Appalachian History
What happened
At daybreak on April 30, 1863, Union Col. Abel D. Streight’s provisional brigade was pushing east along Sand Mountain when Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest’s pursuing cavalry struck the column’s rear at Day’s Gap in present-day Cullman County. The Federals stood, repulsed the first assaults, and kept moving. Through that afternoon and evening the running fight rolled south to Crooked Creek, then to a ridge called Hog Mountain, where a hard engagement continued until about 10 p.m. Streight disengaged under cover of darkness and pressed on toward Blountsville and Gadsden.
Why it happened
The clash grew out of a raid ordered by Maj. Gen. William S. Rosecrans. His aim was simple and bold: mount a light force, ride across North Alabama into northwest Georgia, and cut the Western & Atlantic Railroad that supplied Braxton Bragg’s army. Rosecrans outlined the objective and loose operating scheme in early May reports, noting that Streight was to push rapidly, destroy Confederate depots and factories where feasible, and avoid side ventures that imperiled the return. The Day’s Gap fight came when Forrest’s fast-moving troopers finally overtook the raiders on Sand Mountain.
Who fought here
Streight’s “Lightning Mule Brigade” comprised about 1,700 men from the 51st and 73rd Indiana, 3rd Ohio, 80th Illinois, and two companies of the 1st Middle Tennessee Cavalry, many riding mules scrounged along the route. Forrest’s command, smaller in number but better mounted, shadowed and struck whenever terrain offered an opening. Streight’s own official report, compiled from regiment returns after his captivity, lists the constituent regiments and describes the column’s march from Nashville to Eastport, then across North Alabama toward Day’s Gap.
The fight on Sand Mountain
Streight bivouacked at Day’s Gap on April 29, then moved out before dawn on the 30th. Not two miles down the road, “the rear guard had been attacked,” and he quickly learned the pass could be flanked by other gaps. He ordered the rear to hold while the head of the column gained open high ground on the mountain. After beating back Forrest’s first push, the Federals resumed the march. Skirmishing flared again at Crooked Creek about ten miles south, and by late afternoon the two sides were hotly engaged on Hog Mountain. Streight reports that his men used two captured Confederate guns and two mountain howitzers to repulse repeated charges before slipping away that night.
Results and costs
By the National Park Service accounting, Day’s Gap was a tactical Union victory and the largest stand-up fight of Streight’s Raid. Estimated casualties for the Day’s Gap action are about 88 total, roughly 23 Union and 65 Confederate. Yet victory on the ridge did not change the operational balance. Forrest kept up the pressure through Blountsville on May 1 and across Black Creek at Gadsden on May 2, culminating in Streight’s surrender near Cedar Bluff on May 3.
Voices from the ranks
Primary records from the Hoosier regiments echo the official reports. The 73rd Indiana’s postwar letter book notes “heavy engagements at Day’s Gap, Crooked Creek, and Blount’s Farm” between April 30 and May 2, with the death of Col. Gilbert Hathaway soon after. The regiment’s 1909 history lists men “killed at Day’s Gap, Ala., April 30, 1863,” and surviving service papers for Pvt. Adrian V. H. Foote record “Wounded at Days Gap Alabama.” These snippets help fix the severity of the running fight across Sand Mountain.
What Day’s Gap meant
Day’s Gap showed the raiders could stand and win a sharp fight when anchored on good ground. It also showed why the raid was doomed. Streight’s animals were inferior and failing, ammunition and food were tight, and Forrest’s better-mounted force exploited the broken ridges and gaps to keep contact. As the Encyclopedia of Alabama summarizes, Day’s Gap was the opening of a chain of clashes that bled the raiders of time, endurance, and resources, setting conditions for Forrest’s encirclement and Streight’s capitulation at Cedar Bluff. Confederate authorities later issued formal thanks to Forrest and his command for the campaign that began with these actions.
Visiting the ground today
The Day’s Gap battlefield area has seen modern change, yet portions retain interpretive value. The National Park Service classifies Day’s Gap as site AL001 and lists it as a Union victory connected to the larger Streight’s Raid story. The American Battlefield Trust provides a concise field overview and visitor guidance, and nearby the Crooked Creek Civil War Museum interprets the April 30 skirmish on preserved ground.
Sources and further reading
Primary sources
Official Records of the War of the Rebellion, Series I, Vol. XXIII, Part I, “Reports.”
— Maj. Gen. William S. Rosecrans, report from Murfreesborough, May 9, 1863, framing the expedition’s object and method. The Portal to Texas History
— Col. Abel D. Streight, report compiled August 22, 1864, recounting Day’s Gap, Crooked Creek, and Hog Mountain in detail. (Accessible as a clean transcription.) Wikisource
— “Thanks of the Confederate Congress to Gen. Nathan B. Forrest and his command” noted among the volume’s items and reflected in contemporary published lists of joint resolutions. The Portal to Texas History+1
73rd Indiana Infantry Regiment Letter Book, 1862–1867, Indiana Historical Society. Notes the “heavy engagements” on April 30–May 2. Indiana Historical Society
History of the Seventy-Third Indiana Volunteers (1909). Regimental roster entries record men killed at Day’s Gap on April 30, 1863. Internet Archive
Adrian V. H. Foote Papers, National Park Service, STRI. Service notations state “Wounded at Days Gap Alabama.” National Park Service
Atlas to Accompany the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies (1891). Plates covering North Alabama and the routes traversed during Streight’s Raid. Internet Archive
U.S. National Park Service, Civil War Sites Advisory Commission battle summary, AL001 “Day’s Gap.” Concise official overview with result and context. National Park Service
American Battlefield Trust, “Day’s Gap: Battle Facts & Summary” and “Visit Day’s Gap Battlefield.” Clear summaries and visitor information. American Battlefield Trust+1
Encyclopedia of Alabama, “Streight’s Raid.” Scholarly context placing Day’s Gap within the full raid. Updated September 3, 2025. Encyclopedia of Alabama
NPS/ABPP, Update to the Civil War Sites Advisory Commission Report: Alabama. Preservation status and integrity notes for AL001. NPS History
Robert L. Willett, The Lightning Mule Brigade: Abel Streight’s 1863 Raid into Alabama (Guild Press). Modern monograph on the raid.