Collierville

November 3, 1863
Shelby County

On November 3, 1863 while conducting cavalry raids to break up the Memphis & Charleston Railroad behind Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman’s XV Army Corps, Confederate Brig. Gen. James R. Chalmers, leading a cavalry division from Mississippi, learned that only two Union regiments defended Collierville. However, Union Col. Edward Hatch possessed more men than Chalmers supposed, stationed at Collierville and at Germantown. Scouts warned Hatch of Chalmers’s approach, so he ordered Collierville’s defenders to be prepared and rode from Germantown with cavalry reinforcements. Chalmers, as he had done only three weeks earlier, attacked from the south. Surprised by the unexpected appearance of Hatch on his flanks, Chalmers concluded that he was outnumbered, called off the battle, withdrew back to Mississippi. The Memphis & Charleston Railroad subsequently remained open to Tuscumbia, Alabama, for Union troop movements.

Do you have a photo of this battlefield? Do you have a photo of this battlefield? Submit it to info@TCWPA.org to have it displayed

Discover More Battle Fields

Somerville

On the morning of March 28, 1863 Confederate guerillas temporarily captured a train on the Memphis and Charleston Railroad, between

Read More »

Fosterville

On June 25, 1863 as part of the Tullahoma Campaign, Union cavalry pickets under Brig. Gen. David Stanley were driven back near

Read More »