously encircled the unsuspecting poker players and captured the picket without firing a single shot.[104] A messenger brought Croft the word of Williams’ remarkable success, which brought about a dilemma for Croft. Should he await reinforcements and encamp for the night as stipulated in his orders by Grant or take the city and drive off the rebel troops. He contemplated his next move for close to forty minutes before he made a decision to advance.[105]                 

While Croft paused to consider his options, the scouts traveling on Obion road secured information from a traveling black man that “a column of Federals of all arms were en route to Paris by the Mouth of Sandy (Paris Landing) Road”. To verify this intelligence Private Cox galloped to Paris Landing road to investigate while the other three men waited for his return. Cox did not get far before he noticed Williams’ cavalry detail probing the outer limits of the city. Unnoticed he quickly reversed his course and told the others that the enemy was in fact marching on Paris. Cox also informed them that the enemy was too near the Obion road to attempt returning by that route. Their only alternative was to head west to Conyersville road than south into town. Driving hard Cox and Tandy exhausted their mounts but were able exchanged horses at two homesteads along the way. The four men dashed through town yelling warnings to the citizens on the streets. They reached the camp around 4:30.[106]

First Lieutenant F. M. Wilkinson of Company C of King’s Cavalry Battalion, who was standing near the edge of camp on the Dresden road, recalled after the battle,

“[I] was surprised to see a member of Stocks’ Company mounted on a large sorrel horse, come dashing up the road from the direction of Paris, his horse flecked with foam and getting his breath very hard. [I called] “What’s the matter?” In reply he simply shouted “Yankees!” In less than a minute three other soldiers, their horses in the same condition, flew by, shouting as they rode. “The Yankees are coming!” and kept right up the road to Major King’s headquarters, one quarter of a mile away.”[107]

The news spread like wildfire through the camp as officers gave the call to arms. Major King reacted without delay. He climbed upon his horse and galloped into camp where he ordered Lieutenant Felin F. Aden of Stocks’ Company to gather as many men as possible and reconnoiter the area east of town. Aden expeditiously assembled about forty men and rode them through the city and onto the Paris Landing road. As he came to the crest of a small hill he noticed in the distance a numerically superior cavalry force led by a soldier carrying the stars and strips. Aden roughly estimated their numbers and ordered his men back to camp.[108] He reported his findings to King who resolved to make a defensive stand on the large hill near camp and west of town.  

Though not well received among the citizens of Paris, or his later critics, Major King withdrew his troops from the city.  The ground he chose was easier to defend than the small hillocks northeast of town and strategically overlooked the major roads west of Paris, the railroad depot and the western most parts of the city. The hill itself was the highest point within a five-mile radius of Paris at over 620 feet above sea level and around 150 feet above the surrounding lowlands. Large trees covered the crown of the hill with a moderately steep slope thick with bushes and underbrush. Before the hill was “an open sandy hollow about 100 yards wide” with a smaller fenced-in ridge almost parallel to the southeast.[109] The elevated ridge opposing the hill was slightly over 500 feet above sea level. The Dresden road ran diagonally between the two heights east to west.

With details of the city’s defenses supplied by Lieutenant Williams and the whereabouts of the rebel camp provided by two citizens and a traveling salesman, Croft slowly advanced three companies of cavalry and a section of artillery. Companies A, B and D marched upon the city as Company C stayed behind to guard the remaining sections of artillery and baggage. When the lead company reached the small rising where Lieutenant Aden had been only moments before, Croft gave the order to charge. A loud yell echoed through the city streets as two companies bolted down the main road. They passed by the courthouse and several homes draped with white flags before stopping at the railroad depot. One company took a side street further south followed by Captain Bulliss and his two pieces of artillery.[110] Accompanying the Union troops was George Warner, “a traveling wheat and potato merchant” who conducted business in Paris, John Farris, a citizen of the city who was considered a “notorious spy and [Union] guide”, and a another man by the name of “Coon” Harris.[111] The three men piloted Croft and his men through town and pointed them in the direction of the rebel encampment.

