On December 27, 1862, the Fourth Michigan Cavalry joined Col. William B. Hazen’s Union brigade in a strike to seize the bridge across Stewarts Creek on the Jefferson Pike. The Michigan troopers quickly pushed the detachment of the 51 st Alabama Partisan Rangers from the bridge and then withstood several counterattacks by Gen. Joseph Wheeler’s cavalry brigade until the arrival of Hazen’s infantry and artillery sealed Union control of the crossing. The seizure of the Jefferson Pike bridge and another bridge across Stewart’s Creek on the Nashville (Murfreesboro) Pike to the south secured two key crossings of a significant barrier for he Left Wing of the Union army. Control of the bridges would allow this portion of the army to move swiftly towards Murfreesboro without the risks accompanying fording a flooded watercourse.
Hartsville
On December 7, 1862 Confederate cavalry commanded by Col. John Hunt Morgan conducted a surprise attack on the Union garrison