Infantry at Newport - August 7, 1861

A large Federal cavalry force under Brigadier General Frank Wolford took Newport on August 4th, finally driving off Colonel Joseph Wheeler's 1st Tennessee Cavalry. On August 7th, Wolford received news of an advance on Newport from the south, along the Old Stage Road. He deployed his forces around the Davis House. This is the same position that some of the cavalry present defended against an Attack on Newport on July 5th, when it was taken by Wheeler and Brigadier General Nathan Forrest. Forrest was seriously wounded later in the campaign and is no longer on the field.

The 1st Tennessee Cavalry has been battling over Newport with elements of the 1st and 2nd Kentucky Cavalry from the start of the Grand Campaign. The action on on August 7th brings a new element to the fight for control of the town: Infantry.