John Bell Hood’s much anticipated invasion of Tennessee began on Monday, November 21, 1864, with Hood leaving Florence, Alabama and heading northward toward Tennessee. Hood wanted to get between Federal forces at Pulaski and Nashville. With Benjamin Cheatham’s corps leading, other units under Stephen Lee and A.P. Stewart followed, as Nathan Bedford Forrest’s cavalry now guarded the army’s flanks. In all, Hood’s forces included some thirty thousand infantry and eight thousand cavalry. As Hood advanced into Tennessee, Union forces under John Scofield wisely withdrew from Pulaski toward Columbia to avoid being flanked. Clearly, a major battle would be soon be fought to determine Tennessee’s fate. The essential question would be which army would maneuver into position to command the best, and most, strategic ground for the battle to come?
00000174-b11b-ddc3-a1fc-bfdbb1a20000The Schreiner University Department of History is honoring the sesquicentennial of the American Civil War with a series of short vignettes focusing on events from 1861 through 1865. The Civil War was the most destructive conflict in American history, but it was also one of our most defining moments as a people and as a nation. Let us know what you think about "This Week in the Civil War." E-mail your comments to Dr. John Huddleston at jhuddles@schreiner.edu.Airs: Weekdays at 5:19 a.m., 8:19 a.m., 4:19 p.m. on KTXI and 4:49 a.m., 9:29 p.m. on KSTX.