Upon reaching the railroad depot, a small force was sent forward to locate the position of the enemy.[112] The rebel encampment was observed not far from where Croft’s informants stated they would be found. At about 5 o’clock, Croft ordered Bulliss to place his two guns on the ridge opposite of the enemy camp. “The country being very hilly”, wrote Lieutenant Charles H. Thurber of Bulliss’ Battery, “we labored under great disadvantage in getting a position for the battery”.[113] After a brief search for favorable ground, Bulliss unlimbered his guns on Freeman’s field about 300 yards away from the crest of the opposing hill. As Bulliss struggled to place his cannon, Croft organized his men into line of battle on depot hill just to the right of Bulliss’ Battery.[114]  Noticing the tops of tents beyond the crest of the hill, Bulliss sited the barrels of his cannon upon the rebel camp and prepared to fire.

Major King marched his men by foot to the wooded hill at roughly the same time Croft’s men first reached the railroad depot. Forming his men by company into line, he deployed them facing southeast on the slope near to the highest point of the hill. The mood of his men was surprisingly carefree as they stood in wait for the Yankee aggressors. Lieutenant Wilkinson wrote, a “good many were laughing and talking as if starting out on a parade”.[115] This calm indifference changed dramatically as the first artillery shells flew overhead. The men nervously sought cover behind fallen timbers and uprooted trees. Those who could not find cover laid low and stretched themselves flat upon the forest floor. King gave his men strict orders not to fire until the order was issued.[116]

            Bulliss initially lobbed rounds into the Confederate encampment destroying accouterments, frightening the horses and causing minor injuries to a few men. He than pointed his guns west toward the road and fired at a few stragglers attempting to find their units on the hill. One of those men, First Sergeant James S. Aden, wrote after the war, that I was moving “east down the road in sight of the enemy’s artillery when a double handful of grape and canister shot bounced up the road and all around me”.[117] After scaring these men back up the road, Bulliss focused his cannon on the valley and wooded hill. His men fired one or two rounds into the side of the hill with no response except the scattering of some rebel soldiers back toward their camp.

            For the most part, King’s command dodged the Yankee shells that plowed into the hillside, tore down limbs off trees, and embedded into the fallen timbers. While shell fragments and canister balls struck the earth around him, Captain Stocks’ remarked “Boys, do you see that we can’t compete with double-barrel shot guns” and thus shifted his men to the rear on the western slope of the hill.[118] The other units in King’s command held their ground but some individual soldiers were noted to have fled to safer places. Overall, the impact of the Federal artillery barrage upon King’s defenses was minimal with no reports of killed or wounded.

            At about 5:30 Bulliss’ ordered his men to cease firing. A silence fell the over the valley as the clouds of smoke from the guns dissipated. Croft peered through the haze and fading sunlight but saw no activity upon the opposing hill. Believing the rebels had scurried back to their camp, he ordered Captain John J. Lower of Company A and First Lieutenant Milton S. Summers of Company B to take the hill and rebel camp.[119] Captain Lower and Company A led the assault galloping down the ridge onto the road “at half speed in columns of fours, their sabers drawn and glittering in the evening sun”.[120] Company B followed close behind. Upon reaching the foot of the hill, Lower adjusted his troops into line and ascended the hill. The thick underbrush made visibility difficult and caused some misalignment of his columns. As they neared the thick woods at the crown of the hill Sergeant Major Martin Stowell spotted a lone man clad in gray hiding amongst the shrubs to his left. Raising his saber high with one hand and drawing his pistol with the other Stowell shouted, “Here they are boys!”[121]

During the brief lull following the Federal shelling, Private George Glover of Company A, King’s Battalion, crept out from the timberline down into the underbrush. Without permission, and possibly under the influence of alcohol, Glover made the unintentional decision to initiate the conflict.[122] Unnoticed by the encroaching enemy and members of his own company, he crawled out about forty yards in front of King’s concealed defenses. As he crouched behind a large bush not far from the road, Sergeant Stowell caught a glimpse of him. Stowell cried out his final words and fired his pistol missing Glover. Upon being noticed, Glover rose from the behind the bushes and fired his shotgun at Stowell knocking him back in his saddle. At exactly the same moment the order to fire was given to King’s men. Several more shots struck Stowell before he fell dead from his horse. Glover caught in the crossfire was shot by men in his own battalion.[123]

