The Tennessee State Archives at Nashville has on file hundreds, if not thousands, of personal accounts of the period, some of them priceless, like old Nimrod Porter’s “River of Fire” declaration and William Pollard’s recollections of General Walthall appraising his aide’s horse in the midst of battle. Many of these are not classified and simply must be scrounged out by hours at the microfilm projector. Other state archives contain similar jewels, such as Uncle Wiley Howard’s pathetic account of the death and burial of his owner, General States Rights Gist, at Franklin, which is available in the Marjorie Adams Gist Papers at the South Carolina Library at the University in Columbia.
For information on technical, tactical, strategic, and other such material respecting the campaign, I relied on a wealth of sources, many already mentioned. Particularly insightful were Archer Jones’s Civil War Command and Strategy: The Process of Victory and Defeat and Richard McMurry’s Two Great Rebel Armies. Grady McWhiney and Perry Jamison’s Attack and Die: Civil War Military Tactics and the Southern Heritage is an extraordinary and professional look at why men did what they did. As well, Larry Daniel’s Cannoneers in Gray: The Field Artillery of the Army of Tennessee is unparalleled in its comprehension of the “long arm” of the service. Alan Axelrod’s The War Between the Spies: A History of Espionage During the American Civil War was useful for the light it shed on that dark subject. For insight into the history of the U.S. Colored Troops, Joseph Glatthaar’s Forged in Battle: The Civil War Alliance of Black Soldiers and White Officers is a monument of its type.
For background on the city of Nashville and the civilian and political conditions in Tennessee during the period, an excellent book by Peter Maslowski, Treason Must Be Made Odious: Military Occupation and Wartime Reconstruction in Nashville, Tennessee, 1862—1865, is a must. Likewise, Jim Hoobler’s Cities Under the Gun and Steven Ashe’s Middle Tennessee Transformed: War and Peace in the Upper South were both very useful. For contemporary newspaper accounts I relied in part on I. William Hill and John Stepped’s Mirror of War: The Washington Star Reports the Civil War, The American Civil War: Extracts of the Times (London Times), and J. Cutler Andrews’s The North Reports the Civil War.
Respecting the Spring Hill affair, probably the best summarization was developed by Judge J. P. Young, who studied events surrounding the episode for years, then published his findings in the Memphis Scimitar in 1892; they were also later published in The Confederate Veteran. But Judge Young never quite solved the mystery.
With the exception of a few offhand mentions in Mrs. Burton Harrison’s Recollections, Grave and Gray, the only source of information on Hood’s romance with Sally Buck Preston is gleaned from the diaries of Mary Chesnut, of which there are several versions: Isabella Martin and Myrta Avary’s A Diary from Dixie, C. Van Woodward and Elisabeth Muhlenfeld’s The Private Mary Chesnut, and finally Woodward’s prize-winning Mary Chesnut’s Civil War. This last is unquestionably the most comprehensive and thorough. Mary Chesnut kept these remarkable diaries between 1861 and 1865, but the only originals that survived were from the individual years 1861 and 1865. However, Woodward is convinced that Mrs. Chesnut’s entries for the missing years—which include the period of Hood’s romance with Buck—were reconstructed by Mrs. Chesnut from the originals and are therefore pretty accurate accounts.
To all of the above I owe a profound debt of gratitude.
