Nashville 1864 by Mark Lardas & Adam Hook

Author:Mark Lardas & Adam Hook
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781472819840
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Published: 2017-06-26T04:00:00+00:00

It was only 50 miles from Corinth to Tuscumbia. Heavy rains were now falling across Tennessee and northern Mississippi and Alabama, turning roads into muddy bogs. His men had spent two weeks in the saddle, and although victorious, were also tired. Forrest did not reach Tuscumbia until the 14th, and the bulk of his forces slogged in over the next two days.

Hood commanded the Army of Tennessee, but P. G. T. Beauregard was Hood’s superior, as theater commander. In a meeting with Beauregard in Gadsden, Alabama, Beauregard approved Hood’s campaign plan, but left Hood with only one cavalry division, detaching the rest. (Author’s collection)

Forrest’s raid was a body blow to the Union. Total losses to the Union were estimated at $2,200,000 – an immense sum in 1864. The supply line running from Johnsonville to Nashville was a key one. Before the war, the Nashville and Northwestern only ran from Nashville to Kingston Springs. It had been pushed to Johnsonville to simplify supplying Nashville. While the Cumberland was navigable at Nashville, it was subject to low water, especially in the fall and early winter. Taking cargos down the Tennessee to Johnsonville rather than down the Cumberland to Nashville meant a faster trip, with less risk of grounding. Forrest’s raid highlighted the route’s vulnerability.

General Thomas was so concerned about keeping Johnsonville secure that on November 4, he decided to send the XXIII Corps, which had been assigned to his control by Sherman, to Johnsonville. It was still in Georgia on that day. His orders routed the Corps to Johnsonville through Pulaski, Tennessee. XXIII Corps had not finished its movement to Johnsonville by the time Hood moved north into Tennessee. Rather, one division had only reached Pulaski, while the second covered places, such as Columbia, that Hood needed to take from the Union in order to divide Thomas’s forces.

It was one of the most unintended and significant strategic consequences of Forrest’s raid. Had the raid not occurred, the XXIII Corps might still have been in Georgia, allowing Hood to divide the Union Army and destroy its component garrisons in detail. Instead, XXIII Corps was perfectly positioned to respond to Hood’s invasion. Forrest’s success – in a raid urged by Hood – helped doom Hood’s invasion.

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