Collierville’s location on the Memphis and Charleston Railroad made it strategically important throughout the CivilWar. Frequently occupied by Union forces, the town found itself in the gun sights of Confederate cavalrymen intent on severing Federal lines of communication and supply. On October 11, 1863, about 3,000 Confederate cavalrymen and artillerists under Gen. James R. Chalmers drove north and attacked Union Col. DeWitt Clinton Anthony’s 600 men of the 66th Indiana Infantry, which was camped along the railroad.
