Franklin–Nashville campaign
Campaign during the American Civil War / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Franklin–Nashville campaign, also known as Hood's Tennessee campaign, was a series of battles in the Western Theater, conducted from September 18 to December 27, 1864,[5][6] in Alabama, Tennessee, and northwestern Georgia during the American Civil War.
Franklin–Nashville campaign | |||||||
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Part of the American Civil War | |||||||
Union army at Nashville, Tennessee, December, 1864 | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
United States (Union) | Confederate States | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
George H. Thomas John Schofield | John Bell Hood | ||||||
Units involved | |||||||
Army of the Cumberland Army of the Ohio | Army of Tennessee | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
6,598 (725 KIA, 4,424 WIA, 1,445 MIA/POW) ~7000 |
15,097 (2,277 KIA, 8,017 WIA, 4,742 MIA/POW) ~10000 (not including deserters, missing, and captured) |
The Confederate Army of Tennessee under Lieutenant General (Lt. Gen.) John Bell Hood drove north from Atlanta, threatening Major General (Maj. Gen.) William T. Sherman's lines of communications and Middle Tennessee. After a brief attempt to pursue Hood, Sherman returned to Atlanta and began his March to the Sea, leaving Union forces under Maj. Gen. George H. Thomas to deal with Hood's threat.
Hood hoped to defeat the Union force under Maj. Gen. John Schofield before it could converge with Thomas's army and attempted to do so at the Battle of Spring Hill on Tuesday, November 29, but poorly coordinated Confederate attacks combined with effective U.S. forces leadership allowed Schofield to escape.[7] The following day, Hood launched a series of futile frontal assaults against Schofield's field fortifications in the Battle of Franklin, suffering heavy casualties; Schofield withdrew his force and successfully linked up with Thomas in Nashville, Tennessee. On December 15–16, Thomas's combined army attacked Hood's depleted army and routed it in the Battle of Nashville, sending it in retreat to Tupelo, Mississippi. Hood resigned his commission shortly thereafter and the Army of Tennessee ceased to exist as an effective fighting force.