Date:
- March 22 – April 20, 1865
Location:
- Alabama and Georgia
Principal Union commander(s):
- Brevet Major General James H. Wilson
Principal Confederate commander(s):
- General Nathan Bedford Forrest
Union forces engaged:
- Three cavalry divisions
Confederate forces engaged:
- Forrest’s Cavalry Corps, as well as state militia
Number of Union soldiers engaged:
- Roughly 13,480
Number of Confederate soldiers engaged:
- Roughly 5,000
Estimated Union casualties:
- 697 (99 killed, 598 wounded)
Estimated Confederate casualties:
- 7,000 (1,000 killed and wounded and 6,000 captured)
Result:
- Union victory
Significance:
- During Wilson’s Raid, Union soldiers inflicted considerable damage to the infrastructure of the Deep South, and they significantly reduced the dwindling Confederate fighting force by taking over 6,000 prisoners and killing or wounding over 1,000 soldiers.
- On Easter Sunday, April 16, during Wilson’s Raid, Federal troops easily routed the Rebel defenders at the Battle of Columbus, taking roughly 1,500 prisoners in what is generally considered to be the last major battle of the Civil War.
- On Easter Sunday, April 16, during Wilson’s Raid, Federal troops captured an under-manned Fort Tyler at the Battle of West Point, making that outpost the last Confederate fort captured by the Union during the Civil War.
- On Easter Sunday, April 16, during Wilson’s Raid, a federal sharpshooter mortally wounded Confederate Brigadier General Robert C. Tyler at the Battle of West Point, making him the last general officer to be killed in the Civil War.