Index
Adams, Charles Francis, Jr., 9
Adams, General John, 202–03, 212–13, 222, 267
Advance and Retreat (Hood), 290
Alexander, Colonel Porter, 35
Allatoona, battle of, 66–70
Andersonville prison camp, 77, 291
Antietam, battle of, 31–34, 137, 164, 171
Armstrong, Frank, 129
Army of Northern Virginia, 12, 39–42, 158
Army of Tennessee (Confederate), 3, 9, 14, 16–25, 27, 42, 48–63, 66–70, 73–81, 86, 118–20
after fall of Atlanta, 59–67
battle of Allatoona, 66–70
battle of Atlanta, 26, 49–54
at Chickamauga, 43–45, 79–80
Hood assumes command of, 10, 22–25
Johnston reinstated to command of, 274, 276
last days of, 276, 277
at Shiloh, 83–85
Spring Hill affair, see Spring Hill affair
Tennessee campaign, 97–104, 114, 123–31, 133–34, 156–273
battle of Franklin, 159–219
battle of Nashville, 228–65
after battle of Nashville, 266–73
soldiers’ accounts of march to Tennessee, 124–26
Army of the Cumberland, 17, 67, 93, 94, 96, 114, 118–20
Army of the Ohio, 17, 67, 84, 94, 96
Army of the Potomac, 12, 19
Army of the Tennessee (Union), 17–25, 46, 47, 49–58, 64, 67, 75–77, 86–92, 94–96
battle of Allatoona, 66–70
battle of Atlanta, 49–54
battle of Franklin, 159–207
battle of Nashville, 228–65
after battle of Nashville, 266–73
cavalry of, 131–32, 140–41, 161, 171, 176, 249, 255–57, 260, 264–67, 270–72, 289, 239–44
division of command of, 272–73
espionage and, 128
march to Franklin, 159–60
at Shiloh, 83–85
Spring Hill and, see Spring Hill affair
Atlanta, Georgia, 59, 71
battle of Atlanta, 2, 6, 49–54, 120, 128, 134, 139, 151, 164, 166, 239
burning of, 113
evacuation of civil population of, 54, 57, 59
Sherman’s drive on, 2, 6, 14–25
Attritive warfare, 21
Baker, Lieutenant Colonel Edward A., 203
Baldwin, Captain Aaron, 199
Banks, Captain Robert, 219–20
Barksdale, William, 35, 42
Bate, General William Brimage, 129
after Civil War, 285
battle of Franklin and, 167, 169, 172, 173, 196, 203–05, 209
battle of Nashville and, 237, 253–54, 259–62
at Murfreesboro, 230, 236, 237
Spring Hill affair and, 143, 146–47
Beauregard, General Pierre Gustave Toutant, 61, 63, 71, 74–75, 86, 97, 99, 101, 102, 276
battle of Nashville, preparation for, 228, 229
at Shiloh, 84–85
Beauregard, Captain R. T., 254
Belle Meade mansion, 249–50, 285
Benton Smith, General Thomas, 160, 203, 204, 210
at battle of Nashville, 261–62
Blacks:
Cleburne memorandum and, 77–78, 134, 282
Confederacy’s enlistment of, 282
slavery, see Slavery
in Union army, 75–79, 231
battle of Nashville, 242–44, 255
Bliss, Reverend P. P., 69
Booth, John Wilkes, 278
Boyce, Captain Joseph, 125, 156, 166, 177
Boyd, David F., 46–47
Boyer, Captain Joseph, 264–65
Bradford, Mary, 249
Bradley, General Luther, 144, 171
Bragg, General Braxton, 9, 14, 42–45, 93–96, 118, 119
as military advisor, 19–23
Breckenridge, General John C., 108
Brown, General John Calvin, 129
after Civil War, 285
battle of Franklin and, 169, 172–74, 186, 188, 190, 192, 203, 218–19, 222
Spring Hill affair and, 143, 146–49, 151, 155, 157, 285
Buell, General Don Carlos, 84, 85, 117, 118
Buford, Abraham, 175, 176
Bullock, Colonel Robert, 203
Bull Run, battles of, 23, 30–31, 85, 91, 164
Burnside, General Ambrose, 34–36, 86
Callahan, Sergeant Denny, 174
Capers, General Ellison, 149, 182
Carter, Fountain Branch, 160, 163, 178, 210
Carter, General John Carpenter, 191–92, 213, 22
2
Carter, Colonel Moscow, 160
Carter, Sallie, 161, 163, 194
Carter, Captain Theodoric (“Tod”), 160, 204, 210
Casement, Colonel John (“Jack”), 197, 203
Chalmers, General James, 94, 141, 237, 285
battle of Franklin and, 173, 176, 196, 203–05, 209
battle of Nashville and, 229, 242, 249–50, 264, 257–60
