At the beginning of June 1864, Maj. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest set out
with his cavalry corps of about 2,000 men to enter Middle Tennessee and
destroy the Nashville & Chattanooga Railroad, which was carrying men and
supplies to Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman in Georgia. On June 10, 1864,
Forrest's smaller Confederate force defeated a much larger Union column under
Brig. Gen. Samuel Sturgis at Brice's Cross Roads. This brilliant tactical
victory against long odds cemented Forrest's reputation as one of the foremost
mounted infantry leaders of the war.