West Point at the Crossroads:
United States Military Academy Graduates at the Battle of Brice’s Crossroads
by Graham L. Osborne
For over two-hundred years graduates of the United States Military Academy, colloquially known as West Point for its location on the Hudson River at West Point, New York, have been inextricably linked with America’s wartime leadership. Two U.S. Presidents, a multitude of Generals, and many prominent politicians and cabinet members have been alumni of the United States’ oldest service academy.
Perhaps no military conflict is more connected to West Point in American historical memory than that of the Civil War. Three hundred and sixty-three West Pointers became Generals during the War, 217 for the Federal side and 146 for the Confederates. Of the roughly one-thousand Academy graduates who would take part in the fratricidal conflict from 1861 to 1865 about twenty-five percent were battlefield casualties with 105 killed and another 151 being wounded. (1)
Figure 1: Trophy Point on the campus of the USMA at West Point, NY
Some of the most famous names associated with the Civil War studied to be soldiers at the prestigious United States Military Academy including: Grant, Class of 1843, Sherman ‘40, and Sheridan ‘53 for the Union, and Lee ‘29, Jackson ‘46, and Johnston (both Albert Sidney ‘26 and Joseph Eggelston ‘29) for the Confederates, just to name a few. While U.S. President Abraham Lincoln was not a West Pointer, Jefferson Davis, the President of the Confederacy, graduated from the institution in 1828. (2)
Academy graduates filled leadership positions for both sides throughout the Western Theater during the Civil War. But as Spring turned to Summer in 1864 at the far reaches of the Western Theater in north Mississippi, one specific Confederate leader had to be reckoned with, and he was decidedly not an “Academy Man.”
Confederate Major General Nathan Bedford Forrest would win his greatest victory of the War at the Battle of Brice’s Crossroads in Mississippi on June 10, 1864. Forrest did not graduate from, nor attend West Point. Prior to the start of the Civil War, he had no military experience or training, and many times prior to Brice’s Crossroads he found himself at odds with several “Academy Men” within the Confederate leadership. However, Forrest’s dust-ups with Earl Van Dorn ‘42, Joseph Wheeler ‘59, and Braxton Bragg ‘37 did not derail his relatively quick rise through ranks prior to Brice’s Crossroads as he went from Lieutenant Colonel in the summer of 1861 to Major General by December 1863.
The perception that Forrest thought and fought differently than the “by-the-book” West Pointers continues to this day. This contrarian approach is given as one of the major reasons for his battlefield successes as he was fighting the War as he saw and experienced it in front of him, not by the instruction developed for classroom study from the wars of the past. Forrest’s perceptions and observations were usually accurate and still make for heady arguments between Civil War scholars and enthusiasts alike. Although Forrest never matriculated at West Point the Academy was most definitely present at the Battle of Brice’s Crossroads with three graduates taking lead roles in the action. Forrest had explicit trust and confidence in his two West Pointers, and their leadership was critical to the outcome of the fight. On the Union side, however, the “Academy Man” in charge of the expedition would have one of the worst moments of the War experienced by any leader, North or South.
While Major General William T. Sherman pushed his massive Union forces towards Atlanta, Georgia in May 1864 he called upon fellow West Pointer, Brigadier General Samuel D. Sturgis ‘46, to lead an expedition out of Memphis and into north Mississippi. Sturgis was to ensure Forrest, and his Confederate cavalry troopers, would not raid and disrupt Sherman’s vitally important supply line feeding, arming, and outfitting his huge army by the railroads coming into Georgia via Tennessee and Alabama.
Sturgis was born in central Pennsylvania in 1822 and entered West Point slightly older than most cadets at the age of 20. In 1846 he would graduate as part of one of the most famous classes to ever come out of the Academy. Sturgis finished 32nd out of 59 graduates in the class. Some of his more well-known classmates had varying levels of success both in the classroom and later upon the battlegrounds of the Civil War. George McClellan finished 2nd in the Class of ‘46, Stonewall Jackson 17th, George Stoneman 33rd, and George Pickett finished last in the entire class at 59th.(3)
Figure 2: Samuel Sturgis, USMA Class of 1846. He would lead the Federal forces at the Battle of Brice’s Crossroads on June 10, 1864.
After graduation Sturgis saw substantial service prior to the Civil War. During the War he seemed to be everywhere, serving in fierce engagements in all three major theaters of the conflict. Sturgis fought in the Trans-Mississippi Theater at the Battle of Wilson’s Creek in 1861, he led troops at the battles of Antietam and Fredericksburg in the Eastern Theater in 1862, and in 1864 he would lead the doomed Federal Expedition who would meet disaster at the Battle of Brice’s Crossroads, one of the few Confederate victories of note in the Western Theater.