All hell broke loose as the Confederate ambush “emptied scores of saddles” and sent rider-less horses scurrying into the valley and galloping through the woods. [124] Some of the horses, startled by the discharge of weapons, darted away with their riders in all directions. Other horses, in a state of shock, stood firm and refused to move causing some soldiers to dismount and fight on foot.[125] A few horses even rushed through the Confederate camp only to stop when they reached the corralled livestock of King’s troops.[126]  The soldiers that had not been shot or thrown from their horses returned fire. For fifteen minutes the two sides exchanged pistol shots and shotgun blasts. Most of Captain Lower’s men would get off two or three rounds before falling back in disorder to Freeman’s field and the safety of Bulliss’ artillery.[127] Lieutenant Wilkinson wrote of the Union retreat:

“The fire was so unexpected that the Yankees became panic-stricken and went back pell-mell, and in the greatest confusion across the hollow, and disappeared over the opposite ridge, and did not show themselves again during the fight…”[128]

Left behind upon the hillside were the bodies of Sergeant Major Stowell, Corporal David Geary of Company A and Private C. C. Nichelson of Company B. Returning badly wounded from the battlefield were Sergeant George Davison, Corporal George Thomas, and Privates Joseph Musgrave and John W. Warren of Company A. The rebels captured the wounded Private Patrick M. McGuire of Company A as he attempted to flee.[129] Most of the wounded were placed upon two wagons and brought to Paris. One of the wounded men somehow managed to stagger to the residence of Mr. Freeman, for whom Freeman’s field is named after, to request a drink of water. After receiving a drink from Mr. Freeman the wounded man remarked, “what is all this war for anyhow” and collapsed to the ground dead.[130]

Croft stemmed the confusion of the retreat and reformed his disorganized command behind Bulliss’ two guns. Recognizing the momentum of battle had shifted to the enemy, Croft ordered the two reserve sections of artillery to be brought up immediately. He than prepared his men for a counter-attack. Excited at their success, some of King’s men ventured out from the woods to the thick underbrush. Erratically they moved forward firing on the fleeing Yankees. Bulliss opened fire upon the advancing enemy shortly after the retreating cavalry reached Freeman’s field.[131] Once the Confederates made it to the open road they were met by Federal grapeshot and canister. The counter attack fizzled quickly and they were driven back to the woods where they again sought shelter behind fallen timbers and large trees.[132]

Captain Bulliss was standing amongst his guns directing fire when a stray musket ball struck him in the chest.[133] Mortally wounded he was taken from the field and brought to Paris then later to a private residence in nearby Chickasaw.[134] Lieutenant Charles H. Thurber took command of Bulliss’ artillery and right away ordered the placement of the reserve cannon. Once in place on Freeman’s field, Thurber pointed all six of his guns at the opposing hill and launched a devastating barrage of canister and shell upon the Confederate line. The Union fire was “heavy and rapid” and the effects deadly.[135]

Major King and men stood defiantly as shrapnel peppered the hillside. Confederate officers dangerously exposed themselves as they walked amongst their men maintaining order and encouraging them to stay low while reloading. Captain Charles H. Conner of Company E, King’s Battalion, was the first to be wounded as a canister ball grazed his leg. Using his sword as a cane he limped to Lieutenant Wilkinson and said, “I can’t do much more, I am wounded”. His men carried him off the field soon afterwards. Lieutenant J. B. Yow of Company D, King’s Battalion, was in the process of ordering his men further up the hill when grape shot struck him in the left shoulder dropping him down to all fours. He struggled to get up but failed, tumbling down the hill landing on his back. Seeing him hit, Lieutenant Wilkinson ran to assist Yow. Wilkinson vividly recalled the incident in a letter following the battle. He wrote:

“I immediately knelt down by him [Lieutenant Yow] and asked him if he was hurt much. He made no reply but turned very white in the face, his eyes looking at me very intelligently, and his lips quivering as if he were trying to tell me something. The men, whom he had started to bring forward to a point where they could better perform their duty, then rushed up and carried him to the rear. Those men told me afterwards that he was dead within two minutes after they had started with him.”[136] 

