Advancing With Scott's Brigade

Advancing With Scott's Brigade. Following in Their Footsteps. (preface) , This walkway traces the route that the men of Confederate Gen. Thomas M. Scott’s brigade took in the Battle of Franklin. Read below to see what it was like then and to follow in their footsteps , Distance to Union Lines: 1,500 yards (1,370 m) , Local Time: 4:35 pm, November 30, 1864, During the previous nine days, Confederate Gen. Thomas M. Scott’s brigade marched more than 120 miles (193 km) through winter weather and fought several skirmishes to reach this field. Consisting of five regiments from Alabama plus another from Louisiana, the brigade included many men without shoes, coats, and blankets. Food was scarce. The day was very warm for late November, near 60 degrees Fahrenheit (15 degrees Celsius), and the good weather lifted their spirits., Marching in columns from the south, Scott’s men began to fan out into battle lines to attack the Union defenses. To your left, the rest of the Army of Tennessee stretched westward in similar parallel lines. The assaulting force was so large that much of it was out of sight from here, hidden by the softly rolling hills and the army’s vast breadth of more than two miles (3.2km)., At this point the brigade was within range of Union rifled artillery. Percussion shells and bursting fuse shells exploded here, splintering trees and shattering men. Shooting back with rifled muskets was futile, as Scott’s men had to march at least ten more minutes before the Union defenses came within small-arms range. The Federals were so well protected by high ground and earthworks that the Confederates needed to move even closer to fire with any effect.