Battle of Murfreesboro III
Encyclopedia
The Third Battle of Murfreesboro, also known as Wilkinson Pike or the Cedars, was fought December 5–7, 1864, in Rutherford County, Tennessee
, as part of the Franklin-Nashville Campaign
of the American Civil War
.
William T. Sherman's Union army
out of Georgia
, Gen. John Bell Hood
led the Army of Tennessee
north toward Nashville
in November 1864. Although he suffered a terrible loss at Franklin, he continued toward Nashville. In operating against Nashville, he decided that destruction of the Nashville & Chattanooga Railroad
and disruption of the Union army supply depot at Murfreesboro would help his cause. He sent Maj. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest
, on December 4, with an expedition composed of two cavalry
divisions and Maj. Gen. William B. Bate
's infantry
division to Murfreesboro, Tennessee
.
, Forrest hooked up with Bate's division and the command advanced on to Murfreesboro along two roads, driving the Union forces into their Fortress Rosecrans fortifications, and encamped in the city outskirts for the night. The next morning, on December 6, Forrest ordered Bate's division to "move upon the enemy’s works." Fighting flared for a couple of hours, but the Union troops ceased firing and both sides glared at each other for the rest of the day. Brig. Gen. Claudius W. Sears
's and Brig. Gen. Joseph B. Palmer
's infantry brigades joined Forrest's command in the evening, further swelling his numbers.
On the morning of December 7, Maj. Gen. Lovell Rousseau
, commanding all of the forces at Murfreesboro, sent two brigades out under Brig. Gen. Robert H. Milroy
on the Salem Pike to feel out the enemy. These brigades, led by veterans Horatio P. Van Cleve
and Włodzimierz Krzyżanowski, engaged the Confederates and fighting continued. At one point some of Forrest's troops broke and ran causing disorder in the Confederate ranks; even entreaties from Forrest and Bate did not stem the rout of these units. The rest of Forrest's command conducted an orderly retreat from the field and encamped for the night outside Murfreesboro. Forrest had destroyed railroad track, blockhouses, and some homes and generally disrupted Union operations in the area, but he did not accomplish much else. The raid on Murfreesboro was a minor irritation, and Forrest was absent at the Battle of Nashville
.
Attached Infantry
Rutherford County, Tennessee
Rutherford County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2010 census, it is the state's fifth-largest county by population with 262,604 people, an increase of 44.3 percent over the 2000 population of 182,023. Its county seat is Murfreesboro, which is also the geographic...
, as part of the Franklin-Nashville Campaign
Franklin-Nashville Campaign
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, in Alabama, Tennessee, and northwestern Georgia during the American Civil War. The Confederate Army of Tennessee under Lt....
of the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
.
Background
In a last, desperate attempt to force Maj. Gen.Major general (United States)
In the United States Army, United States Marine Corps, and United States Air Force, major general is a two-star general-officer rank, with the pay grade of O-8. Major general ranks above brigadier general and below lieutenant general...
William T. Sherman's Union army
Union Army
The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...
out of Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
, Gen. John Bell Hood
John Bell Hood
John Bell Hood was a Confederate general during the American Civil War. Hood had a reputation for bravery and aggressiveness that sometimes bordered on recklessness...
led the Army of Tennessee
Army of Tennessee
The Army of Tennessee was the principal Confederate army operating between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River during the American Civil War. It was formed in late 1862 and fought until the end of the war in 1865, participating in most of the significant battles in the Western Theater...
north toward Nashville
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
in November 1864. Although he suffered a terrible loss at Franklin, he continued toward Nashville. In operating against Nashville, he decided that destruction of the Nashville & Chattanooga Railroad
Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway
The Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway was a railway company operating in the southern United States in Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia...
and disruption of the Union army supply depot at Murfreesboro would help his cause. He sent Maj. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest
Nathan Bedford Forrest
Nathan Bedford Forrest was a lieutenant general in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War. He is remembered both as a self-educated, innovative cavalry leader during the war and as a leading southern advocate in the postwar years...
, on December 4, with an expedition composed of two cavalry
Cavalry
Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...
divisions and Maj. Gen. William B. Bate
William B. Bate
William Brimage Bate was the governor of Tennessee from 1883 to 1887 and subsequently a United States Senator from Tennessee from 1887 until his death...
's infantry
Infantry
Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...
division to Murfreesboro, Tennessee
Murfreesboro, Tennessee
Murfreesboro is a city in and the county seat of Rutherford County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 108,755 according to the United States Census Bureau's 2010 U.S. Census, up from 68,816 residents certified during the 2000 census. The center of population of Tennessee is located in...
.
Battle
On December 2, Hood had ordered Bate to destroy the railroad and blockhouses between Murfreesboro and Nashville and join Forrest for further operations. On December 4, Bate's division attacked Blockhouse No. 7 protecting the railroad crossing at Overall Creek, but Union forces fought it off. On the morning of December 5, Forrest headed out toward Murfreesboro, splitting his force, one column to attack the fort on the hill and the other to take Blockhouse No. 4, both at La Vergne. Upon his demand for surrender at both locations, the Union garrisons did so. Outside La VergneLa Vergne, Tennessee
La Vergne is a city in Rutherford County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 18,687 at the 2000 census. La Vergne lies within the Nashville Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...
