Franklin, TN II

[The Battle of Franklin by Kurz and Allison - Courtesy of Wikipedia]

Date(s): November 30, 1864

Location: Please click on link below for map.

Campaign(s): Franklin-Nashville Campaign [1864]

Battles in Campaign:

• Allatoona, GA - October 5, 1864 B

• Decatur, AL - October 26-29, 1864 C¹  

• Johnsonville, TN - November 4-5, 1864 B

• Columbia, TN - November 24 [24-29], 1864 C¹

• Spring Hill, TN - November 29, 1864 B

• Franklin, TN - November 30, 1864 A

• Murfreesboro, TN II - December 5-7, 1864 D¹

• Nashville, TN - December 15-16, 1864 A

Situation:

• At the Battle of Spring Hill the Confederate Army of Tennessee, commanded by Lt. Gen. John Bell Hood, had failed to destroy part of the Union force in Tennessee, allowing the Union Army of the Ohio, commanded by Maj. Gen. John M. Schofield, to escape.

• Hood had hoped to destroy Schofield before he could link up with the Army of the Cumberland, commanded by Maj. Gen. George Henry Thomas, farther north in Nashville, Tennessee.

• That combined Union force would be over 60,000 men, almost twice as large as Hood's army.

• At dawn November 30th, Hood's forces marched north from Spring Hill, Tennessee in pursuit of fleeing Federal forces. 

• Hood had approximately 38,000 men to Schofield's 32,000.

• General Hood was determined to destroy the Union Army before it reached Nashville.

Commanders:

• Union: Maj. Gen. John M. Schofield

• Confederate: Gen. John B. Hood

Principal Forces:

• Union: IV and XXIII Army Corps (Army of the Ohio and Cumberland) 22,000 infantry and 5,000 cavalry

• Confederate: Army of Tennessee 20,085 infantry and 5,000 cavalry

Description:

• After a forced march north from Spring Hill, Schofield arrived in Franklin at about 6:00 a.m and  immediately began preparing strong defensive positions around breastworks originally constructed for the First Battle of Franklin in 1863.

• The defensive line formed approximately a semicircle around the city, from northwest to southeast; the other half of the semicircle was the Harpeth River.

• Schofield's decision to defend at Franklin with his back to a river was because he had insufficient pontoon bridges available to cross the river and he needed time to repair the permanent bridges.

• By noon the Union line was ready.

• Hood's army arrived at 3:00 p.m. and he ordered a frontal assault against the  strongly entrenched Union forces behind three lines of breastworks.

• The Confederate attacks involved 20,000 troops that marched into the guns across two miles and conducted seventeen distinct assaults lasting over five hours.

• Schofield ordered an overnight withdrawal to Nashville and the Union army reached  Nashville on December 1st.

Photo Gallery:²

Map of the Battle of Franklin	The Carter House - Focal Point of the Battle	Captain Theodorick Carter	Bate's Division
	Brown's Division	Carter House Outbuildings	Carter House Outbuildings
Carter House Outbuildings	Carter House Outbuildings	Back of Carter House	Cleburne's Division
Placement of Cleburne's Division by the Carter House	Description of Carter House	Description of the Federal Garrison at Fort Granger	Earthen works at Fort Granger
Ditch and Outer Defenses at Fort Granger	Fort Granger's "Sally Port"	Fort Granger's History and Diagram of Fort	Fort Granger's Inner Defenses
The Cavalier		Front of Carter House	Opdycke's Tigers

Classification³: A

Casualties⁴:

• Union: 2,326

• Confederate: 6,261

Results: Union Victory

Battlefield Websites:

• The Battle of Franklin - Carter-House.org

• Battle of Franklin II - Wikipedia

Recommended Resources:

¹ National Park Service summary.

² Please click on the image to enlarge it. You may copy the images if you include the following note and link with each image: "Courtesy of civil-war-journeys.org."

³ Classification:

• A - having a decisive influence on a campaign and a direct impact on the course of the war

• B - having a direct and decisive influence on their campaign

• C - having observable influence on the outcome of a campaign

• D - having a limited influence on the outcome of their campaign or operation but achieving or affecting important local objectives

⁴ Casualties are someone killed, injured, wounded, captured or missing.

Revised 07/10/2008