Upstream, to your left, Confederate and Union soldiers fought through the creek's thick underbrush. Here at the far right of the Confederate line, Col. Hiram Granbury's 7th Texas regiment, CSA, charged into the thickets but were confronted by Ohio and Illinois troops, USA, who had already reached the deep-banked creek and occupied it as a fortification. Without any hope of dislodging entrenched troops, the Texans charge broke and hand-to-hand fighting commenced.
Confusion Compounded
The haze in this valley on that Tuesday and the dense cover of underbrush prevented the commanders from seeing what was happening. This breakdown in communication is an example of a "soldiers' battle" where the commanders lose control and field officers or even individual soldiers take charge of their own actions.
"When we rushed through the brook, we found the enemy upon us but we found also that the bank of the brook sloped off a bit, with a kind of beach at its further edge, which made a first rate shelter. So, we dropped on the ground right there and gave those Texans all the bullets we could cram into our Enfields until our guns were hot enough to sizzle.
"We soon found they didn't scare worth a cent."
Lt. Henry O. Dwight, 20th Ohio, USA
(Photo Caption)
Mississippi native Col. Hiram Granbury, CSA, lived here in Hinds County before he moved to Texas in 1850, where a town is named for him.
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