Abandon Pursuit

Earl Van Dorn

The Battle of Hatchie Bridge or Davis Bridge was the final engagement of the Luka-Corinth Campaign and was fought October 5^th 1862 in Hardeman and McNairy Counties Tennessee.

Confederate Major General Earl Van Dorn’s Army of Tennessee retreated on October 4^th 1862 from Corinth, Mississippi, halting that night near Chewalla, Tennessee.  Union Major General William S Rosecrans began his pursuit the next morning, with the assistance of Major General Edward O C Ord.  Around 8am on the morning of October 5^th 1862 Ord took command of the combined Union forces and moved on Van Dorn’s advance; commanded by Confederate Major General Sterling Price’s men, pushing them back about five miles to the Hatchie River and across the Davis’ Bridge.  Ord was wounded in the ankle during this push.  While Ord’s men pushed Price’s Confederates, Van Dorn had scouts looking for another way to cross the Hatchie River.

Union General Ulysses Grant ordered the Union command to abandon the pursuit of the Confederates, allowing Van Dorn’s Army to escape.