Confederate Movements After Sunset

Confederate Movements After Sunset. November 29, 1864. After the sun set, Confederate plans began to quietly fall apart. Hood appeared confident that Forrest held the pike north of Spring Hill, and thus was not unduly concerned with cutting the pike south of town. Hood’s orders suggest an unfamiliarity with the terrain. To add to the confusion, division commanders began to receive conflicting orders from Hood and Cheatham., While Cheatham’s orders were aimed at an assault on Spring Hill to the north, Hood continued to issue orders orienting movements towards the pike to the west. Hood’s men had made long and exhausting march, they were unfamiliar with the terrain, and it was pitch dark. The tired and confused Confederate army sat down for the night, cooked supper and went to sleep. John Bell Hood later stated that this movement on Spring Hill had been “the best move in my career as a soldier… I was thus destined to behold to naught.”