Wilkinson saw yet another of his fellow officers injured by an incoming missile. First Lieutenant T. Bun Carson, who took charge of Company E after Captain Conner left wounded, was looking at the reddening skies in the west when a solid shot tore a severe gash into his stomach and knocked him unconscious. Nearby, Wilkinson went to provide help but Carson too was carried from the field wounded in a bloodied blanket.[137] The battle raged on with Federal artillery firing round after round into the hill and the camp beyond. King’s men returned fire but with most armed with shotguns and outdated smoothbore muskets the effect upon the cannoneers was minimal.

With darkness overtaking the battlefield, fire slackened and than ceased completely. An eerie silence fell over the valley as both sides pondered their next move. In the shadows, Major King ordered a detachment to flank the Yankee artillery and capture the guns. Moving to the enemy’s right, King hoped to cut off the artillery from the cavalry and the road east to Paris. The detachment was maneuvering into position when they were detected by Union cavalry and fired upon. Lieutenant Thurber hastily repositioned his guns and lobbed a few shells in the direction of the disturbance. The Confederate detachment was driven back into the thicket without receiving or inflicting any damage.[138]

Fearing another Confederate strike, Croft ordered Thurber to limber up the cannon and move them to Paris. The cavalry soon followed, cutting the telegraph lines at the railroad depot and taking possession of the courthouse as a temporary headquarters. His troops also commandeered a nearby hotel for the wounded.[139] Upon the steps of the courthouse Croft received a report that a large rebel force was en route from Humbolt and was but a few miles from Paris on the railroad. After a brief consultation with his officers, Croft decided to retreat towards Fort Heiman and Lieutenant Colonel Patrick’s advancing troops.[140] The Union troops departed the city, along with eight prisoners, the same way they had entered it only a few hours earlier. Left behind were the seriously wounded soldiers and the disassembled remnants of the courthouse fence, which Croft’s men had torn down to use as firewood before their hasty withdrawal.

Upon observing the bluecoats’ evacuation of the city, Major King ordered his men to mount their horses and pursue the enemy. His men rode into Paris where they sighted the torn up fence posts at the courthouse and captured the few wounded soldiers at the hotel. A few local residents pointed toward the direction of the departing Yankees and the chase was on. The night skies were near pitch dark when King’s men met the Union rearguard a few miles from the city. Gunfire was exchanged upon contact but a volley of artillery soon broke up the pursuit. With the utmost difficulty in determining friend from foe in the blackness of night, King ordered his men to return to camp.[141] 

            The Union troops retraced their steps on the road to Paris Landing until the early morning hours of March 12^th. At 3:00 a.m., Croft’s weary troops halted for the night. Squads from Company C patrolled the camp while the others rested a few hours until daylight.[142] Throughout the nightlong trek, Croft had expected to encounter the lead units of Lieutenant Colonel Patrick but the anticipated reinforcements were nowhere to be found.[143] The next day Croft and his men continued onward to Fort Heiman. About three miles from their destination they came upon Patrick’s advance guard, which had crossed the river the day before but had only left Fort Heiman that morning.[144] Croft reported to Patrick about the engagement at Paris and the large force of rebels moving by rail to the city. Patrick stopped the advance of his troops where he had met Croft and sent a messenger to Grant’s headquarters for further instructions. Patrick sent out a scouting party the next day that came within a few miles of Paris than returned.[145]

            King’s men returned to their shelled out camp where many who had lost tents and blankets slept restlessly beneath a starless overcast sky.[146] The Confederate reinforcements rumored to be arriving from Humbolt that night proved to be false. As the sun rose on the 12^th, a group of citizens directed King’s men to where George Warner was in hiding. He was promptly arrested as a traitor and sent to Jackson, Tennessee in irons.[147] John Farris and “Coon” Harris escaped with the retreating Federals. The next day, King received word that a larger Union force with infantry was now marching down the Paris Landing road. King, unaware if he was to be reinforced or not, packed what remained of his camp and marched his command 10 miles southwest along the railroad to Henry Station.[148] Once there he sent patrols to Paris to keep him advised of enemy movements towards the city.

