Battle of West Point
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The Battle of West Point, Georgia (April 16, 1865), formed part of the
Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...
campaign through
Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...
and
Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...
, known as
Wilson's Raid Wilson's Raid was a cavalry operation through Alabama and Georgia in March–April 1865, late in the American Civil War. Brig. Gen. James H. Wilson led his Union Army Cavalry Corps to destroy Southern manufacturing facilities and was opposed ...
, in the final full month of the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
. The rail junction of West Point was one of the two
Chattahoochee River The Chattahoochee River forms the southern half of the Alabama and Georgia border, as well as a portion of the Florida - Georgia border. It is a tributary of the Apalachicola River, a relatively short river formed by the confluence of the Chatta ...
crossings, which General
James H. Wilson James Harrison Wilson (September 2, 1837 – February 23, 1925) was a United States Army topographic engineer and a Union Army Major General in the American Civil War. He served as an aide to Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan during the Maryland Camp ...
planned to destroy after capturing
Montgomery, Alabama Montgomery is the capital city of the U.S. state of Alabama and the county seat of Montgomery County. Named for the Irish soldier Richard Montgomery, it stands beside the Alabama River, on the coastal Plain of the Gulf of Mexico. In the 202 ...
. Dividing his army, he detailed Colonel
Oscar Hugh La Grange Oscar Hugh La Grange (April 3, 1837January 5, 1915) was an American lawyer and abolitionist activist. He served as a Union Army officer in the American Civil War, and received an honorary brevet to brigadier general. Biography Oscar Hugh La Gr ...
to attack West Point, while he himself moved downriver to instigate the Battle of Columbus, to take that important
Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...
manufacturing center. West Point was fortified by the earthwork of Fort Tyler, commanded by Confederate Brig. Gen. Robert C. Tyler, for whom it was named. Union artillery and dismounted cavalry, armed with Spencer repeater-carbines, soon forced the garrison to surrender, Tyler being shot dead by a sniper, and becoming the last Confederate General killed. On hearing of the victory at Columbus, Union troops were free to burn the bridge and the railroad stock. It was one of the last battles of the war.


Prelude

After defeating
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Nathan Bedford Forrest Nathan Bedford Forrest (July 13, 1821October 29, 1877) was a prominent Confederate Army general during the American Civil War and the first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan from 1867 to 1869. Before the war, Forrest amassed substantial wealt ...
's defenders at the
Battle of Selma The Battle of Selma, Alabama (April 2, 1865), formed part of the Union campaign through Alabama and Georgia, known as Wilson's Raid, in the final full month of the American Civil War. Union Army forces under Major General James H. Wilson, tot ...
on April 2, 1865, and capturing
Montgomery, Alabama Montgomery is the capital city of the U.S. state of Alabama and the county seat of Montgomery County. Named for the Irish soldier Richard Montgomery, it stands beside the Alabama River, on the coastal Plain of the Gulf of Mexico. In the 202 ...
, on April 12, U.S.
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Wilson turned his raiders' attentions toward the
Chattahoochee River The Chattahoochee River forms the southern half of the Alabama and Georgia border, as well as a portion of the Florida - Georgia border. It is a tributary of the Apalachicola River, a relatively short river formed by the confluence of the Chatta ...
to the east. He telegraphed
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George H. Thomas George Henry Thomas (July 31, 1816March 28, 1870) was an American general in the Union Army during the American Civil War and one of the principal commanders in the Western Theater. Thomas served in the Mexican–American War and later chose ...
:
If I can now destroy arsenals and supplies at Columbus and divide their army in the southwest, they must disintegrate for lack of munitions. There is no force to resist me, and I see no reasonable ground for fearing failures. My command is in magnificent condition.
The river was swollen by rains, so capturing a bridge would be required to make swift progress. Wilson determined that either one of two locations with bridges would suit this purpose: the one at West Point or the more heavily defended one at Columbus. The two towns were only 35 miles apart and Wilson divided his force to attack both, in order to increase the chances of one being taken intact. Colonel
Oscar Hugh La Grange Oscar Hugh La Grange (April 3, 1837January 5, 1915) was an American lawyer and abolitionist activist. He served as a Union Army officer in the American Civil War, and received an honorary brevet to brigadier general. Biography Oscar Hugh La Gr ...
's brigade was detailed to attack West Point.Cox, Dale. "Fort Tyler Historic Site – West Point, Georgia." Accessed January 25, 2013. http://www.exploresouthernhistory.com/forttyler.html. West Point did not have
mill Mill may refer to: Science and technology * * Mill (grinding) * Milling (machining) * Millwork * Textile mill * Steel mill, a factory for the manufacture of steel * List of types of mill * Mill, the arithmetic unit of the Analytical Engine early ...
s or
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, but it was a critical rail center. As the connecting point for two railroads of different gauges, West Point had an extensive rail yard with many locomotives and rail cars.Jones, p. 122 The railway bridges were commanded by Fort Tyler, a 35-yard square earthwork upon a hill on the Alabama side of the river. It had walls four-and-a-half feet high, surrounded by a ditch six to ten feet deep and seven to twelve feet across. The
fort A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
was equipped with a 32-pounder siege gun and two 12-pounder field pieces.


