February 22, 1864---The Battle of Okolona, Mississippi

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. 

February 21, 1864---The Battle of Ellis Bridge, Mississippi

FEBRUARY 21, 1864:          

The Battle of Ellis Bridge (The Battle of West Point):

Even as General William Tecumseh Sherman U.S.A. marches away victoriously from the smoking ruins of Meridian, Mississippi, his embattled compatriot, William Sooy Smith, is being beaten badly at West Point, Mississippi by Nathan Bedford Forrest C.S.A. Smith’s troops need to take Ellis Bridge to effectuate a river crossing. Forrest’s men deny them the crossing in a vicious and bloody, though relatively small, engagement.