A Battle Unfolds

From this vantage point, Maj. Gen. James McPherson, USA, should have been able to watch the unfolding of the battle, but the smoke and dust clouds hung motionless near the ground all day. Nevertheless, he was able to see a skirmish line along the creek where it crossed under the bridge, the Confederate battle line beyond, and additional forces on the Gallatin Road to the right.

“My regiment, like all the others, hurried along the country roads through dust that came to the shoe top. The atmosphere was yellow with it. The moving of a column far away could be traced by it. We followed it in the way that Joshua’s army followed the mighty cloud.”

Sgt. S.H.M. Byers, 5th Iowa, USA

(Image captions from left-to-right, west-to-east)

The bend in Fourteenmile Creek against which the Confederates planned to push the Federals.

The bridge over Fourteenmile Creek where Confederates waited.

Confederate artillery position with three cannon.

The concrete portion of State Highway 18 follows the route of the Union army toward Raymond from its overnight encampment around Roach’s plantation, nine miles south.

Gallatin Road (modern Dry Grove Road) where Confederate regiments were posted to strike the Union right and rear as part of Confederate General Gregg’s trap. It is known as McGavock’s Ridge since Col. Randall McGavock, CSA, a former mayor of Nashville, Tennessee was killed in that action. . This historical marker is in Raymond in Hinds County Mississippi