Battle

On the morning of April 16, La Grange's brigade approached West Point. The brigade consisted of the 2nd and 4th Indiana Cavalry, the 1st Wisconsin Cavalry, the 7th Kentucky Cavalry, and the 18th Indiana Battery of light artillery. The cavalry troopers were armed primarily with
Spencer carbine The Spencer repeating rifles and carbines were 19th-century American lever-action firearms invented by Christopher Spencer. The Spencer was the world's first military metallic-cartridge repeating rifle, and over 200,000 examples were manufacture ...
s.Sanders, Stuart. "Robert Charles Tyler: Last American Civil War Confederate General Slain in Combat." Weider History Group – Historynet, June 12, 2006. http://www.historynet.com/robert-charles-tyler-last-american-civil-war-confederate-general-slain-in-combat.htm. Awaiting them at Fort Tyler was a small group of Confederates, somewhere between 120 and 265 men,Jones, p. 123 under the command of Brig. Gen. Robert C. Tyler. In addition to the three cannon of the fort, the convalescents and militia were armed with smoothbore muskets. Skirmishing began at 10 a.m., as the fort's pickets were driven in. The Federal battery set up half a mile away on Ward's Hill and began shelling the redoubt while cavalrymen dismounted to serve as skirmishers and invest the fort. Shelling continued until 1:30 p.m. when La Grange arrived with the remainder of the brigade. The dismounted cavalry pressed the fort and exchanged fire with the defenders, closing within 50 yards and sniping at the defending artillerists. The Federals also removed long planks from nearby structures in preparation to span the ditch. As the Federals sniped at the Confederate artillerists attempting to man their pieces, Col. La Grange hoped to use the distraction to secure his primary objective, the bridge span, before it could be burned by the rebels. He led the 4th Indiana Cavalry on a mad dash for the bridge. Seeing this the defenders in the fort turned their cannon to halt the foray, but as the cavalry approached the bridge they soon exceeded the effective range of the cannon. An exploding shell from the 32-pounder did succeed in killing the colonel's horse, two pack animals and resulting in the colonel being stunned and sprawled on the ground. Charging across the bridge the riders encountered a gap where planks had been removed, but were able to spur their horses over and overcome the Confederate defenders on the east side of the Chattahoochee River. Here they dispersed a small defensive force that had incendiaries for burning the structure. With the defenders pinned inside their fort, Federal artillery and sniper fire suppressed the counter fire of the defenders who lacked protection from headlogs. As a result, many of the Confederate killed and wounded suffered head wounds. The garrison commander's attention was drawn to fire from nearby structures, which Tyler had been urged to burn before the engagement, but had spared because he did not believe the owners could withstand the loss. According to a participant Tyler bravely exposed himself to examine the battlefield and was quickly shot dead by a sniper who was operating from a nearby cottage.Lenz, Richard. "The Battle of Fort Tyler." In The Civil War in Georgia, An Illustrated Traveler's Guide. Lenz Design & Communications Inc, 1995. http://www.sherpaguides.com/georgia/civil_war/sidebars/battle_of_fort_tyler.html. Shortly thereafter, his second-in-command, Captain Celestino Gonzalez was also killed and Col. James H. Fannin assumed command. To end the stalemate the dismounted troopers crossed the ditch using their planks. Running low on ammunition, some defenders threw rocks and lit shells over the parapet. A cavalry bugle sounded a final charge as the Union soldiers stormed over the embankment, and the fort immediately surrendered.


Casualties

Union casualties were seven men killed and twenty-nine wounded. The Confederates' losses were nineteen killed, twenty-eight wounded, and two hundred eighteen captured. The death of Brigadier General Tyler is noted as the last Confederate general to die in a battle. The Confederates who died were buried in what is now known as the Fort Tyler Cemetery in town on the east side of the river. It is believed but not confirmed that the Union dead were buried there as well. In addition, at least 50 other unknown Civil War soldiers are interred there.Cox, Dale "Fort Tyler Cemetery – West Point, Georgia"


Significance

The rolling stock of the
Montgomery and West Point Railroad The Montgomery and West Point Railroad (M&WP) was an early 19th-century railroad in Alabama and Georgia. It played an important role during the American Civil War as a supply and transportation route for the Confederate Army, and, as such, was the ...
, along with commissary stores had been sent to West Point before Montgomery fell. Because of their narrow gauge, these trains were trapped.Black, p. 288 After the fort surrendered, Federal cavalry took control of the town of West Point and the vital bridges over the river. The raiders then proceeded to burn the entire rolling stock of the railroad, 19–20 locomotives and 340–350 cars.Jones, p. 125 Before the cars were fired, some foodstuffs were removed and given to the mayor of West Point to feed the wounded of both sides as well as destitute citizens. The bridges were spared only briefly, as La Grange awaited word of the attack on Columbus to know if they would be needed.


Notes


References

* Black, Robert C., III. ''The Railroads of the Confederacy''. University of North Carolina Press, 1998 * Cox, Dale. "Fort Tyler Historic Site – West Point, Georgia." http://www.exploresouthernhistory.com/forttyler.html * Jones, James Pickett ''Yankee Blitzkrieg: Wilson's Raid through Alabama and Georgia''. University Press of Kentucky, 1976 * Lenz, Richard, J. "The Battle of Fort Tyler." In The Civil War in Georgia, An Illustrated Traveler's Guide. Lenz Design & Communications Inc, 1995. http://www.sherpaguides.com/georgia/civil_war/sidebars/battle_of_fort_tyler.html * Sanders, Stuart. "Robert Charles Tyler: Last American Civil War Confederate General Slain in Combat." Historynet, Published June 12, 2006 originally from ''MHQ'' http://www.historynet.com/robert-charles-tyler-last-american-civil-war-confederate-general-slain-in-combat.htm {{DEFAULTSORT:West Point, Battle of Wilson's Raid Battles of the Western Theater of the American Civil War Union victories of the American Civil War Battles of the American Civil War in Georgia (U.S. state) Harris County, Georgia Troup County, Georgia 1865 in the American Civil War 1865 in Georgia (U.S. state) April 1865 events