Middle Tennessee Chronology winter 64-65

[BigPrune]

That ole Gen. Hatch sounds like a bad fellow to get in a tangle with. He sounds like a very formidable foe for ol Forrest. Can't wait to see how they get along.

[larry_cockerham]

Edward Hatch was a professional soldier, Forrest, merely a novice who learned quickly. These two men became well acquainted between November 1864 and war's end in Alabama a few months later. Forrest won most of the battles, but Hatch received his surrender in the end. Guess Hatch won the war...... Hatch became military commander of the Western District as he continued his career. Best known for his command of the so called Buffalo soldiers...

[larry_cockerham]

I'm trying to keep up with the calendar with these following posts. The weather in Tennessee in 1864 was a major factor in the lack of success of Hood's campaign to capture Nashville. Certainly there were other problems, but weather held the key to troop movements. Timing was critical.

Here I’ve inserted the journal of the Army of Tennessee from the official records with some additional inserts from other sources.

Journal of the Army of Tennessee
NOVEMBER 14, 1864-JANUARY 23, 1865
Campaign in North Alabama and Middle Tennessee.
O.R.--SERIES I--VOLUME XLV/1 [S# 93]

Material also gleaned from:

Itineraries of the U.S. Forces under the command of Maj. Gen. George H. Thomas, U. S. Army.

NOVEMBER 14, 1864-JANUARY 23, 1865.--Campaign in North Alabama and Middle Tennessee.
O.R.--SERIES I--VOLUME XLV/1 [S# 93]

November 15, 1864.--

Headquarters Army of Tennessee at Florence, Ala. Heavy rains in the last forty-eight hours. The river was swelling and bridges were suspect at best.

[larry_cockerham]

November 16.--Headquarters Florence, Ala. In obedience to a general order from these headquarters, all military duties (except those that are absolutely necessary) will be suspended, this day having been set apart by the President as a day of fasting and prayer.

On this day Edward Hatch’s First Brigade of the Fifth Division US was ordered to move up the military road leading to Lawrenceburg. A part of the command was sent to reconnoiter the enemy’s column, which was marching on the Florence and Waynesborough road, and returned with 5 prisoners, 5 Spencer carbines and 3 wagons captured.

Apparently Davis was praying while Hatch moved into position for war.

[larry_cockerham]

November 17.--Headquarters Army of Tennessee, Florence, Ala. Nothing of importance has transpired to-day.

Hatch’s federal cavalry was back in camp at Lauderdale Mill and were about to be ordered to Nashville.

[larry_cockerham]

November 18.--Headquarters Florence, Ala. General Beauregard moved his headquarters from Tuscumbia to Montgomery, Ala. General Stewart has been ordered to cross the Tennessee River with his corps tomorrow.

[Brown’s and Reynolds’ Brigades were combined this day.]
These two paragraphs are from Tennesseans in the Civil War – 45th Tennessee Infantry history:

“On November 18, 1864 Brown's and Reynolds' Brigades were consolidated, and Colonel (later brigadier general) Joseph B. Palmer was placed in command of the combined brigade, which, from this time on, was known as Palmer's Brigade. The regiments from Reynolds' Brigade thus added were the 58th and 60th North Carolina, and 54th and 63rd Virginia Infantry Regiments. The 26th Tennessee was added to the field consolidation of the 45th/23rd Battalion, with the combined unit under Colonel Searcy of the 45th. The 58th North Carolina was soon transferred elsewhere, but the other units remained together until the reorganization of General Joseph E. Johnston's Army in North Carolina.”

[larry_cockerham]

General Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard, a brief history:

He lived from May 28, 1818 until February 20, 1893. Born in New Orleans to a white Creole family, he graduated from West Point in 1838. Skilled as an artilleryman and engineer, he served as a major under Winfield Scott during the Mexican-American war. Losing a mayoral race in New Orleans in 1858, he briefly served as superintendent of West Point until the war forced his resignation due to the secession of Louisiana.

