FEBRUARY 22, 1864:
The
Battle of Okolona (The Battle of West Point):
After defeating William Sooy
Smith’s forces at Ellis Bridge the day before, Nathan Bedford Forrest C.S.A.
re-engages with them outside of Okolona, Mississippi. 2,500 Confederate
cavalrymen swept down on Sooy Smith’s 7,000 already bloodied forces. During one
of the attack waves, Forrest’s younger brother, Colonel Jeffrey Forrest, was
killed. Swearing to “exact vengeance,” General Forrest violently battered Sooy Smith’s
retreating forces all the way to the Tennessee border.
Sooy Smith was later castigated for allowing Forrest’s much
smaller force to batter his into submission throughout the entirety of the
Meridian Campaign without even once successfully mounting a counterattack. Sooy
Smith resigned in disgrace from the army later in 1864.
Warfare is a fascinating subject. Despite the dubious morality of using violence to achieve personal or political aims. It remains that conflict has been used to do just that throughout recorded history.
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