On March 22, Union Gen. James H. Wilson started from his base in southern Tennessee to conquer it with two divisions of cavalry, 13,500 veteran troops armed with Spencer carbines, three batteries of horse artillery, and a supply train of 250 wagons. His only obstacle would be the son of a poverty-stricken backwoods blacksmith, Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest, who had fewer than 8,000 men. On April 1, Wilson attacked and overran Forrest's inexperienced troops in the Battle of Ebenezer Church. Forrest fell back 18 miles to Selma , where he put all his available men- 3,000 untried militiamen, spread very thinly in the 3.5 miles of earthworks surrounding the city, where these live oaks stand.