As part of his expedition into West Tennessee to destroy the Mobile and Ohio railroad, Brig. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest’s cavalry defeated Union forces at Lexington and advanced to Jackson on December 19 1862. Northeast of Jackson at the Old Salem Cemetery, Forrest encountered the 43 rd and 61 st Illinois infantry regiments commanded by Col. Adolph Engelmann. Repulsing the Confederate attack, Englemann withdrew to Jackson. However, Forrest’s show of force was intended to hold Jackson’s Union defenders in place while two mounted columns destroyed railroad track north and south of the town and returned. This accomplished, Forrest withdrew from the Jackson area to attack Trenton and Humboldt. While the Federals had checked a demonstration by a portion of Forrest’s force, other Confederates had fulfilled an element of the expedition’s mission.
Wilkinson’s Cross Roads
As the Union army advanced towards Murfreesboro, General Alexander McCook’s Right Wing moved to a crossroads at the west end of Wilkinson