On January 3, 1863 Union forces consisting of the 2nd East Tennessee Cavalry and the 6 th Tennessee Infantry were in a line of march on the Murfreesboro Pike where they engaged Confederate cavalry in a small skirmish at Cox’s Hill (Insane Asylum). After repulsing a Confederate attack the Union column advanced to La Vergne in support of a supply wagon train.
Columbia
Advancing into Tennessee from Florence, Alabama the Confederate Army of Tennessee (Lieut. Gen. John Bell Hood) created a diversion at Columbia, Tennessee