Battle of Sacramento
1861 CE.
Shown on the map at 37.419°, -87.262°.
The Battle of Sacramento was an engagement of the American Civil War that took place in Sacramento, Kentucky on December 28, 1861. Confederate cavalry under Lieutenant Colonel Nathan Bedford Forrest, numbering between 200 and 300, attacked, encircled and defeated a Union force of 500 under Major Eli H. Murray which had been watering south of the town after moving across the bank of the Green River. Though exact casualty information is disputed, with differing accounts from each side, several eyewitnesses attested to the personal courage of Forrest, and the Confederate commander was praised by his superiors for his bravery. The engagement was one of the earliest of Forrest's career as a commander of the cavalry, and it featured several examples of tactics and traits which would become hallmarks of his military career, including the division of his forces, outflanking and encirclement, concealment, and personally leading cavalry charges. It was also an early battle for Brigadier-General Stovepipe Johnson, who was then a private. The Union force was decisively routed, and the battle became known as "Forrest's First Fight" and is annually re-enacted by local residents.
Text from the Wikipedia article Battle of Sacramento (Kentucky), licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.