Nov. 30,1864-Battle Of Franklin,TN

[bdtex]

Basically a frontal assault against a several miles long line of entrenched Union troops just south of Franklin,TN. The ground the Confederate troops had to cross to get there gradually sloped up to the Union earthworks and breastworks from which the Union troops were able to observe all the Confederate troop movements. Conversely,Confederate troops knew what they were marching into. They could see the earthworks that they had to assault and scale to get to the Union defenders. Gen. Hood launched the attack before most of the Confederate artillery was able to reach the field. The defending Union troops had artillery massed on it's line. Horrendous battle. Heavy casualties on the Confederate side. 6 Confederate Generals were killed. I've read one book about the battle and I'm in the middle of another one. Brutal stuff. The Civil War Trust site misstates the number of Union troops. The Union had thousands of troops in reserve that did not have to be called up. The Confederates had no reserves.

http://www.civilwar.org/battlefields/franklin.html?tab=facts

 

[ya-ta-hey]

Basically a frontal assault against a several miles long line of entrenched Union troops just south of Franklin,TN. The ground the Confederate troops had to cross to get there gradually sloped up to the Union earthworks and breastworks from which the Union troops were able to observe all the Confederate troop movements. Conversely,Confederate troops knew what they were marching into. They could see the earthworks that they had to assault and scale to get to the Union defenders. Gen. Hood launched the attack before most of the Confederate artillery was able to reach the field. The defending Union troops had artillery massed on it's line. Horrendous battle. Heavy casualties on the Confederate side. 6 Confederate Generals were killed. I've read one book about the battle and I'm in the middle of another one. Brutal stuff. The Civil War Trust site misstates the number of Union troops. The Union had thousands of troops in reserve that did not have to be called up. The Confederates had no reserves.

http://www.civilwar.org/battlefields/franklin.html?tab=facts

Mr. BD,

It's amazing how some of the best generals failed to learn from past mistakes. Hood saw how his entrenched troops mowed down the union attackers at Kennesaw Mountain 4 months earlier, knew about Picket's charge, a disasterous frontal assualt against entrenched troops at Gettysburg, knew about an overwhelming federal assault stopped by entrenched troops at Fredricksburg, and knew about 2000 federal troops killed in minutes in the frontal assualt against entrenched troops at Cold Harbor, but still went through with this attack.

Then again, Hood was known for his boldness, not so much for being level headed and strategy.

 

[bdtex]

Mr. BD,

It's amazing how some of the best generals failed to learn from past mistakes. Hood saw how his entrenched troops mowed down the union attackers at Kennesaw Mountain 4 months earlier, knew about Picket's charge, a disasterous frontal assualt against entrenched troops at Gettysburg, knew about an overwhelming federal assault stopped by entrenched troops at Fredricksburg, and knew about 2000 federal troops killed in minutes in the frontal assualt against entrenched troops at Cold Harbor, but still went through with this attack.

Then again, Hood was known for his boldness, not so much for being level headed and strategy.

In the state his army was in,flanking manuevers were not much of an option anymore. The combined Union forces in and converging on Franklin/Nashville were around 100,000. Hood had 35-40K at most.

 

[bdtex]

Mr. BD,

It's amazing how some of the best generals failed to learn from past mistakes. Hood saw how his entrenched troops mowed down the union attackers at Kennesaw Mountain 4 months earlier, knew about Picket's charge, a disasterous frontal assualt against entrenched troops at Gettysburg, knew about an overwhelming federal assault stopped by entrenched troops at Fredricksburg, and knew about 2000 federal troops killed in minutes in the frontal assualt against entrenched troops at Cold Harbor, but still went through with this attack.

Then again, Hood was known for his boldness, not so much for being level headed and strategy.

And knew about the failed Union assaults against entrenched Rebels at Vicksburg and Petersburg before they laid siege there.

 

[EatTheRich]

My great-great-grandfather fought in this battle (and Chickamauga, Kenesaw Mountain, Nashville, etc.) on the U.S. side.

 

[bdtex]

My great-great-grandfather fought in this battle (and Chickamauga, Kenesaw Mountain, Nashville, etc.) on the U.S. side.

What regiment was he in?

 

[The Sage of Main Street]

Union fatalities: 189
Confederate fatalities: 1,750

 

[EatTheRich]

What regiment was he in?

115th Illinois Infantry.

 

[bdtex]

115th Illinois Infantry.

As near as I can tell,they were mostly held in reserve at Franklin but were on the left flank of the Union front line at Nashville.