... 20,000 men, besides a brigade of cavalry 3,700 strong, after repairing the old Mississipi Central Railroad from Grand Junction to the Tallahatchie river, moved to that point, near the little town of Waterford , which is some fifteen miles north of Oxford. General Chalmers was instructed to impress every able-bodied negro in the country, fortify the south bank of the river and make the best possible defe...