Battle of Nashville

December 15–16, 1864 · Western Theater

Phases

1. 1Dec 15 — The Left HookDecember 15, 1864
2. 2Dec 16 — Shy’s Hill BreaksDecember 16, 1864
3. 3Dec 17–27 — Pursuit to the TennesseeDecember 17–27, 1864

December 15, 1864

After Franklin gutted his army, Hood dug in on the hills south of Nashville with 30,000 freezing men — too weak to attack, too proud to retreat. Thomas, prodded almost to removal by Grant’s telegrams, waits for the ice to melt, then delivers one of the war’s most complete battle plans: Steedman’s US Colored Troops fix the Confederate right at dawn while a grand wheel of two corps crushes the left. By dark Hood has lost his first line and a thousand prisoners.

• ●Hood’s thin line on the hills south of the city
• ➤Smith & Wood — The grand wheel crushes the Confederate left
• ➤Steedman’s USCT brigades — Black regiments fix the Confederate right at dawn
• ●Nashville — Thomas waited for the ice, whatever Grant wired