            A messenger arrived at General Grant’s headquarters on the afternoon of March 12^th and relayed news of the engagement at Paris. Grant telegraphed General Halleck in St. Louis that evening. In his report Grant wrote, the “enemy were driven from their works situated about one & one half miles beyond the town with a loss of probably one hundred killed & wounded”. He also reported the death of Captain Bulliss and four others along with five men wounded.[149] Grant requested a detailed report of the expedition and engagement from Croft the following morning.[150] Croft sent a 380-word reply to Grant later the same day that explained the circumstances that led to the battle.[151] Halleck telegraphed Grant on the evening of the 13^th not “to bring on any general engagement at Paris” and if the enemy appeared in force that “our troops must fall back”.[152] Halleck’s main objective at this time was further upriver at a place called Pittsburg Landing.

            On March 14^th, Grant issued Special Orders No. 24 that commanded Colonel Lowe to call in all his troops that were on the Paris Landing road and to keep only a sufficient guard to prevent a surprise attack. Companies C and G of the Curtis Horse were within four miles of Paris when they received the order to return to Fort Heiman. Grant also informed Lowe to send an ambulance and a few men under a flag of truce to collect the wounded left at Paris. The eight prisoners taken by Croft were sent to Cairo to be processed and detained.[153]

The job of recovering the wounded was given to Captain Charles C. Nott of Company E. Before he departed on his mission, Nott conferred with Croft to learn the names of the wounded and the best roads into the town. While at Croft’s tent he met a Mr. Clokes, the father of a Confederate prisoner taken at Paris, who brought the dead body of Captain Bulliss to the Union camp the day prior. Clokes had hoped to procure the release of his son by returning the deceased officer, but unfortunately his son was already in Cairo awaiting transportation to a prison camp further north. Nott, however, did convince Clokes to join his party to Paris.[154]

A cold steady rain prevented Nott’s departure on the 14^th but the following morning the storm began to dissipate and his party began its journey towards Paris. Nott rode with three mounted soldiers and an ambulance carrying the company surgeon and Clokes. The rain drenched roads caused delays as the wheels of the ambulance continued to drag and skid in the mud. At sundown a few miles outside Paris at Chickasaw, Clokes led the party to the home of Nathaniel Currier who had nursed Captain Bulliss during his final hours. Currier was also responsible for retrieving the bodies of the fallen Union soldiers and burying them in the town cemetery. Nott questioned Currier on the captured and wounded men, but Currier was unsure if the Confederates had more wounded prisoners other than the men he had buried during the past few days. Currier recommended that Nott avoid entering the city that evening and that he seek shelter elsewhere for the night. Nott followed his advice, knowing in advance that Currier was already under suspicion and was likely to be under enemy surveillance. Nott backtracked up the Paris Landing road about a mile and stayed the night at the Whorton residence.[155]

            On the morning of the 16^th, Nott and his party entered the city limits unopposed under a flag of truce. They stopped at the courthouse, where Nott asked one of the residents if he could speak to a Confederate officer. “No” was the reply, “they all retired this morning, a couple of hours ago.” Another stepped up to inform Nott that two wounded men were removed to Memphis and that one wounded soldier was at a nearby hotel but his condition was very serious. Moments later a few men came up and handed Nott some of the personal effects taken from the dead and wounded soldiers. They assured Nott that the wounded were treated kindly. The company surgeon examined the remaining soldier and spoke to the local physician who had tended to the man’s injuries. The two physicians determined that the man could not be moved without loss of life. Nott, uncomfortable with the possibility of his small party being captured by returning rebels, set out on the Paris Landing road at a rapid pace. The return trip of Nott’s party was uneventful, though they did take a wrong turn along the way but managed to find the camp before sunset .[156]

