On June 10, 1864, following a stubborn defense at Tishomingo Creek Bridge, the 55th USCI, 59th USCI, and a two-gun section of Battery F of the 2nd USCLA, organized the first rear-guard action along Holland Ridge to block the Confederate advance.  In a fierce thirty-minute fight, the black soldiers held their ground and allowed the main body of Union troops, and a remnant of the wagon train, to retreat toward Ripley, Mississippi.

Brigade Commander Colonel Edward Bouton ordered Co. F, 2nd U.S. Colored Light Artillery to fire rounds over the heads of the retreating Union soldiers to rain shrapnel upon the oncoming Confederates. After the retreating Union troops cleared the field, USCLA soldiers lowered their guns and swept the field with canister, temporarily halting the Confederate advance. The combatants closed to within one-hundred yards of each other engaging in close-quarter combat. However, the African Americans stood firm until the Confederates overwhelmed both of their flanks with concentrated artillery fire.

The USCT Brigade maintained an organized fighting retreat to White House Ridge where they joined Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, and Ohio for a final stand.