CHRONOLOGY
September 2
Sherman captures Atlanta.
October 5
Battle of Allatoona.
October 12
Hood attacks Resaca.
October 13
Hood captures Dalton.
October 16
Forrest’s West Tennessee Raid begins.
October 20
Hood reaches Gadsden.
October 26–29
Battle of Decatur.
October 30
Hood reaches Tuscumbia, Alabama.
November 3
Forrest’s Cavalry Corps is transferred to the Army of Tennessee.
November 4–5
Battle of Johnsonville.
November 10
Forrest reaches Corinth, Mississippi.
November 13
Army of Tennessee begins crossing the Tennessee River at Tuscumbia; Hood transfers his headquarters to Florence, Alabama.
November 15
Sherman begins his March to the Sea.
November 16
Forrest joins Hood at Tuscumbia.
November 20
Army of Tennessee finishes crossing the Tennessee River.
November 21
Army of Tennessee marches north in three columns, converging at Mount Pleasant.
The Confederate defeat at Franklin decided the campaign. The subsequent battle of Nashville simply determined by how much. Franklin’s outcome was resolved by the fighting around the Carter farmhouse, shown here as it appeared shortly after the battle. (Library of Congress)
November 22
Union forces abandon Decatur, Athens, Huntsville, and Stevenson, Alabama and Pulaski, Tennessee. Union forces in Alabama and Tennessee between the Tennessee River and west of the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad receive orders to concentrate at Nashville, Tennessee.
November 23
Cavalry skirmishing takes place at Mount Pleasant, Henryville, and Lawrenceburg, Tennessee.
November 26
Schofield receives orders to hold the Duck River at Columbia, Tennessee; Army of Tennessee arrives south of Columbia.
November 26–28
Battle of Columbia; Hood crosses the Duck River.
November 28
Schofield crosses the Duck River to withdraw to Nashville.
November 29
Battle of Spring Hill; Hood misses the chance to destroy Schoefield’s corps in detail.
The North was determined to hold Nashville, to the point the Tennessee State Capitol Building was fortified. These guns on the building’s south portico were photographed the day before the battle, covered with canvas for protection against snow. (Library of Congress)
November 30
Battle of Franklin. XVI Corps completes its arrival in Nashville.
December 2
The Cumberland River downstream of Nashville is blocked by Confederate batteries.
December 6–7
Third battle of Murfreesboro; Forrest is repulsed.
December 10
Sherman reaches Savannah, Georgia.
December 15–16
Battle of Nashville; the Army of Tennessee is routed.
December 18
Forrest rejoins the Army of Tennessee, and provides the rearguard.
December 25
Battle of Anthony’s Hill.
December 26–28
Army of Tennessee re-crosses the Tennessee River.
January 13
Hood resigns command of the Army of Tennessee.