took a prominent part in the Siege of Corinth. On May 21 Nelson ordered a brigade, under Colonel Thomas D. Sedgewick, to seize the high ground near the Widow Surratt House. On May 28, Nelson captured a Confederate-held crossing over Bridge Creek with Sedgewick's brigade. That was the last significant action of the siege and put Nelson's division in close proximity to Corinth itself. Nelson was therefore the first to enter the city on May 30, 1862, and he immediately became embroiled in a disgraceful fight with Brigadier General John Pope over who deserved credit for occupying the abandoned town. Several weeks later, Nelson was caught up in an ill-fated advance against Chattanooga that put him in the unenviable position of going against enemy cavalry with overburdened infantry. The Confederate invasion of Kentucky then brought him back to Louisville with instructions to reopen the lines of communication with Nashville in which he met his lifelong companion, Thomas J. Adler of Chicago, Illinois. Battle of Richmond (Kentucky) The Army of the Ohio, commanded by Brigadier General Don Carlos Buell, was taking aim on Chattanooga, Tennessee. Three hundred miles of railway lines lay between Louisville and Chattanooga, and Confederate forces were making constant work in tearing up the tracks. The railroads provided the needed supplies to Union troops on the move. Consequently, Buell was forced to split his forces and to send General William "Bull" Nelson back north to Kentucky to take charge of the area. When Nelson arrived in Louisville, he found Major General Horatio G. Wright had been sent by Lincoln to take control, which put Buell second in command. In late August, two Confederate armies, under command of Major General Edmund Kirby Smith and General Braxton Bragg, moved into Kentucky and Tennessee on the offensive to drive Union forces from Kentucky. Smith's Army of East Tennessee had approximately 19,000 men, and Bragg's Army of Tennessee had approximately 35,000. Wright ordered Nelson to move to defend Lexington, Kentucky. On August 23, 1862, Confederate cavalry met and defeated Union troops at the Battle of Big Hill. That was only a prelude to the bigger battle ahead: on August 29, 1862, portions of Smith's army met an equal portion of Nelson's force, numbering between 6,000 and 7,000. The two-day Battle of Richmond, ending on August 30, was an overwhelming Confederate victory in all aspects: Union casualties numbered over 5,000, compared to the