, Forrest hooked up with Bate's division and the command advanced on to Murfreesboro along two roads, driving the Union forces into their Fortress Rosecrans fortifications, and encamped in the city outskirts for the night. The next morning, on December 6, Forrest ordered Bate's division to "move upon the enemy’s works." Fighting flared for a couple of hours, but the Union troops ceased firing and both sides glared at each other for the rest of the day. Brig. Gen. Claudius W. Sears
Claudius W. Sears
Claudius Wistar Sears was an United States Army officer, an educator, and a Confederate general during the American Civil War....
's and Brig. Gen. Joseph B. Palmer
Joseph B. Palmer
Joseph Benjamin Palmer was an American lawyer, legislator, and soldier. He served as a Confederate general in the American Civil War, during which he was wounded four times. After the conflict he resumed his law practice in Tennessee.-Early life and career:Joseph B. Palmer was born in 1825 in...
's infantry brigades joined Forrest's command in the evening, further swelling his numbers.
On the morning of December 7, Maj. Gen. Lovell Rousseau
Lovell Rousseau
Lovell Harrison Rousseau was a general in the United States and Union Armies during the American Civil War and a lawyer and politician in both Kentucky and Indiana.-Early life and career:...
, commanding all of the forces at Murfreesboro, sent two brigades out under Brig. Gen. Robert H. Milroy
Robert H. Milroy
Robert Huston Milroy was a lawyer, judge, and a Union Army general in the American Civil War, most noted for his defeat at the Second Battle of Winchester in 1863.-Early life:...
on the Salem Pike to feel out the enemy. These brigades, led by veterans Horatio P. Van Cleve
Horatio P. Van Cleve
Horatio Phillips Van Cleve was a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War.-Early life:...
and Włodzimierz Krzyżanowski, engaged the Confederates and fighting continued. At one point some of Forrest's troops broke and ran causing disorder in the Confederate ranks; even entreaties from Forrest and Bate did not stem the rout of these units. The rest of Forrest's command conducted an orderly retreat from the field and encamped for the night outside Murfreesboro. Forrest had destroyed railroad track, blockhouses, and some homes and generally disrupted Union operations in the area, but he did not accomplish much else. The raid on Murfreesboro was a minor irritation, and Forrest was absent at the Battle of Nashville
Battle of Nashville
The Battle of Nashville was a two-day battle in the Franklin-Nashville Campaign that represented the end of large-scale fighting in the Western Theater of the American Civil War. It was fought at Nashville, Tennessee, on December 15–16, 1864, between the Confederate Army of Tennessee under...
.
Union
District of Tennessee - Maj. Gen. Lovell H. Rousseau- Defenses of the Nashville & Chattanooga Railroad - Maj. Gen. Robert H. MilroyRobert H. MilroyRobert Huston Milroy was a lawyer, judge, and a Union Army general in the American Civil War, most noted for his defeat at the Second Battle of Winchester in 1863.-Early life:...
- 1st Brigade - Brig. Gen. Horatio P. Van CleveHoratio P. Van CleveHoratio Phillips Van Cleve was a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War.-Early life:...
- 3rd Brigade - Col. Włodzimierz Krzyżanowski
- 1st Brigade - Brig. Gen. Horatio P. Van Cleve
- 4th Division (XX Corps) - Maj. Gen. Lovell H. Rousseau
- 1st Brigade - Col. William P. Lyon
- 2nd Brigade - Col. Edwin C. Mason
Confederate
Cavalry Corps - Maj. Gen. Nathan B. Forrest- Buford's Division - Brig. Gen. Abraham BufordAbraham Buford IIBrigadier General Abraham "Abe" Buford II was a soldier and Thoroughbred horse breeder. Born in Woodford County, Kentucky, his origins were a Huguenot family named Beaufort who fled persecution in France and settled in England before emigrating to America in 1635.Abraham Buford was the son of...
- Bell's Brigade - Col. Tyree Bell
- Crossland's Brigade - Col. Edward Crossland
- Jackson's Division - Brig. Gen. William Hicks JacksonWilliam Hicks JacksonWilliam Hicks "Red" Jackson was a cotton planter, horse breeder, and general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War.-Early life and career:...
- Armstrong's Brigade - Brig. Gen. Frank C. Armstrong
- Ross's Brigade - Brig. Gen. Lawrence S. Ross
Attached Infantry
- Bate's Division (from Cheatham's Corps) - Maj. Gen. William B. BateWilliam B. BateWilliam Brimage Bate was the governor of Tennessee from 1883 to 1887 and subsequently a United States Senator from Tennessee from 1887 until his death...
- Tyler's Brigade - Brig. Gen. Thomas Benton SmithThomas Benton SmithThomas Benton Smith was a brigadier general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War.-Biography:...
- Finley's Brigade - Major Jacob A. Lash
- Jackson's Brigade - Brig. Gen. Henry R. JacksonHenry R. JacksonHenry Rootes Jackson was a major general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War.-Biography:...
- Tyler's Brigade - Brig. Gen. Thomas Benton Smith
- Stevenson's Division
- Brown's & Reynolds's Brigade - Brig. Gen. Joseph B. PalmerJoseph B. PalmerJoseph Benjamin Palmer was an American lawyer, legislator, and soldier. He served as a Confederate general in the American Civil War, during which he was wounded four times. After the conflict he resumed his law practice in Tennessee.-Early life and career:Joseph B. Palmer was born in 1825 in...
- Brown's & Reynolds's Brigade - Brig. Gen. Joseph B. Palmer
- French's Division
- Sears's Brigade - Brig. Gen. Claudius W. SearsClaudius W. SearsClaudius Wistar Sears was an United States Army officer, an educator, and a Confederate general during the American Civil War....
- Sears's Brigade - Brig. Gen. Claudius W. Sears