Alan Pitts
Vincent's Crossroads question
Tue Jan 9 13:02:04 2001


Question: did this action take place in Prentiss County, Mississippi?

Brig.Gen Samuel W. Ferguson defeated Spencer's 1st Ala. (U.S.) at Vincent's Crossroads. He directed Earle's 2nd Ala. Cav. Regt, Barteau's 22nd Tenn. Cav. Regt. (AKA 2nd Tenn. Cav.) and Moreland's Ala. Cav. Battn. The home-made Yankees turned back after reaching Walker County on a raid intended as a strike on Selma. Ferguson says that if Moreland had carried out his orders and blocked the Federal escape route, he would've destroyed the enemy. Dyer reports no captures from the 1st Alabama, which seems incredible under the circumstances. Ferguson says he captured 29 against a loss of 2 killed and 11 wounded. No regimental report exists in the O.R. for the 1st Alabama (U.S.) Cav. It's interesting that Federal reports often treat defeats like this as insignificant incidents and rate such actions as mere skirmishes.