Third Battle of Murfreesboro

| Third Battle of Murfreesboro
Wilkinson Pike, The Cedars

| Began:|

December 5, 1864

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| Ended:|

December 7, 1864

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| Location:|

Rutherford County, Tennessee

|

| Theater:|

Western Theater

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| Campaign:|

Franklin-Nashville Campaign

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| Outcome:|

Union victory

|

Combatants

District of Tennessee

Forrest's Cavalry Corps
Bate’s infantry division

Commanders

Lovell H. Rousseau
Major General, USA
Robert Milroy
Brigadier General, USA

Nathan Bedford Forrest
Major General, CSA

Strength

8,000

| |

6,500-7,000

|

Casualties

225

197

In a last, desperate attempt to force Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman’s army out of Georgia, Gen. John Bell Hood led the Army of Tennessee north toward Nashville in November 1864. Although he suffered a terrible loss at Franklin, he continued toward Nashville. In operating against Nashville, he decided that destruction of the Nashville & Chattanooga Railroad and disruption of the Union army supply depot at Murfreesboro would help his cause. He sent Maj. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest, on December 4, with an expedition, composed of two cavalry divisions and Maj. Gen. William B. Bate’s infantry division, to Murfreesboro.

On December 2, Hood had ordered Bate to destroy the railroad and blockhouses between Murfreesboro and Nashville and join Forrest for further operations; on December 4, Bate’s division attacked Blockhouse No. 7 protecting the railroad crossing at Overall Creek, but Union forces fought it off. On the morning of the 5th, Forrest headed out toward Murfreesboro, splitting his force, one column to attack the fort on the hill and the other to take Blockhouse No. 4, both at La Vergne. Upon his demand for surrender at both locations, the Union garrisons did so. Outside La Vergne, Forrest hooked up with Bate’s division and the command advanced on to Murfreesboro along two roads, driving the Yankees into their Fortress Rosencrans fortifications, and encamped in the city outskirts for the night. The next morning, on the 6th, Forrest ordered Bate’s division to “move upon the enemy’s works.” Fighting flared for a couple of hours, but the Yankees ceased firing and both sides glared at each other for the rest of the day. Brig. Gen. Claudius Sears’s and Brig. Gen. Joseph B. Palmer’s infantry brigades joined Forrest’s command in the evening, further swelling his numbers.

On the morning of the 7th, Maj. Gen. Lovell Rousseau, commanding all of the forces at Murfreesboro, sent two brigades out under Brig. Gen. Robert Milroy on the Salem Pike to feel out the enemy. These troops engaged the Confederates and fighting continued. At one point some of Forrest’s troops broke and ran causing disorder in the Rebel ranks; even entreaties from Forrest and Bate did not stem the rout of these units. The rest of Forrest’s command conducted an orderly retreat from the field and encamped for the night outside Murfreesboro. Forrest had destroyed railroad track, blockhouses, and some homes and generally disrupted Union operations in the area, but he did not accomplish much else. The raid on Murfreesboro was a minor irritation. (NPS summary)

v • d • e

Franklin-Nashville Campaign, September-December 1864

Allatoona \-- Decatur \-- Johnsonville \-- Columbia \-- Spring Hill \-- 2nd Franklin \-- 3rd Murfreesboro \-- Nashville

v • d • e

Battles of the American Civil War: 1864

Eastern Theater|

Morton's Ford \-- Walkerton \-- Plymouth \-- Albemarle Sound \-- The Wilderness \-- Port Walthall Junction \-- Todd's Tavern \-- Cloyd’s Mountain \-- Spotsylvania Court House \-- Swift Creek \-- Chester Station \-- Cove Mountain \-- Yellow Tavern \-- Proctor's Creek \-- New Market \-- Ware Bottom Church \-- North Anna \-- Wilson’s Wharf \-- Haw's Shop \-- Totopotomoy Creek \-- Old Church \-- Cold Harbor \-- Piedmont \-- 1st Petersburg \-- Trevilian Station \-- Jerusalem Plank Road \-- 2nd Petersburg \-- Lynchburg \-- Saint Mary's Church \-- Staunton River Bridge \-- Sappony Church \-- Monocacy \-- Fort Stevens \-- Heaton's Crossroads \-- Cool Spring \-- Rutherford's Farm \-- 2nd Kernstown \-- 1st Ream's Station \-- 1st Deep Bottom \-- The Crater \-- Folck's Mill \-- Moorefield \-- 2nd Deep Bottom \-- Guard Hill \-- Globe Tavern \-- Summit Point \-- Smithfield Crossing \-- 2nd Ream's Station \-- Berryville \-- Beefsteak Raid \-- Opequon \-- Fisher's Hill \-- Chaffin's Farm \-- Peebles' Farm \-- Darbytown and New Market Roads \-- Darbytown Road \-- Tom's Brook \-- Cedar Creek \-- Boydton Plank Road \-- Fair Oaks & Darbytown Road \-- Rainbow Bluff Expedition \-- 1st Fort Fisher \-- Fort Branch

Western Theater|

Dandridge \-- Athens \-- Fair Garden \-- Meridian \-- Okolona \-- 1st Dalton \-- Paducah \-- Fort Pillow \-- Rocky Face Ridge \-- Resaca \-- Adairsville \-- New Hope Church \-- Dallas \-- Pickett's Mill \-- Marietta \-- Brice's Crossroads \-- Cynthiana \-- Kolb's Farm \-- Kennesaw Mountain \-- Pace's Ferry \-- Tupelo \-- Peachtree Creek\-- Atlanta \-- Ezra Church \-- Brown's Mill \-- Utoy Creek \-- 2nd Dalton \-- Lovejoy's Station \-- Mobile Bay \-- Fort Gaines \-- 2nd Memphis \-- Fort Morgan \-- Jonesborough \-- 1st Saltville \-- Allatoona \-- Decatur \-- Johnsonville \-- Bull's Gap \-- Griswoldville \-- Columbia \-- Buck Head Creek \-- Honey Hill \-- Spring Hill \-- 2nd Franklin \-- Waynesboro \-- 3rd Murfreesboro\-- Altamaha Bridge \-- 2nd Fort McAllister \-- Nashville \-- Marion \-- 2nd Saltville

Trans-Mississippi Theater|

Fort De Russy \-- Elkin’s Ferry \-- Mansfield \-- Pleasant Hill \-- Prairie D'Ane \-- Blair's Landing \-- Monett's Ferry \-- Poison Spring \-- Marks' Mills \-- Jenkins' Ferry \-- Calcasieu Pass \-- Mansura \-- Yellow Bayou \-- Old River Lake \-- Killdeer Mountain \-- Fort Davidson \-- Glasgow \-- 2nd Lexington \-- Little Blue River \-- 2nd Independence \-- Byram's Ford \-- Westport \-- Marais des Cygnes \-- Marmiton River \-- Mine Creek \-- 2nd Newtonia

Lower Seaboard Theater|

Olustee \-- Gainesville

Naval|

Hunley vs Housatonic \-- Cherbourg