Gen. Beauregard was one of eight full Generals in the Confederate Army, though he and Jefferson Davis were not the best of friends.

Beaugregard will long be remembered for ordering the attack on Fort Sumter 12 Apr 1861. He led the Confederate forces at the First Battle of Manassas and also at Shiloh in Tennessee in 1862. After the retreat from Shiloh he returned to Charleston until 1864 when he was appointed commander of Confederate forces in the West.

Beauregard remained active in the command of the Army of Tennessee until their surrender at Bennett House in Durham North Carolina in 1865.

Beauregard's military writings include The Principles and Maxims of the Art of War, Report on the Defense of Charleston, and A Commentary on the Campaign and Battle of Manassas. Beauregard and Jefferson Davis published a series of bitter accusations and counter-accusations, blaming each other in retrospect for the defeat of the Confederacy.

General Beauregard was offered and declined offers to take command of the armies of Romania in (1866) and Egypt in (1869). He became involved in railroads after the war, both as a company director and as a consulting engineer. During his career, he invented a system of cable-powered street railway cars. He served as adjutant general of the State of Louisiana and then became manager of the Louisiana State Lottery. He died in New Orleans and is buried in Metairie Cemetery.

[larry_cockerham]

November 19.

Headquarters Florence, Ala. General Stewart's corps was unable to cross the river today in consequence of the bad weather and the slow progress made by the supply trains. General Lee's corps is ordered to take up line of march at 5 o'clock in the morning. Brigadier General Abraham Buford and his cavalry spent the night of Nov 19 at Shoals Creek.


General George Thomas wrote in his Jan 20 1865 report “Hood commenced his advance on the 19th moving on parallel roads from Florence through Waynesboro and shelled Hatch’s cavalry out of Lawrenceburg on the 22nd"

Edward Hatch with the 1st Brigade, 5th Division, including the 10th TN moved out on the Lexington road and reached Lawrenceburg, “the enemy on our left flank and close on our rear. An engagement took place here, in which artillery was planted on both sides; several men wounded”

(from another source):

Hatch moved most of his division out toward Shoal Creek where he met Forrest where Coon's brigade of Hatch's division crossed and attacked Forrest, but was forced to re-cross the stream after some sharp fighting. This move developed the fact that Hood's entire army was moving north. (James Patterson Cockerham by this time was in Col. Robert F. Stewart’s Brigade of Hatch’s division.)

[larry_cockerham]

November 20th, 1864

Hatch concentrated his troops at Lexington, AL

November 20.--Headquarters Florence, Ala. Stewart's corps crossed the river and moved out several miles on Lawrenceburg road. Lee's corps took up line of march at an early hour and bivouacked ten miles from this place, on road between Lawrenceburg and Waynesborough roads. The whole army will move at an early hour to-morrow.

Hood's three corps of nearly 30,000 and Gen. W. H. Jackson's cavalry of 2,000 successfully crossed and were joined by Forrest and his cavalry of 3,000.

Students of the Female Synodical College watched the crossing from the dome of the school. The order to move out was given this day with Forrest’s cavalry in the advance moving through a 3-inch snowfall. Gen. Benjamin Cheatham's corps moved out on the Coffee Road, Gen. Alexander Stewart's Corps left by the Military Road and Gen. Stephen Lee's corps followed on the Chisholm road.

[larry_cockerham]

November 21, 1864 AOT

Cheatham's corps took up line of march at an early hour this a.m. and moved out on the Waynesborough road. Army headquarters moved at 10 a.m., and were established at 5 p.m. near Rawhide, on Waynesborough road, twelve miles north of Florence. Lee's corps, on the Chisem road, and Stewart's, on the Lawrenceburg road, resumed their march this morning.

November 21, 1864 US

Hatch moved to Lawrenceburg, Croxton's brigade acting as rear guard