Memphis TN031

supportedunresolved Jordan says scouts and citizens gave Forrest accurate information on the troops, pickets and officers' quarters, that the city was without the least expectation of the raid, and that the advance answered the picket's challenge as a detachment of the Twelfth Missouri Cavalry with rebel prisoners; NPS says the raiders claimed to be a Union patrol. Washburn calls it strange that Forrest left Smith's front at Oxford undiscovered by the large Union cavalry force there.

Knowledge attributed by a Confederate history and the defender; no message log inspected.

disputedunresolved Jordan says Forrest's men improvised bridges over the Hickahala and Cold Water from gin-house floors, telegraph poles and grape-vine cables, and that about 400 captured horses were exchanged for jaded ones. Forrest's relayed dispatch claims the enemy's entire camp and about 300 horses and mules; Washburn says the raiders had no time for plunder and got nothing but perhaps 80 horses. NPS says they took large quantities of supplies, including many horses.

Captures reported by the two sides and a summary; the horse counts differ (80, 300 and about 400) and none is adopted.

supportedunresolved NPS gives three objectives: to capture three Union generals, to release prisoners from Irving Block Prison, and to cause the recall of Union forces from northern Mississippi. Jordan says Forrest meant to threaten if not capture Memphis in order to force Smith to return, and assigned detachments to the Gayoso House, where Hurlbut was known to lodge, and to Washburn's headquarters. Washburn says parties went to his headquarters, the Gayoso House, Buckland's quarters and the Irving Prison.

Stated aims from a summary and a Confederate history, and the defender's account of where the raiders went.

disputedpost_outcome The frozen and live results read Confederate victory. Washburn reported the raiders repulsed and driven out and calls the raid an utter failure; Forrest's relayed dispatch says he drove the enemy to his fortifications; Jordan says the object was in the main attained by the confusion into which the garrison was thrown. NPS says Forrest failed in Memphis but influenced the return of Union forces.

Retain the original result and engagement interval; later movements and campaign contribution are different measures. No new probabilities or individual causal credit. The recall of Union forces is campaign contribution, not this record's tactical result.

disputedpost_outcome The frozen casualty field reads 194 (US 160; CS 34); the live field reads 542 (US 480; CS 62). Washburn's report gives his loss as 1 officer killed, 6 wounded and 4 captured, and 14 men killed, 59 wounded and 112 missing, and the enemy's as 22 killed, about 15 badly wounded left on the field and 25 prisoners; his first dispatch says about 250 hundred-days' men were captured, and his second dispatch to Smith, printed in the report, 'He has 500 prisoners, I think'. Forrest's relayed dispatch claims 400 killed and captured for a loss of 20 killed and wounded. Jordan says some 600 prisoners were brought away; NPS says 500.

Original casualty returns were not inspected; preserve totals, categories, cutoffs and differences. No canonical reconciliation or casualty-based opening count; related actions must not be added without resolving population overlap. Washburn's enemy figures sum to the live Confederate 62; the prisoner counts differ (Washburn about 250 and 500; Forrest 400; NPS 500; Jordan some 600) and none is adopted.

supportedunresolved The frozen commanders are Major General C. C. Washburn and Nathan Bedford Forrest, whom the frozen table styles Brigadier General and the live page Major General. Washburn says he barely escaped his invested headquarters, sent dispatches ordering Smith to intercept Forrest at Panola, and that Smith failed to move there. Jordan says Forrest gave each commander his instructions, led the reserve against the infantry camp, ordered the evacuation of the city and the withdrawal.

Command roles from the defender and a Confederate history; the listed commanders do not receive automatic sole credit, and neither rank for Forrest is adopted.

unknownunresolved

No inspected return establishes matched personnel at a common opening boundary. Imported numerical estimates remain unchanged; this pass does not validate them as simultaneous opening forces.

disputedunresolved The frozen force field gives Forrest's cavalry as approx. 400 (side bound 400) and the Union side as troops stationed at Memphis; NPS says Forrest struck with 2,000 cavalry and lost about a quarter of his strength to exhausted horses, against 6,000 Federal troops, and the live field reads 8000 (US 6000; CS 2000). Washburn gives the attackers as three brigades of 2,500 to 3,000, and his first dispatch to Smith about 2,500, of which about a third dashed into the city. Jordan says the detachments selected numbered about 1,500 and four guns, that a hundred men with unfit horses were left at Panola, that scouts reported fully five thousand troops in and around the city, and that the infantry Neely was to attack was at least a thousand strong.

Estimates of each side by the defender, a Confederate history and a summary; no return. The frozen 400 has no inspected basis. None is adopted as a matched opening strength.

supportedunresolved NPS and Jordan describe a thick dawn fog in which men and horses could not be seen at thirty paces. Washburn says the picket-line was eight to ten miles long and that Fort Pickering commanded but could not protect the city. Jordan says the Union infantry and dismounted cavalry took refuge in the brick buildings of the State Female College, a strong defensive position; NPS says Union troops stalled the main body there.

Ground and weather described by the defender, a Confederate history and a summary; no map verification.