Sculpted by Gary Casteel
 
1863 Signed and Numbered Limited Edition Monument Replicas
 
The 114th Illinois Volunteer Infantry was organized in the months of July and August, and mustered into service at Camp Butler, Springfield, Illinois on September 18, 1862.  Even though the 114th was only involved in a few of the major battles of the Western theater during the Civil War, one of its significant battles was the Battle of Brice's Crossroads, also known as the Battle of Tishomingo Creek or the Battle of Guntown, on Friday, June 10, 1864.  At Brice’s Crossroads, located near Baldwyn, Mississippi, an expedition of Union soldiers was badly beaten by one of the Confederacy’s best generals, Nathan Bedford Forrest.  
 
During the four-month Atlanta Campaign, and with supply lines extended back to Nashville, Tennessee, Gen. William T. Sherman grew concerned the brazen Forrest might move his Confederate cavalry force out of North Mississippi into Middle Tennessee, strike the supply lines, and perhaps jeopardize the entire Federal effort.  Therefore, in late May of 1864, Sherman ordered Brig. Gen.  Samuel D. Sturgis out of Memphis and into North Mississippi with a force of just over 8,000 men (4,800 infantry—including the 114th--and 3,300 cavalry).  Sturgis's mission was to keep Forrest occupied and, if possible, destroy the Confederate cavalry force of 3,500 that Forrest commanded. 
 
At 9:45 a.m., on June 10, a brigade of Gen. Benjamin H. Grierson's Cavalry Division reached Brice's Crossroads.  The battle began around 10:30 a.m. when the Confederates performed a stalling operation with a brigade of their own.  Forrest ordered the rest of his cavalry to converge around the crossroads.  The remainder of the Federal cavalry arrived in support, but a strong Confederate assault soon pushed them back at 11:30 a.m., when the balance of Forrest's Cavalry Corps arrived.  Grierson called for infantry support and Sturgis obliged. 
 
The Federal line, initially bolstered by the infantry, briefly seized the momentum and attacked the Confederate left flank, but Forrest launched an attack from his extreme right and left wings, before the rest of the Federal infantry could take the field.  Forrest commanded his field artillery to unlimber, unprotected, only yards from the Federal line, and to shred their troops with canister.  The massive damage caused Sturgis to reorder his line in a tighter semicircle around Brice's Crossroads, facing east.  The 114th was in the thick of the fighting in the Union center, and although other regiments around them broke and ran, the 114th did not fall back until the rest of the Union army retreated around 3:30 p.m.  Sturgis' forces fled wildly, pursued across six counties on their return to Memphis before the exhausted Confederate attackers retired. 
 
The battle was a victory for the Confederates.  Forrest inflicted heavy casualties on the Federal force and captured more than 1,600 prisoners of war, 18 artillery pieces, and wagons loaded with supplies.  When Sturgis finally reached Memphis, he asked to be relieved of his command.
 
The 114th lost most of its killed in action at this battle—of the 397 soldiers on the unit’s rolls by then, 265 were listed as killed, wounded, or missing after the battle.  A number of 114th soldiers struggled through swamps for days, living on blackberries and tree bark, to evade Confederates tracking them with dogs and return to Union lines.  Most of those who were unfortunate enough to be captured were sent to the infamous Confederate prison camp at Andersonville, Georgia.
 
The monument was dedicated on June 9, 2019.