Chancellorsville, battle of, 171
Charleston Mercury, 107, 274
Chase, Salmon, 87
Chattanooga, Tennessee, 93–96, 119, 120
battle at, 95–97, 135, 166
Cheairs, Major Nathaniel, 155
Cheatham, General Benjamin Franklin, 50, 51, 61, 118, 125, 129, 156, 219, 268
after Civil War, 284
battle of Franklin and, see Franklin, battle of,
Cheatham and battle of Nashville and, 229, 237, 242–46, 253–54, 263, 265
described, 150–51
Spring Hill affair and, 137, 140, 143–50, 154, 157, 158
Chesnut, Captain John, 287
Chesnut, Mary Boykin, 36–38, 104–08, 122, 123, 130, 174, 286–89
Chickamauga, battle of, 5–6, 9, 17, 23, 43–45, 79–80, 93, 95, 105, 135, 151, 166
Chickasaw Bayou, 88–90
Clark, Carroll, 269
Clayton, General Henry D., 255, 265, 284–85
Cleburne, Major General Patrick, 62, 65, 77, 95, 118
background of, 134–35
battle of Franklin and, 169–70, 172–75, 186–88, 190, 192, 207, 212, 218–19
death of, 188, 212–14, 222
memorandum proposing freedom for slaves who joined the Confederate army, 77–78, 134, 282
Spring Hill affair and, 137, 143–47, 150, 151, 157, 286
Cleburne, Susan Tarleton, 135
Cleveland, Grover, 284
Cobb, General Howell, 282
Cockrell, Brigadier General Francis Marion, 197–98, 222
Cold Harbor, battle of, 9
Coleman, Colonel David, 244
Columbia, Tennessee, 124, 126, 129–30, 136, 138, 269
Confederate armies:
Cleburne memorandum, 77–78, 134, 282
compared to Union armies, 10–12, 17
last days of, 276–77
naming of, 12
officers, loss of, 38–39, 42
at battle of Franklin, 188, 191, 192, 198, 200–03, 206, 212–14, 222, 228
see also specific armies
Confederate Veteran, 285
Conrad, Colonel Joseph, 171, 172, 178, 180, 184, 196, 230–31
Coon, Colonel Datus E., 246
Cooper, Captain James L., 125, 204, 237, 261, 272
Copley, John, 199–200
Corse, Brigadier John M., 66–69, 73
Cox, Major General Jacob, 67, 68, 230, 281
background of, 164
battle of Franklin and, 160, 161, 163–65, 170, 179–80, 204–05, 281
Crittenden, General George, 117
Crook, George, 27, 28
Croxton, General John T., 176, 281
Cumming, Captain Joseph B., 148
Cunningham, Sergeant-major Sumner A., 168, 174, 191
Darby, Dr. John, 36, 37, 105, 108, 122–23
Davidson, Major General John W., 289
Davis, Jefferson, 43, 71, 78, 104, 116, 127, 270, 288, 290
after fall of Atlanta, 59–62, 65
after Tennessee campaign, 274
direction of Confederate army, 19–24, 51, 61–62, 64, 75, 101–03
at end of Civil War, 282–83, 287
enlistment of slaves, 282
Deas, General Zachariah, 205, 245, 247, 248
Dinkins, Lieutenant James, 249–50
Dodge, General Grenville, 98, 101, 226
Drill practice, 12–13
Duck River, 124, 126, 129, 132, 136, 138–40, 268–70
Ector, General Matthew D., 197
battle of Nashville and, 244, 245, 250, 253
Eggleston, E. T., 68, 126
Emancipation Proclamation, 7–8, 76, 77
England, 77–78, 102
Entrenchments (breastworks), 11, 14, 48–49, 53
in battle of Franklin, 164–68, 170, 175, 178, 190–92, 197, 203–06, 216, 217
at battle of Nashville, 230, 254, 259, 264
Hood’s attitude toward, 155, 157, 216, 230, 288
Espionage, 128, 226, 240, 285–86
Evans, General N. G. (“Shanks”), 31
Ewell, General Richard E., 40, 158
Ezra Church, battle of, 51
Farragut, Admiral David G., 63
Featherston, General Winfield S., 201
Figures, Harding, 162–63, 181, 194, 211, 215
Finley, General Jesse J., 203
Forrest, General Nathan Bedford, 21, 60, 73, 76–77, 93, 98–100, 114–15, 125, 161, 232
after Civil War, 283–84
background of, 130–31
battle of Franklin and, 165, 168–69, 175–77, 203, 216–17
after battle of Nashville, 269–71
cavalry corps of, joined with Hood’s army, 103, 104, 130
at Murfreesboro, 230, 236–37, 268, 273, 274
Spring Hill affair and, 137, 140–41, 143, 144, 146, 149, 151–52
