John Bell Hood had done his job too well. In the fall of 1864, the commander of the Confederate Army of Tennessee had harassed Federal forces in north Georgia so badly that the Union commander, William T. Sherman, decided to abandon his position. During his subsequent "March to the Sea," Sherman's men lived off the land and made Georgia howl. Rather than confront the larger Federal force directly, Hood chose instead to strike northward into Tennessee. There, he hoped to cripple the Federal supply infrastructure and the ...
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John Bell Hood had done his job too well. In the fall of 1864, the commander of the Confederate Army of Tennessee had harassed Federal forces in north Georgia so badly that the Union commander, William T. Sherman, decided to abandon his position. During his subsequent "March to the Sea," Sherman's men lived off the land and made Georgia howl. Rather than confront the larger Federal force directly, Hood chose instead to strike northward into Tennessee. There, he hoped to cripple the Federal supply infrastructure and the Federal forces that still remained there--the Army of the Cumberland under George Thomas. Hood hoped to defeat Thomas's army in detail and force Sherman to come northward to the rescue. On November 30, in a small country town called Franklin, Hood caught part of Thomas's army outside of its stronghold of Nashville. But what began as a promising opportunity for the outnumbered Confederate army soon turned grim. "I do not like the looks of this fight," one of Hood's subordinates said; "the enemy has an excellent position and is well fortified." Hood was determined to root the Federals out. "Well," said a Confederate officer, "if we are to die, let us die like men." And thousands of them did. As wave after murderous wave crashed against the Federal fortifications, the Army of Tennessee shattered itself. It eventually found victory--but at a cost so bloody and so chilling, the name "Franklin" would ever after be synonymous with disaster. Historian William Lee White, whose devotion to the Army of Tennessee has taken him from the dense forests of northwest Georgia to the gates of Atlanta and back into Tennessee, now pens the penultimate chapter in the army's storied history in Let Us Die Like Men: The Battle of Franklin, November 30, 1864.
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The Emerging Civil War series aims to offer brief, fresh, and informed accounts of important events in the Civil War to a broad spectrum of readers. This recent volume in the series focuses on the Battle of Franklin, fought at Franklin, Tennessee on November 30, 1864, and on the events leading up to the battle. The author, William Lee White, has had a long career as a Park Ranger at Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park and has written an earlier book in the series, "Bushwacking on a Grand Scale" on the battle of Chickamauga. Throughout his lifetime, White has been a student of the Civil War and of the Confederacy's Army of Tennessee. The Civil War is White's passion as well as his vocation, and it shows in his writing.
This story begins in September, 1864 after the fall of Atlanta. The Confederate commander, General John B. Hood moved north of Atlanta in an attempt to cut the Union army supply line. Union General William T. Sherman pursued Hood briefly before embarking on his fabled March to the Sea. Hood and the Army of Tennessee went its own way heading through Alabama and then north in an attempt to capture Nashville, leaving Sherman essentially unopposed. As might be expected, much has been written about the military soundness, or its lack, of this decision.
The early chapters of the book show some surprisingly hard fighting before the two armies disengaged. Hood was pursued by a Union force led by General John Schofield which was attempting to reach Nashville and reinforce the Army commanded by General George Thomas. Hood was able to outflank Schofield and to put his army between Schofield and Nashville. What should have been an important Confederate victory turned to dust when Schofield's army under cover of night passed by the Confederates at Spring Hill, Tennessee, in one of the strangest incidents of the war. Schofield continued on the way to Nashville but had to stop at the town of Franklin because the bridges over the Harpeth River were out. His army entrenched at Franklin as Hood and his army, chafing over the escape at Spring Hill, followed close behind. That is where the primary action of this book begins.
The book describes in detail the Union army entrenchment at Franklin, under the supervision of General Jacob Cox. (The book includes a lengthy quotation from Cox on the geography of Franklin and of the battlefield.) When Hood arrived, he determined to go on the offensive and launch a frontal attack in the face of warnings from many of his subordinate generals. Over a long front which gave the Union a clear field of fire with many obstacles for the advancing troops, the Army of Tennessee advanced and was decimated with appalling and irreplaceable casualties. Much of the fighting was at close quarters and hand to hand. A Union force had positioned itself badly, almost resulting in a Confederate breakthrough, but the position and other troop placements were strong and repelled the attack.
White tells the story of the battle eloquently and with detail. He uses extensive quotations from the participants, good images from the battlefield, maps, and his own writing. The impression left on me from this history was of the valor of the soldiers on both sides of the line and of the tragedy of wasted lives. Following the battle, Schofield and the Union Army proceeded under cover of night to Nashville. Hood opted to continue his pursuit, and the remainder of the Army of Tennessee was effectively destroyed at the Battle of Nashville on December 15-16, 1864, with the Union army under the command of General George Thomas.
White offers the reader a good, moving account of the battle and its significance. He makes use of some recent scholarship about General Hood which places Hood's leadership and character in a somewhat better light than earlier writings. Still, at Franklin and during the earlier stages of the campaign, Hood comes across badly, in my reading. White shows good judgment of events and participants. I was surprised he calls Franklin a Confederate victory, apparently because the Union army voluntarily left the field; but this is a verbal quibble. White's account makes clear the disaster Franklin was for the Confederacy.
The book includes several appendices of the Franklin campaign, including a driving tour, an outline of preservation efforts for the Franklin Battlefield, and a brief personal history of White's involvement with the Battle.
I have read other longer studies of the campaign and battle, but this book taught me a great deal. This is an excellent book for readers wanting to learn about or deepen their knowledge of the Tennessee Campaign and its importance in the Civil War. Savas Beatie, the publisher of the Emerging Civil War Series, kindly sent me a review copy of this book.
