German Silver Cavalryman’s Bugle Inscribed “Captured by 4th Ala. Cav./From the Federals/At Tishomingo Creek/June 10th 1864”.
The Battle of Tishomingo Creek, also known as the Battle of Brice’s Cross Roads was one of General Nathan Bedford Forrest’s most outstanding victories. Here he utterly defeated a force of combined Federal Infantry (Gen. Samuel Sturgis )and Cavalry (Gen. Benjamin Grierson) being outnumbered more than 3-to-1. The 4th Alabama Cavalry Regt. under Col. William A. Johnson was pivotal in the initial stage of the battle, the defeat of the Union Cavalry. Here is an excerpt from this action:
When Rucker’s troops were ready, Forrest once again ordered his line forward in a strong demonstration; after some sharp exchanges, the gray line withdrew once more. As the feint ended, Colonel W.A. Johnson arrived from Baldwyn with his 500 Alabama horsemen; Forrest dismounted Johnson’s men and sent them north of the Baldwyn Road on Lyon’s right, instructing them to move forward and engage the attention of Waring’s left. After some desultory firing, Johnson’s men fell back, exhausted from their recent trek. It was now almost midday and Forrest decided to try to break Grierson’s line with the three brigades he had on hand. Forrest rode along his entire line, encouraging his men, telling them he expected every man to move forward when the bugle sounded. This was not to be a feint but an all-out, desperate fight at close quarters. When the bugle rang out, the entire gray line sprang from the edge of the timber as one and rushed to close with the blue line.
The Union cavalrymen fought back viciously, their repeating rifles crackling away into a deafening roar. Rucker, at the head of the 7th Tennessee and 18th Mississippi, carried his line ahead fully 100 yards in advance of Lyon and Johnson and put tremendous pressure on Waring’s right unit, the 7th Indiana. Waring’s troopers fought heroically, but the Confederates would not be denied. As the enemy rushed toward them, Rucker shouted to his men to draw their six-shot repeating pistols and close with the enemy. After a brief but ferocious struggle, much of it hand-to-hand, Rucker punched a hole through the 7th Indiana’s line and Waring’s men began to pull back, first by ones and twos, then by squads, then by scores.
Johnson’s and Lyon’s men closed with the Union forces on the Union far left, while Duff’s mounted Mississippi regiment, on the extreme Confederate left, was vigorously engaged on the far right of Grierson’s line. As Waring’s center collapsed, Johnson and his Alabamians advanced so rapidly that he gained a foothold fully halfway between his original position and the road leading from Ripley to the crossroads. The Union cavalry brigades, exhausted and almost out of ammunition, were hard-pressed all along the line. Forrest was close to achieving his first objective—defeating the Union cavalry prior to the arrival of the infantry.
This fine silver bugle was no doubt taken from one of Col. G.E. Waring’s troopers and subsequently used by the 4th Alabama Cavalry during many dangerous exploits, culminating in the disastrous Battle of Selma, where the regiment was decimated. Condition is good and complete with the original mouthpiece. Note dents from hard use and a small hole in in the tube. Just imagine the sanguine scenes and intense drama this bugle has witnessed. What an amazing Confederate War Trophy!
$7995.00
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