Battle of Tebbs Bend The Battle of Tebbs ' Bend ( or Tebbs Bend or Green River ) was fought on July 4 , 1863 , near the Green River in Taylor County , Kentucky during Morgan ' s Raid in the American Civil War . Despite being badly outnumbered , elements of the Union army thwarted repeated attacks by Confederate Brig . Gen . John Hunt Morgan ' s dismounted cavalry . Overview . General Morgan and his 2 , 460 handpicked Confederate cavalrymen rode west from Sparta in middle Tennessee on June 11 , 1863 , intending to divert the attention of the Union Army of the Ohio from Southern forces in the state . Morgan moved northward on June 23 , bound for Kentucky . On the night of July 2 , he crossed the rain - swollen Cumberland River and advanced into Kentucky , proceeding as far as Cane Valley , camping between Campbellsville and Columbia . The next day , he planned to cross the Green River at Tebbs ' Bend , which was guarded by five companies of the 25th Michigan Infantry ( approximately 200 men under Col . Orlando H . Moore ) . Moore had erected earthworks in the woods near the river crossing , guarded by a line of abatis of felled trees and several forward rifle pits . His goal was to protect the Lebanon - Campbellsville - Columbia Turnpike , a vital supply line and the easiest route for Morgan to take to reach Louisville . Morgan divided his force , sending the bulk of his cavalry to flank the small garrison and cut off their avenue of retreat . At sunrise on July 4 , Union pickets opened fire on approaching enemy cavalrymen . Soon , Morgan ' s artillery answered , wounding two Union soldiers in the rifle pits . About 7 a . m . , Morgan called a cease fire and sent forward three officers under a flag of truce , demanding that Moore surrender , wishing to avoid further bloodshed . However , the Union commander refused and firing resumed . Sharpshooters soon silenced Morgan ' s artillery battery of four guns . Morgan sent forward two dismounted regiments under Col . Adam R . Johnson , about 400 troopers , who easily overran the advanced rifle pits . However , the attack stalled under heavy fire from Federals concealed behind the abatis . Morgan then sent in the 5th Kentucky Cavalry from Col . Basil W . Duke ' s brigade to support Johnson . Over a three - hour period , Morgan pushed forward a total of eight separate attacks , with each one being repulsed , including the flanking column . Finally acknowledging that he could not seize the fortifications , Morgan sent another delegation under a flag of truce to Colonel Moore to request permission to collect his wounded and bury his dead . That task completed , Morgan withdrew southward along the bluffs of the Green River , finally crossing the bend at Johnson Ford and heading back towards Campbellsville . The next day , he would fight again at the Battle of Lebanon . Casualties . Morgan lost 35 killed and 45 wounded , while Moore counted 6 killed and 23 wounded . Of significance , among Morgan ' s casualties were 24 experienced officers , who were a particular target of the Michigan sharpshooters . A Confederate Monument which says , " They have not been forgotten by their countrymen , " was erected at the Tebbs ' Bend Battlefield in 1872 . In 1997 , the site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places ; the battlefield itself was listed in 1999 . 150th anniversary . On June 8 , 2013 , some two hundred persons attended a re - enactment of the battle of Tebbs Bend to observe the 150th anniversary of the fighting . A new marker dedicated to Union Army Private Frank Voss of Michigan was unveiled , with some of his descendants present for the occasion . The ceremony was planned by historian Betty Jane Gorin - Smith and other members of the Tebbs Bend Battlefield Association , including its president , Cheryl Tillery . " We are here to remember those men who gave the full measure of devotion for causes in which they sincerely believed , " said Gorin - Smith . General Morgan asked for a truce so that the Confederates could bring in the injured and dead , who were interred in a mass grave . " It is said that the blood ran down through the yard into the turnpike road , " Gorin - Smith recalled . Only the Confederate cemetery remains at Tebbs Bend ; the bodies of Union soldiers were buried near the Green River stockade and later removed to the Lebanon National Cemetery in Lebanon , Kentucky . Gorin - Smith read a roll call of the dead buried in the cemetery and acknowledged the unknown soldiers who perished there as well . According to century - old newspaper clipping , on June 3 , 1911 , some four thousand attended a 48th anniversary remembrance of the battle . This particular gathering was reportedly the largest in the history of the Green River Valley .