[5] In September 1864, General Nathan Bedford Forrest led his force into northern Alabama and middle Tennessee to disrupt the supply of William Tecumseh Sherman's army in Georgia.

In a personal meeting, Forrest convinced the Union commander, Colonel Wallace Campbell, that the Confederate forces numbered 8,000-10,000.

Shortly after the garrison had surrendered, reinforcements consisting of about 350 men from the 18th Michigan and 102nd Ohio, commanded by Jonas Elliott, arrived by train from Decatur.

200 Union soldiers were killed, including the commander, Colonel William Hopkins Lathrop.

Many of these prisoners died on April 27, 1865, when the steamboat Sultana sank while transporting them home.