Paris TN

Today is a small battle of the war. Hardly impacted the course of the war at all except for the lives of the men who were killed or wounded here. The battle of Paris, Tennessee. Paris, Tennessee is about 25 southwest of Fort Henry. After the fall of Fort Henry the Union sent probes inland to find the Confederates. These scouting operations would reveal if a Confederate army was moving up to attack Fort Henry. This was not the case so all it revealed was scattered Confederate units, mainly cavalry but not always. The Confederates are in the area to watch the Federals and see what their next move will be.

I have a book that says where every Tennessee state historical marker is, I was in the area, so I made a side trip to the marker. As the marker says this was a small battle, it doesn't say how many men the Federals had but they got the short end of the battle, losing 60-80 men to the Confederates' 20. But on another website it says "On March 11, 1862, four companies and a battery of artillery consisting of 500 men attacked the Confederate encampment which numbered 400 soldiers. After this "duel between artillery and Enfield rifles" had gone on for 35 minutes, the Federals retreated back toward Paris Landing. The Battle of Paris ended with 20 Confederates killed or wounded and left the Federals with four killed, five wounded and one captured." Those are much different numbers, and for a fight involving 500 men per side they seem more believable.

On this ridge on March 11, 1862, 450 Confederate troops under the command of Major H. Clay King, 1st Kentucky Battalion, Cavalry, and Stack's and McCutchan's unattached Tennessee Companies were attacked by Federal troops from Fort Henry. 20 Confederates and 60 to 80 Federals were killed or wounded before the Federals withdrew.

The marker is located on Highway 54 west of Paris just east of the intersection of 54 and Crutchfield Lane. If you look at the street view on google maps you can see the marker, you can't read it but you can see it. If I had a camera with GPS built in, or traveled with a GPS, I'd be able to load this information onto the Historical Marker Database, alas I don't. Guess I need to buy a new camera and make a trip back there. :)