After Brice’s Crossroads Sturgis would not see any other further action during the War. His mismanagement of the expedition, which Sherman considered important to the success of his Atlanta Campaign, was enough to keep him shelved and “awaiting orders” for the remainder of the hostilities despite his Academy roots. Sturgis’ sons would also go on to graduate from the United States Military Academy. James Sturgis ’75 would be killed at the Battle of Little Bighorn and Samuel D. Sturgis, the younger, Class of 1884 would serve in Manila during the Spanish-American War and in France during the First World War.
Although Forrest was not a West Pointer he was very much surrounded and assisted by “Academy Men” in crucial leadership positions during the crisis caused by Sturgis’ Expedition. Forrest’s immediate superior was Major General Stephen D. Lee ‘54. The day prior to the Battle of Brice’s Crossroads Lee met with Forrest in Booneville, Mississippi and instructed him to draw the Union expedition deeper into the state where a consolidated Confederate force could cause the most damage to Sturgis. Lee also trusted Forrest’s ability to assess the situation and granted him permission to strike the Federals if an opportunity presented itself, which it did and resulted in the Battle of Brice’s Crossroads.
Lee was a South Carolinian, and like Sturgis he continued his military career after graduating from West Point all the way to the start of the Civil War. Also, like Sturgis, Lee served in multiple Theaters and saw substantial action during the War. Prior to Brice’s Crossroads Lee was at Fort Sumter, 2nd Manassas, Antietam, Chickasaw Bayou, and the Siege of Vicksburg to name just a few of the places his early career as a Confederate officer took him.
Figure 3: Stephen D. Lee, USMA Class of 1854. While not at Brice’s Crossroads in person he was Nathan Bedford Forrest’s superior and met with the Confederate troopers in Booneville, MS prior to the battle.
Unlike Sturgis, Lee was not present on the field at Brice’s Crossroads. Also, unlike Sturgis, his Civil War career did not crater in the summer of 1864, quite the contrary. Shortly after Brice’s Crossroads at the age of thirty Lee would become the youngest Lieutenant General in the Confederate Army. While Lee survived the War and had several noteworthy pursuits including serving as the first President of what would become Mississippi State University. Many of his fellow graduates from the West Point Class of 1854 were not as fortunate. In fact, the Class of 1854 suffered the largest number of casualties by a single graduating class during the War.(4) While Lee did not fight in-person at Brice’s Crossroads two other West Pointers did serve as indispensable subordinates under Forrest at the battle.
While Sturgis was the only Academy graduate on the Union side at Brice’s Crossroads, a pair of Kentuckian West Pointers, Brigadier General Abraham Buford ‘41 and Colonel Hylan Lyon ‘56, fought for the Confederates at the battle and provided crucial leadership which ensured, or at least substantially enhanced, the southern victory that day.
Buford was 17 years old when he entered West Point and would graduate near the bottom of his class in 1841. He would serve for several years in the U.S. Army after graduation and was noted for gallantry while fighting in Mexico. However, in 1854 he would resign from the Army and would embrace farming and other civilian pursuits back in his native Kentucky. When the Civil War came, Buford was determined to stay out of the fight and refused to choose a side. Sixteen months after the War began at Fort Sumter in April 1861, Braxton Bragg ’37 led the Confederates into Kentucky and Buford could no longer sit out the War as it had arrived at his front yard. He was compelled to pick a side and he chose to serve the Confederacy unlike his more famous cousin and fellow Academy graduate John Buford ‘48, a hero for the Union at the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863.
Figure 4: Abraham Buford, USMA Class of 1841. He served as Forrest’s second-in-command at the Battle of Brice’s Crossroads.
While Abraham Buford would fight in several actions during the War including having command of a brigade during the Battle of Champion Hill, the critical battle of the Vicksburg Campaign in 1863, perhaps his greatest battlefield moment came when he served as the second-in-command to Forrest at the Battle of Brice’s Crossroads. While the fight raged on June 10, 1864, Buford in effect had command of the “right wing” of the Confederate forces, consisting of the Alabama and Kentucky Brigades, as the battle reached its tipping point, climax and pursuit phases. He personally communicated with Forrest throughout the day and ensured that Forrest’s vision to squeeze the Federal forces on their extreme flanks while pressing the enemy infantry in the center was carried out to near tactical perfection.
The Kentucky Confederate Brigade played a central role at Brice’s Crossroads. The men of the Brigade were led by the young, competent, and hard-fighting Colonel Hylan Lyon. Lyon was born in Kentucky in 1836 and received his appointment to West Point in 1852 at the age of 16. Of the 94 cadets to enter the Academy in 1852 only 49 would graduate, with Lyon finishing 19th in the class of ‘56 at the young age of 20.(5) The Class of ‘56 had 44 graduates alive in 1861 and every single one of them would serve in either the Confederate or Union armies during the War.(6)
Lyon resigned his United States commission a few weeks after the fall of Fort Sumter and volunteered to serve the Confederacy. He led the 8th Kentucky Infantry (later to be re-organized as the 8th Kentucky Mounted Infantry and part of the Kentucky Brigade at Brice’s Crossroads) at the Battle of Fort Donelson in 1862 where he and his regiment were surrendered. After spending months in a Union prison camp Lyon was released and would go on to serve the Confederate forces in several capacities, often being detailed for specific assignments which required vigorous leadership at the helm.
