Page 42

(Spring Hill)

Spring Hill

November 29, 1864
Maury County, TN
Campaign: Franklin-Nashville Campaign (1864)

Maj. Gen. John M. Schofield, USA
Gen. John Bell Hood, CSA

Hood had his whole army against two Union Corps.
 
Losses are unknown.

Spring Hill was the prelude to the Battle of Franklin.  On the night of November 28, 1864, Gen. John Bell Hood’s Army of Tennessee marched toward Spring Hill to get astride Maj. Gen. John M. Schofield’s Union army’s life line. Cavalry skirmishing between Brig. Gen. James H. Wilson’s Union cavalry and Maj. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest’s Confederate troopers continued throughout the day as the Confederates advanced. On November 29, Hood’s infantry crossed Duck River and converged on Spring Hill. In the meantime, Maj. Gen. Schofield reinforced the troops holding the crossroads at Spring Hill. In late afternoon, the Federals repulsed a piecemeal Confederate infantry attack. During the night, the rest of Schofield’s command passed from Columbia through Spring Hill to Franklin. This was, perhaps, Hood’s best chance to isolate and defeat the Union army. The engagement has been described as “one of the most controversial non-fighting events of the entire war."

Page 42

(Spring Hill)