            For the next three weeks, small patrols were sent to scout the Paris Landing road for enemy troops but did not enter the city. On the 21^st, General Grant reported to Halleck that Paris had been “deserted”.[157] Ten days later, Captain William A. Haw of Company F received orders to proceed to Paris to investigate reports of rebels in the city and to “assist and protect the peaceable and loyal”. With a force of 75 cavalrymen Haw entered the town on the morning of April 1^st. Finding Paris empty of enemy troops, Haw’s men occupied the courthouse and rounded up the community’s most vocal southern supporters. One of those was a man named Van Dyck who assisted the rebels in the arrest of George Warren. At 3 p.m. Haw departed the city with Van Dyck as a prisoner. Before departing, Haw raised the “Stars and Stripes” atop of the courthouse tower where it remained fluttering until the 5^th when a Confederate patrol removed it.[158]

            Further attention on Paris was temporarily diverted as the Battle of Shiloh commenced on April 6^th and continued until the afternoon of the 7^th, where the Union Army turned back a desperate and bloody attack. On April 8^th, the Confederate forces at Island Number 10 formally surrendered. With Federal forces in command of the Tennessee River north of Pittsburg Landing and the Mississippi River south to near Fort Pillow, northwest Tennessee was now cut off from both the east and west. Though the supply route to the south remained open, the Confederacy’s grip on the region began to slowly loosen.

On May 3^rd, a detachment of about 130 men of the Curtis Horse, under the command of Major Carl Schaeffer de Boerstine, camped for the night at Paris. They left early the next morning in an attempt to intercept a shipment of medical supplies to be delivered to the rebel forces stationed at Humbolt and Jackson. The detachment was to return to Paris after its mission was completed but Scheaffer and his men were surprised and overtaken by five companies of Confederate cavalry at a place called Lockridge’s Mills in Weakley County. After receiving reports of the detachment’s defeat and capture, Colonel Lowe marched to Paris with a large contingent of infantry, a section of artillery and the remaining companies of the Curtis Horse which were at Fort Heiman. On the evening of May 7^th, he reached the outskirts of Paris where he dispatched several patrols to scout the area and bring on an engagement with rebel troops believed to be in the city. His scouts found the town empty of rebels and Lowe returned to Fort Heiman the following day.[159]

            From the middle of May to early June, Union and Confederate forces continued to send scouting parties to Paris but the advancement of Federal troops down the Mississippi River and up the Tennessee River made the city less relevant militarily. With the evacuation of Fort Pillow and the surrender of Memphis on June 6^th, stability in the region began to collapse into a chaotic state of guerrilla warfare. For the remainder of the war, the citizens of Paris and Henry County lived in constant fear of marauding bands of criminals and bushwhackers.[160] Union and Confederate troops marched into the city numerous times throughout the war and on occasion set up encampments nearby. In early November of 1864, Lieutenant General Nathan Bedford Forrest located his headquarters at Paris as he raided Union supply bases along the Tennessee River.[161] In December, Brigadier General Hylan B. Lyon launched an attack on Hopkinsville, Kentucky from Paris.[162] During the final weeks of the war, the Department of Western Kentucky used Paris as a temporary headquarters before formally surrendering to Federal officials on May 4^th, 1865.[163]

            The Curtis Horse remained at Fort Heiman until March 5^th of 1863, when the entire regiment marched to Fort Donelson to garrison the fort and patrol the surrounding roads. Prior to their departure, on June 25^th, 1862, the regiment was reassigned and designated as the 5^th Iowa Volunteer Cavalry Regiment. During the summer and fall of 1863, the 5^th Iowa was stationed at several places in Middle Tennessee and North Alabama and was involved in minor skirmishes at Guy’s Gap, Wartrace and Sugar Creek, Tennessee. The regiment encamped for the winter at Maysville, Alabama where they performed outpost duty and partook in military expeditions to Whitesburg and Decatur. On January 1^st, 1864, three-quarters of the regiment reenlisted as Veteran Volunteers and were issued furloughs until March.[164] In May and June, the furloughed men of the 5^th Iowa returned to Tennessee to guard the Nashville & Decatur Railroad and in July accompanied Major General Lovell H. Rousseau on his twelve-day raid through East Alabama and West Georgia. Later that month they participated in General Edward McCook’s ill-fated raid along the Atlanta & West Point Railroad, where the regiment lost 120 men killed, wounded or captured. After the evacuation of Atlanta in early September, the 5^th was involved in operations against General John Bell Hood in North Georgia and North Alabama and saw action at the Battles of Nashville, Franklin and Spring Hill before the year concluded. In March and April of 1865, the regiment joined Major General James H. Wilson’s raid into southern Alabama and Georgia. The unit was on the road to Macon, Georgia when word arrived of the cessation of hostilities. On August 11^th, the 5^th Iowa Volunteer Cavalry was mustered out of service and men allowed to return home.[165]