Figure 5: Hylan Lyon, USMA Class of 1856. Lyon commanded the “Kentucky Brigade” at the Battle of Brice’s Crossroads. The performance of the Kentuckians was excellent and Lyon would be promoted from Colonel to Brig. General shortly afterwards.
Only days prior to the Battle of Brice’s Crossroads Lyon was recalled to the 8th Kentucky, now mounted infantry, and placed at the head of the entire Kentucky Brigade. The Kentuckians were the first Confederates to deploy into line of battle at Brice’s Crossroads and despite their small size for a brigade (roughly 800 men) they were able to confuse and fix in place a much larger Union Cavalry brigade opposite them on the battleline. In doing so, the Kentucky Brigade forced the additional sizable Union Cavalry brigade to deploy into a defensive posture while Forrest consolidated his forces on the field. The Kentuckians led by Lyon began fighting before 10:00am on June 10, 1864, and would remain right in the thick of things throughout the day. The brigade even took its turn in leading the extended pursuit once the last Union troops gave ground and began the harrowing retreat to Ripley, Mississippi and even further on towards Tennessee as night fell and June 10 turned to June 11.
For his actions and the leadership of his brigade at Brice’s Crossroads Lyon would be promoted to Brigadier General. He became a military confidant of Forrest’s in the months that followed, and he even headed the small Confederate Department of Western Kentucky for a time.
For purposes of this article every graduate from the United States Military Academy from its founding until the Class of 1864 was researched against the available listings of top leadership, field officers, selected captains, and even some junior grade officers who fought at the Battle of Brice’s Crossroads. There is the possibility that a recently graduated lieutenant, a company captain, or even a lower ranking officer on one of the staffs of the four Generals (Brig. Gen. Sturgis and Brig. Gen. Grierson for the Federals and Maj. Gen. Forrest and Brig. Gen. Buford for the Confederates) that fought at the battle was an additional Academy graduate who escaped discovery this go around. Furthermore, this article only focused on graduates of West Point exclusively. There is certainly a chance that a small number of non-graduates were present at Brice’s Crossroads.
Of the nearly 12,000 combatants at the Battle of Brice’s Crossroads only three were West Point graduates: Samuel Sturgis ‘46 for the Union and Abraham Buford ‘41 and Hylan Lyon ‘56 for the Confederates. However, the three men would play enormous roles in how the battle was decided. This is a microcosm of the War in general as the roughly one-thousand West Pointers amongst the nearly three-million overall troops from both sides would have an incredibly outsized influence on how the War was fought and who was remembered once it was over.
Figure 6: West Point before the Civil War. Painted by George Catlin c.1827
About the Author:
Graham L. Osborne
BCF President
Graham is a lifelong Civil War enthusiast with a strong track record of collaboration within the “Civil War Community.” A proud Marine Corps veteran from Pittsburgh, PA, he earned his B.A. in History from Dartmouth College. He has lived near key Civil War sites, including the Union siege lines at Vicksburg and the heart of the Brice’s Crossroads Battlefield.
Graham has lectured at the Vicksburg National Military Park Winter Lecture Series, spoken on Civil War topics for various organizations, and volunteers as a tour guide at Brice’s Crossroads. Now residing in North Mississippi, he enjoys sharing the region’s rich Civil War history with his young daughters, Hattie and Bonnie.
Sources:
(1) John Waugh, “The U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y.,” American Battlefield Trust, May 6, 2022, https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/us-military-academy-west-point-ny#:~:text=In%20the%20Civil%20War%2C%20217,of%20all%20graduates%20becoming%20casualties.
(2) George Cullum, “Cullum’s Register,” George W. Cullum’s Biographical Register of the Officers and Graduates of the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, since its establishment in 1802, accessed September 23, 2024, https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/America/United_States/Army/USMA/Cullums_Register/home.html.
(3) “West Point Officers in the Civil War – Class of 1846,” The Civil War in the East, July 11, 2023, https://civilwarintheeast.com/west-point-officers-in-the-civil-war/class-of-1846/.
(4) Dick Crews, “West Point in the Civil War,” The Cleveland Civil War Roundtable, June 15, 2021, https://www.clevelandcivilwarroundtable.com/west-point-in-the-civil-war/.
(5) Edward M. Coffman “MEMOIRS OF HYLAN B. LYON BRIGADIER GENERAL, C.S.A.” Tennessee Historical Quarterly 18, no. 1 (1959): 35–53. http://www.jstor.org/stable/42621748.
(6) “West Point Officers in the Civil War – Class of 1856.” The Civil War in the East, July 11, 2023, https://civilwarintheeast.com/west-point-officers-in-the-civil-war/class-of-1856/.