surrender of, 283
Fort Granger, 165, 197
Foster, Samuel, 62, 65, 70, 79, 100, 124–26, 218, 237
France, 77–78, 103
Franklin, battle of, 159–207
advance of Confederate troops against Wagner’s men, 178–88, 195–96
aftermath of, 209–20
approach to Franklin, 165
assessing results of, 216–18
Bate and, 167, 169, 172, 173, 196, 203–05, 209
Brown and, 169, 172–74, 186, 188, 190, 192, 203, 218–19, 222
casualties, 192–93, 195, 198–201, 206–14, 218–19, 221–23
Chalmers and, 173, 176, 196, 203–05, 209
Cheatham and, 167, 169, 172–74, 182, 184, 190, 193, 196, 205, 208, 218, 223–24
Cleburne and, 169–70, 172–75, 186–88, 190, 192, 207, 212, 218–19
Cox and, 160, 161, 163–65, 170, 179–80, 204–05, 281
entrenchments at, 164–68, 170, 175, 178, 190–92, 197, 203–06, 216, 217
ferociousness of, 189–90, 199–201
Granbury and, 187, 188, 192, 213–14, 222
Hood and, 162, 166–69, 173, 175, 177, 193, 205, 208, 215–20
initial report, 221–23
protests against plans of, 168–70, 175
ironies of, 204
Lee and, 173, 205, 208, 216, 217
loss of Confederate officers in, 188, 191, 192, 198, 200–03, 206, 212–14, 222, 228
preparation of Confederate troops to attack, 166–75, 177–78
retreat of Army of Tennessee over grounds of, 266–67
retreat of Union forces to Nashville, 209
Schofield and, 160–64, 166, 169, 170, 175–80, 183, 190, 195–96, 199, 209, 216–18, 231
Stanley and, 164, 170, 180, 188, 189, 195, 205, 239, 281
start of hostilities, 178–88
Stewart and, 167, 172, 173, 184, 196–97, 208, 218
turning point in, 188–90
Wagner and, 171–72, 179–80
drunkenness, 180, 187, 231
exposure of his men to Confederate advance, 172, 178–88, 195–96, 230–31
relieved of command, 230–31
Walthall and, 173, 197, 199–201
Wilson and, 176–77, 217
Fredericksburg, battle of, 11, 34–36
Fremantle, Colonel Arthur, 42
Frémont, Colonel John C. (“Pathfinder”), 48
French, Richard, 26
French, Major General Samuel, 66–69, 116
after Civil War, 284–85
battle of Allatoona and, 66–69
battle of Franklin and, 173, 197, 199
battle of Nashville and, 246
Gale, Colonel W. D., 208, 248–49, 261–63, 271
Garland, Colonel Hugh, 198
Garrard, General Kenner, 17
Gettysburg, battle of, 5, 6, 23, 39–42, 105, 134, 171
Pickett’s charge, 11, 41, 217, 221
Gibson, General Randall L., 129, 267
Gist, Brigadier General States Rights, 174, 182–83, 192, 210–11, 213, 222
Gist, W. W., 180
Gordon, Brigadier General George Washington, 190–92
Gordon, Brigadier General John, 187, 222
Govan, General Daniel C., 144, 145, 285
battle of Franklin and, 169–70, 188
Granbury, General Hiram, 62, 144, 150
battle of Franklin and, 187, 188, 192, 213–14, 222
Grant, General Ulysses S., 8–9, 14, 16, 23, 47, 60, 63, 81, 83, 93, 116, 239, 276, 279–81
efforts to control Mississippi River, 87–92
ending of Chattanooga siege, 94–96
grinding warfare of, 8, 9, 15, 21
as president, 282
promotions, 90, 96
Sherman and, 86–87, 94–95
plan for march to Savannah, 64, 73, 110–11
at Shiloh, 84, 86, 117–18
surrender of Lee to, 277, 289
Thomas’s handling of battle of Nashville and its aftermath and, 231–35, 239, 251, 267, 272–73
Vicksburg siege and, 91
Greeley, Horace, 7
Grose, General William, 162–63
Grosvenor, Colonel Charles H., 243, 244
Halleck, General Henry, 64, 83, 86, 118, 270, 280
as Lincoln’s advisor, 87, 92, 93, 110, 118
Thomas’s handling of battle of Nashville and its aftermath and, 231–33, 235, 239, 250–51, 267
Hampton, General Wade, 42
Hardee, General William J., 17, 18, 20, 24, 49, 53, 61, 118, 134, 135, 287–88
Harding, Selene, 249–50, 285
Harpeth River, 138, 160–62, 165, 167, 169, 176, 266
bridging of, 161–62, 170
Harris, Isham, 128, 159, 223–24, 226, 269