Bulliss’ Battery remained at Fort Heiman with the Curtis Horse until the third week of April when they were transported upriver to Pittsburg Landing. From April 29^th to May 30^th the battery was involved in the siege upon Corinth prior to it evacuation. The unit participated next in an expedition to Ripley, Mississippi from June 27^th to July 1^st and was in camp at Clear Creek, Mississippi in August.[166] The battery was reorganized later that month and designated Battery “I” of the 1^st Missouri Light Artillery. As Battery “I” they saw action at the Battle of Corinth on October 3^rd and 4^th and took part in the pursuit of Major General Earl Van Dorn’s troops until the 12^th. In December the battery provided artillery support on a raid from Corinth to Tupelo along the Mobile and Ohio Railroad. In the spring of 1863, they were attached to Major General Grenville M. Dodge’s expedition into North Alabama where the battery was a participant in several skirmishes including Lundy’s Lane and Tuscumbia. During the month of June, Battery “I” was divided into two sections, one section sent on an expedition from Pocahontas, Tennessee to Ripley, Mississippi while the other served as part of an operation into Northeast Mississippi. By October they were chasing Brigadier General James R. Chalmers’ rebel cavalry in North Mississippi and West Tennessee. The unit was on duty guarding the Nashville and Decatur Railroad from October of 1863 to April of 1864. In May they were sent to take part in the Atlanta campaign, where they saw combat at Resaca, Ley’s Ferry and Rome Cross Roads, Georgia. They were relieved on May 22^nd and spent the final year of the war at Nashville performing garrison duty. The battery was mustered out on June 30^th, 1865.[167]

Following the battle, King’s Kentucky Battalion was reorganized at Spring Creek, Tennessee as part of the 1^st Confederate Cavalry Regiment in early April of 1862. King’s men filled the ranks of Companies A, B, C and D of the 1^st Confederate and were joined by other companies from West Tennessee and Alabama.[168] On April 5^th, Major King was temporarily relieved of command by Colonel Thomas Claiborne as an investigation was launched into King’s actions during the battle.[169] Published reports in Memphis papers, only days following the battle, had harshly criticized King for the actions of his pickets at Currier’s Mill.[170] King, embittered about the published stories, refused to defend his actions to the press, which may have indirectly led to the inquiry.[171] He did not return to command until the fall of 1862.[172]

            The newly formed regiment was assigned to General Forrest’s brigade just prior to the Kentucky campaign in September and was soon afterwards transferred to the command of Brigadier General Joseph Wheeler in October of 1862. The regiment served as advance scouts during the campaign but saw limited action. In late November, the unit saw combat at La Vergne and conducted a dramatic charge at the Battle of Murfreesboro on December 31^st. During 1863, the 1^st Confederate saw action at Guy's Gap, Shelbyville, Trenton, Lafayette, Chickamauga and a number of smaller skirmishes. At Shelbyville on June 27^th close to 300 men of the regiment were captured by Federal troops and later detained at Camp Douglas in Illinois. In the spring of 1864, the regiment entered into the Atlanta campaign as the 12^th Confederate Cavalry Regiment. The effects of the war had dwindled the regiment’s numbers so dramatically that it was consolidated with the 9^th Tennessee Cavalry Battalion and the 7^th Alabama Cavalry Regiment to compromise one brigade under the command of General Chalmers on January 1^st, 1865. On May 12^th, the remaining members of the battalion surrendered at Gainesville, Alabama.[173]

