Saturday, December 20, 1862

Confederate General Earl Van Dorn led a cavalry force of 3,500 into Holly Springs today, surprising the Federal forces there.  Very few soldiers died, but 1,500 Union soldiers were captured and then quickly paroled.  However, the destruction of supplies was massive.

Fires lit the skies and smoke clogged the air. Thousands of bales of cotton, intended for sale to finance Grant’s army, were burned.  Railroad cars packed with bacon was torched, and great pools of fat spread out from the carnage.  Estimates at the time set the damages at $1 million for the loss of medical supplies alone.

These supplies at the Holly Springs depot were what Grant intended to use for his cooperating assault on Vicksburg.