Hood takes Franklin... 1864...

[5fish]

Here we go an old fashion 'What If" about the Civil War... In the great and infamous Battle of Franklin, general Hood's assaults the entire union lines around Franklin and looses numerous generals, officers, and men, all in vain for general Schofield and his army escape to Nashville with Hood in pursuit.

Lets say the eight generals(Patrick Cleburne, John Carter, John Adams, Hiram Granbury, States Rights Gist, and Otho Strahl) killed at Franklin on November 30th, 1864, were successful and breached the union breastworks and caught and destroyed General Schofield command and army on the banks Harpeth river.

Would Hood still march on Nashville?

If Hood would have marched on Nashville would the outcome still have been the same?

Would Hood have marched into Kentucky and back towards Atlanta?

What would have been Hood's plans if he had won the battle of Franklin and destroyed Schofield's army?

An Old Fashion "what if"....

 

[5fish]

What would Grant have done, if Hood had caught and crushed Schofield's Army of Ohio, against the Duck river?

Did Nashville have enough troops to defeat Hood without Schofield's men?

Grant and Lee were in a face off in the east and out West Price's was still a threat to Missouri. Sherman was marching to the sea... Where would more troops come from?

 

[Nitti]

Nashville was a fortress.like Vicksburg..Hood would have laid siege to the city.it would have been his only real option.

 

[5fish]

Nashville was a fortress.like Vicksburg..Hood would have laid siege to the city.it would have been his only real option.

Why could he not move into Kentucky and threaten Ohio...?

 

[O' Be Joyful]

Why could he not move into Kentucky and threaten Ohio...?

Because'n these guys were ready fer' em again. The True Stand Up, stand down guys.

https://www.oberlinheritagecenter.org/squirrelhunters

The Squirrel Hunters were instrumental in denying Cincinnati to General Heth’s Confederates, thus turning them back deeper into Kentucky to fight General Buell’s men. In this way they were also helpful in getting the Emancipation Proclamation issued. Historians have held that the fate of the Emancipation Proclamation was contingent upon General McClellan’s success in blocking Lee’s intrusion into Maryland. But one can imagine Lincoln would have been hard pressed to issue the Proclamation had one of the Union’s major cities been sacked by Confederates who seemed able to strike at the North with impunity.

 

[Nitti]

Why could he not move into Kentucky and threaten Ohio...?

He would have first establish Nashville as his base.then he could have build up his resources before any idea of movement elsewhere.

 

[O' Be Joyful]

Brass went to Oberlin,

and I still miss his ass to this very day.

 

[5fish]

He would have first establish Nashville as his base.then he could have build up his resources before any idea of movement elsewhere.

He would not have needed Nashville there are other towns if he needed a base... I think going into Kentucky and threatening Ohio would force Grant to make choices... I bet, he would have found stores for his army in Kentucky... I never understood why he sieged Nashville sitting out in open weather made no sense. I never understood why Bragg siege Chattanooga...

 

[Jim Klag]

.. I never understood why he sieged Nashville sitting out in open weather made no sense.

Because he sucked as an army commander and he had no imagination.

 

[O' Be Joyful]

Because he sucked as an army commander and he had no imagination.

Looking backwards is always...convenient.

 

[Jim Klag]

Looking backwards is always...convenient.

Not hindsight completely. Davis asked Lee about promoting Hood to Army command,

Marse Robert’s telegraphed reply is legendary: “Hood is a bold fighter. I am doubtful as to other qualities necessary.” That was foresight.

 

[diane]

He would not have needed Nashville there are other towns if he needed a base... I think going into Kentucky and threatening Ohio would force Grant to make choices... I bet, he would have found stores for his army in Kentucky... I never understood why he sieged Nashville sitting out in open weather made no sense. I never understood why Bragg siege Chattanooga...

Bruce Catton noted that there were only two times the Confederates were routed (not just displaced) from entrenched fortifications and those two times were Chattanooga and Nashville...both George Thomas. He wasn't called the Sledge of Nashville for nothing! He tried to dissuade Sherman from attacking Johnston at Kennesaw Mountain but Sherman went ahead - Thomas had wanted to pursue and destroy Johnston before he dug himself in. Sherman should have let him. He was a brilliant strategist - Sherman was, too but he was impulsive. Thomas can be called many things, but that's not one of them!

 

[O' Be Joyful]

Bruce Catton noted that there were only two times the Confederates were routed (not just displaced) from entrenched fortifications and those two times were Chattanooga and Nashville...both George Thomas. He wasn't called the Sledge of Nashville for nothing! He tried to dissuade Sherman from attacking Johnston at Kennesaw Mountain but Sherman went ahead - Thomas had wanted to pursue and destroy Johnston before he dug himself in. Sherman should have let him. He was a brilliant strategist - Sherman was, too but he was impulsive. Thomas can be called many things, but that's not one of them!

I've been to Chickamauga, a confusing field too figger out.

Yes, Geo. T. was The Rock.

 

[diane]

I've been to Chickamauga, a confusing field too figger out.

Yes, Geo. T. was The Rock.

It's not hard to see why Chickamauga was a mess! That area was also said to be inhabited by spirits way before the battle put more there. It always has interested me how the CW leaned on religious places - Shiloh church, Dunker church, Gettysburg and Chickamauga for Indian sites - Shiloh, too. All the mounds there. Thomas, burying the dead from the battles, famously said "Mix 'em up!" So he did - some of the new burials were nearby very old burials!

 

[O' Be Joyful]

Thomas, burying the dead from the battles, famously said "Mix 'em up!" So he did - some of the new burials were nearby very old burials!

No, no...That was after Missionary Ridge.

When a chaplain, who was to be in charge of the project, inquired if the dead should be buried in plots assigned to the states they represented, as was being done at Gettysburg, where Lincoln has spoken a couple of weeks ago, the Virginian lowered his head in thought and then shook it decisively, and made a tumbling gesture with his hands. “No, no. Mix ’em up, mix ’em up,” he said. “I’m tired of states’ rights”.

Catching Up With "Old Slow Trot"

Stubborn and deliberate, General George Henry Thomas was one of the Union's most brilliant strategists. So why was he cheated by history?

www.smithsonianmag.com

 

[diane]

That's right! Thanks, Obi!

 

[O' Be Joyful]

That's right! Thanks, Obi!