American Civil War
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Nashville
Battle · Western Theatre
Battle of Nashville
December 15–16, 1864 · Nashville, Tennessee
Narrative
Commanders
At a glance
Outcome
1
Nashville
An army too weak to attack, too proud to run
Hood (South), his army wrecked at Franklin, digs a thin line outside a fortress city he cannot take, and waits for Thomas (North) to come out.
2
December 8–14
The general everyone wanted to fire
An ice storm freezes Thomas (North) in place while Grant sends Logan (North) to relieve him, and the most decisive victory of the war is about to be won by a man already half-fired.
3
December 15
The door swings shut on Hood’s left
Steedman’s (North) feint pins Hood’s right while Wilson’s cavalry (North) and Smith’s (North) infantry wheel down onto Stewart’s (South) flank, overrunning five redoubts in sequence.
4
December 16
The hill the freedmen charged
Steedman’s (North) U.S. Colored Troops assault the strongest works on the field, the 13th USCT taking the battle’s heaviest loss and winning even Holtzclaw’s (South) acknowledgment.
5
December 16 evening
The line rolled up west to east
Shy’s Hill falls, Stewart’s (South) flank disintegrates, and the last Confederate field army in the West dissolves into rout, saved from total ruin only by Forrest’s (South) rearguard.
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