During the early days of October 1863 Confederate cavalry raiders actively harassed Union forces throughout the South. Confederate cavalry under General Joseph Wheeler, having previous destroyed a Union supply train, skirmished near Readyville, Tennessee and then destroyed an important railroad bridge over Stone’s River near Murfreesboro, temporarily disrupting the Union supply line to its troops in Chattanooga.
A second Confederate raid led by General James Chalmers skirmished with Union forces near New Albany, Mississippi. Yet another Confederate raid led by General Joseph Shelby fought Federal forces at both Stockton and Greenfield, Missouri.
These raids, each of several days duration, were designed to disrupt enemy supply lines, capture Federal troops, and confuse the Union military. As such, they proved only temporarily successful in blunting the Union’s overall attack against the Southern homeland.