Civil War History - The South & Western TheatersCheck this forum for all South and Western Theater Questions. Included are the Western, Pacific, Trans-Mississippi, & Lower Seaboard and Gulf Approach Theaters.
Again. Successful pursuit of a defeated army is all but unknown during the WBTS. It was extremely difficult, rarely attempted, and hardly ever accomplished. The what ifs in such a situation simply do not fly well.
Ole
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According to Thomas Buell in his book "The Warrior Generals" "The winter storms so inundated the fields that horses sank in mud to their bellies. The Federal cavalry had to remain on the roads, unable to outflank and overtake the fleeing Confederate infantry." It is also true that Thomas had misdirected the pontoons at Columbia. That slowed down the crossing.
It is intresting to note that it is estimated that as many as 6000 of Hoods men deserted at Nashville. Also, the number of expected "joiners" to Hoods ranks failed to show same what Bragg experinced. By the time Hood reached Mississippi his 20,000 thousand men had been reduced to near 7000. I would say that his army was reduced to a non fighting force.
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I don't believe Hood's loses after the disaster at Nashville were the typical desertions. Fell dead by the side of the road, frozen etc. were more accurate descriptions. Your conclusions about the army being wasted are quite accurate, however. The survivors, still clinging to their pride, rested until mid January, regrouped and moved on toward Sherman for one more good round before calling it complete quits in North Carolina.
Except for Selma, Nashville was the last decisive battles in the west.
Nashville was the culmination of the Confederate army in the west. It was a disasterous campaign. A winter campaign without adequate supplies. A plan devised from the disaster that faced the Confederacy after the fall of Atlanta.
Nashville meant Hood had left the heartland of Georgia undefended. The day the Confederates entered Tennessee, the war was strategically over. Sherman would break the link between the arsenals from Alabama and Macon to Richmond.
The Confederate army that invaded Tennessee would cease to exist as a viable army.
I don't believe Hood's loses after the disaster at Nashville were the typical desertions. Fell dead by the side of the road, frozen etc. were more accurate descriptions. Your conclusions about the army being wasted are quite accurate, however. The survivors, still clinging to their pride, rested until mid January, regrouped and moved on toward Sherman for one more good round before calling it complete quits in North Carolina.
Larry, it was after Nashville (IIRC) that a Colonel emerged from his tent to find all but himself and a Sgt gone... his men even took his horse. Though whether to ride or to eat was in question. Desertion in the war is an interesting topic; many men (both US & CS) showed their opinion of their commanders by voting w/ their feet.
THe concept of "French Leave" had to have been murder on commanding generals; it certainly drove Jackson to distraction.
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It must have been quite a while after Nashville if the Colonel had a tent. Must have been the warm Mississippi air that attracted his men. They were lucky to still be able to walk. Guess they went to the beach?
The 5,000 - 6,000 figure for desertions is far too high. I know a number of authors have reported that figure (Sword, et al), but the figures simply don't add up. The Army of Tennessee only numbered 28,364 effective infantry and artillery on November and when an official count was done on January 20, 1865 the effective total was nearly 18,000. That does NOT mean casualties were only 10,000 as Hood tried to claim because even Forrest had lost some 2,000 during the campaign. However, when you add up the killed, wounded, and captured, and then compare those figures against the official rolls, it is not possible for 5,000 - 6,000 to have deserted. Also, many folks (Hood first and foremost) have overlooked the fact that a number of men counted as wounded during the campaign were back as effectives by mid-January. Anyway, there were plenty of desertions, maybe as many as 2,000, but not the 5,000 or 6,000 number. Check out my new book about Spring Hill and Franklin at http://www.historydesigns.com/jacobsonhome.htm
Simply walking away from the Army of Tennessee after December 1, 1864 would not have been so easy. Cold as hell for one thing. No place to go for another. Survival depended for most on remaining with the group. After Hood was resigned, much of the danger passed. Not even Sherman in battle was that lethal.
While the 'chased deep behind his own lines' may not apply (all battles don't involve chases), there were several in which an army were completely defeated.
There is Vicksburg certainly. (Not much room for chasing.)
sam: One could make the case that the Southern Army of Tennessee was pretty much toast after Chattanooga.
don: Some toast! During the Atlanta Campaign they caused about 40,000 casualties and with Hoods bumbling Sherman couldn't touch him. So he turned that task over to Thomas.
Snips
sam: Lastly, I don't think there was any question (except perhaps in the inscrutable mind of Gen. Hood) that Thomas's forces could destroy Hood's easily. (I'll grant that Gen. Grant had his qualms, but that was all about him thinking Thomas hadn't acted soon enough - he wanted to get it over with!)
don: Then why didn't he do it himself? He sat in front of Richmond and Petersburg for almost a year and did nothing. In my opinion he was cya'ing the stupid decision he made in letting Sherman get out of the fight and mosey down to Savannah instead of taking care of Hood.
sam: I think Grant won it in the West, from Ft. Donellson to Vicksburg, and the Rebs last chance was at Chattanooga.
don: Someone put up pretty good fights at Resaca, Kennesaw, Atlanta and Nashville.
don: You can call any battle a turning point or decisive, but, Nashville ended the war in the west.
Although most wars have few decisive battles, that is to say a specific battle that resulted in deciding the war, I would venture to say that campaigns as a whole were more decisive than specific battles.
The Tennessee Campaign had three major actions, all of which were horribly decisive.
Spring Hill of course was a very decisive battle - where it lacked in massive casualties it definitely made up in the result of the campaign. A complete failure on the Confederate's part would result in the tragic battle of Franklin.
Franklin in turn resulted in the loss of so many casualties for the Confederates that it had a decisive impact on the outcome of the campaign as well.
And oweing to the failures of the Confederates at the two previous battles, low morale and ridiculously reduced units suffered the brunt of a numerically superior Federal force.
So, although Nashville seems so horribly decisive for the campaign, each battle before it played a major role in the outcome of the battle of Nashville. Each one resulted in a decisive outcome setting up the next failure.
Spring Hill was undoubtedly the first domino to fall resulting in the complete failure of the campaign. As a campaign, it was unquestionably decisive, as it reduced an already diminished army to nearly nothing more or less ending any serious Confederate threat in the west.
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