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Wilson’s Raid

March 22 – April 20, 1865

Between March 22 and April 20, 1865, Brevet Major General James H. Wilson led roughly 13,000 Union cavalrymen on a destructive raid through Alabama and Georgia.

On March 12, 1864, President Abraham Lincoln appointed Ulysses S. Grant as General-in-Chief of the Armies of the United States. Upon his arrival in Washington, Grant drafted a plan to have the various Union armies in the field to act in concert and strike the Confederacy from several directions: Grant would travel with Major General George Meade's Army of the Potomac in pursuit of General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia in the Richmond, Virginia area; Major General William T. Sherman would march three Federal armies south from Chattanooga, Tennessee to capture Atlanta, Georgia; and Major General Franz Sigel would invade western Virginia's Shenandoah Valley to cut off supplies to Lee's army and to prevent any Confederate attempts to attack Meade's flank.

The Union Army of the Potomac relentlessly engaged the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia throughout the spring of 1864. By June, Grant forced Lee to retreat to the Richmond-Petersburg area. Thereafter, both armies entrenched and a stalemate ensued for the next ten months.

Meanwhile, in the West, Sherman captured Atlanta in early September 1864. Before embarking on his March to the Sea, Sherman sent Major General George H. Thomas, commanding the Army of the Cumberland, in pursuit of Lieutenant General John Bell Hood, whose Army of Tennessee threatened to occupy Tennessee after evacuating Atlanta. Thomas subdued Hood's army at the Battle of Nashville (December 15 -16, 1864), and thereafter faced little organized resistance in the West. Upon Thomas's recommendation, Grant then authorized the formation of a new cavalry force to invade the Deep South.

In the spring of 1865, Brevet Major General James H. Wilson assembled over 13,000 Federal cavalrymen at Gravelly Springs, Alabama, on the Tennessee River, and commenced training. The Federal force consisted of three divisions commanded by Brigadier General Edward M. McCook, Brigadier General Eli Long, and Major General Emory Upton. Well-armed with Spencer repeating carbines, Wilson's cavalry crossed the Tennessee River on March 22, 1865, targeting coal mines, ironworks, mills, munitions manufacturers, and anything else that could aid the Confederate cause.

Wilson was opposed by Lieutenant General Nathan Bedford Forrest, who commanded roughly 2,500 regulars from the Cavalry Corps of the Department of Alabama, Mississippi, and East Louisiana. Augmented by poorly trained and ill-equipped state militia, which included old men and boys, who were spread across the region, Forrest commanded no more than 5,000 soldiers at the height of the operation. Outnumbered and outgunned, Forrest's troops offered little resistance to Wilson's cavalry as it moved in blitzkrieg fashion into Alabama.

Wilson easily rolled through northern and central Alabama, destroying iron works at Elyton, Brierfield, Tannehill and Montevallo. His progress was nearly uncontested until Forrest mounted a spirited but futile stand at Ebenezer Church, roughly twenty miles from Selma on April 1. Following a decisive Union victory, Forrest was forced to fall back to the earthworks and defenses that ringed Selma.

The next day, Wilson's cavalry launched an assault against the Confederates defending Selma, and by 7 p.m., Forrest began withdrawing what was left of his command from the city. Coincidentally, roughly 700 miles to the northeast, Robert E. Lee began evacuating Richmond and Petersburg that same night. Wilson's troops captured over 2,500 Confederate prisoners during the Battle of Selma. After the battle, the Federals spent the several days destroying the city's arsenal, foundries, and iron works, depriving the South of one of its major manufacturing centers. While occupying Selma, Wilson ordered a detachment at Tuscaloosa to burn most of the University of Alabama on April 4.

On April 10, Wilson left Selma and turned east toward the Alabama state capital at Montgomery. Two days later, his soldiers occupied Montgomery unopposed after the few Confederate defenders there relocated to Columbus, Georgia to protect the naval stores and munitions in that city. Wilson's men spent the next two days in Montgomery destroying the city's arsenal, train depot, foundries, mills, munitions works, and railroad property, but they largely spared civilian possessions.

Upon leaving Montgomery, Wilson headed east into Georgia. In that state he split his force into two columns. One column pursued the Montgomery troops who had moved to Columbus. On Easter Sunday, April 16, the Federals easily routed the Rebel defenders at the Battle of Columbus, taking roughly 1,500 prisoners in what is generally considered to be the last major battle of the Civil War. On the same day, Wilson's other column captured an undermanned Fort Tyler at the Battle of West Point, making that outpost the last Confederate fort captured by the Union during the Civil War. Also during that battle, a Federal sharpshooter mortally wounded Confederate Brigadier General Robert C. Tyler, making him the last general officer to be killed in the Civil War.

Following the Easter Sunday battles, Wilson's two columns converged upon Macon, Georgia. As Wilson approached that city he learned from General Howell Cobb, commanding the Rebel forces at Macon, that General Joseph Johnston had surrendered the last remaining Confederate army in the field to Major General William T. Sherman at Bennett Place, near Durham, North Carolina, on April 19. Howell, being part of Johnston's command, thereupon surrendered Macon to Wilson. With the fighting in the East effectively over, Wilson ended his operation.

For the next few weeks, Wilson dispatched cavalry patrols, to hunt down fleeing Confederate leaders. On May 10, 1865, at Irwinville, Georgia, a group of his men apprehended the former president of the Confederacy, Jefferson Davis.

Historians debate the importance and even the necessity of Wilson's Raid. Wilson's men did succeed in inflicting considerable damage to the infrastructure of the Deep South and they significantly reduced the dwindling Confederate fighting force by taking more than 6,000 prisoners and killing or wounding over 1,000 soldiers. In hindsight though, it seems that Lee and Johnston's surrenders were inevitable by that time. It is questionable whether Wilson's Raid, successful as it was, did much, if anything, to change the outcome of the war.

Ohio units that participated in Wilson’s Raid included:

Cavalry units:

1st Regiment Ohio Volunteer Cavalry

3rd Regiment Ohio Volunteer Cavalry

4th Regiment Ohio Volunteer Cavalry

7th Regiment Ohio Volunteer Cavalry

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