            The companies of Stocks and McCutchen were in camp at Union City, Tennessee in late March of 1862. On the last day of March, the Confederate camp was surprised by a Federal force and driven from the city.  Stocks and McCutchen withdrew to Trenton, Tennessee where they awaited to be re-supplied. On May 24^th, the two companies were reorganized and made part of the 7^th Tennessee Volunteer Cavalry Regiment. Stocks’ Company became Company G and McCutchen’s Company became Company H. During the first week of June, the 7^th Tennessee provided cavalry support for the evacuation of Fort Pillow and later in the month was in camp at Abbeville, Mississippi. In the summer of 1862, they conducted scouting missions in North Mississippi and was involved in Brigadier General Frank C. Armstrong’s assaults on Bolivar, Medon and Britton’s Lane. From late September to early October, Companies G and H formed the advance guard to General Van Dorn’s expedition to capture and destroy General Grant’s supply line through North Mississippi. Van Dorn continued to pester Grant’s army well into the winter and engaged the enemy at Middleton and Bolivar, Tennessee and Davis’ Mill, Mississippi. The regiment went into winter encampment at Granada by the later part of December.[174] The spring and summer of 1863 had Companies G and H guarding North Mississippi from Yankee incursions from Memphis. In September ill health led to the resignation of the recently promoted Colonel Stocks and the company temporarily turned over to Captain Felin F. Aden. In early October, Company G was detached to “collect and bring out recruits” in West Tennessee and later assigned to General Forrest’s command.[175] Company H remained with the rest of the regiment at Holly Springs. The two companies were reunited before the year’s end.

Late in February of 1864, Forrest led the regiment to near Okolona, Mississippi where it defeated Union raiders on the 24^th. In March and April the 7th accompanied Forrest on his campaign into West Kentucky capturing Union City and Fort Pillow. Early in the campaign, forty men from Company G escorted Governor-in-exile Harris to Henry County where they met and fought off a battalion of Union cavalry at Mansfield. During the summer, the 7^th saw action at the Battle of Brice’s Crossroads on June 10^th and the Battle of Harrisburg on July 14^th. In late September, Forrest initiated his campaign into Middle Tennessee capturing Athens, Alabama and following the Nashville and Decatur Railroad to Pulaski, Tennessee. He reached Paris on October 22^nd, where the men of Company G spent a few days visiting family before advancing with the rest of the regiment to Paris Landing. While there Forrest’s men seized a Federal gunboat and transports, traveled upriver to Johnsonville and shelled the Union supply base on November 4^th. Crossing the Tennessee, Forrest led the 7^th into combat at the Battles of Spring Hill, Franklin and Nashville. After the Confederate Army’s defeat before Nashville the regiment withdrew to North Mississippi to wait out another winter. It was not until the end of March of 1865 that the regiment was put in motion to delay General Wilson’s invasion into central Alabama. The 7^th and other units under General Alexander W. Campbell met up with the Federals outside of Tuscaloosa on March 31^st and drove the enemy back across the Cahaba River. The last days of the war the 7^th Tennessee were spent in camp at Sumterville before moving to Gainesville, Alabama where the remaining soldiers surrendered on May 12^th, 1865.[176]

In the aftermath of the war, Paris slowly revived as commerce and industry returned to the city. A proud citizenry rebuilt their community and for a brief time the battle upon the hill was forgotten. Stories of the conflict began to arise a generation later as the survivors of the battle began to tell their children and grandchildren. Yet as memories began to fade, the events of the battle became more distorted as local folklore became celebrated as historical fact. One such fable stated that the “road was strewn with blood” from site of the engagement to the streets of Paris and that over thirty Yankees were killed.[177] Another declared that between sixty and eighty Union soldiers were killed or wounded and that commander of the cavalry force died upon the field.[178] A member of King’s Battalion wrote in 1922 that his company actually captured one of Bulliss’ artillery pieces from the fleeing bluecoats.[179] Other tales surfaced after the war and as the number of survivors dwindled so did that unfiltered glimpse of the past. The number of first hand accounts relating to the battle is limited to a dozen or so official reports, newspaper articles and diaries. What remains untold may be hidden upon the crest of the hill or the valley below, where at dusk on a cool spring day men valiantly fought and died.