The Battle of Franklin

The Battle of Franklin. Cavalry in the Battle. On the morning of November 30, 1864, some 5,000 Federal cavalrymen under Gen. James H. Wilson were in this area. Most were located to your right front, east of the Harpeth River, but Gen. John T. Croxton’s brigade remained west of the river. By late in the morning, Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest’s 5,000 cavalrymen reached Franklin, and some began skirmishing with Croxton’s troopers. Forrest soon advocated crossing the Harpeth to the east in an effort to flank the main Federal army. But the Union cavalry, a Union infantry division and reserve Federal artillery pieces near Fort Granger mad any flanking movement a difficult proposition. Confederate Gen. John Bell Hood opted against Forrest’s proposal and instead ordered a frontal assault against the main Federal line., In the Confederate cavalry attack, Gen. James R. Chalmers’s division moved against the Federal west flank one mile northwest (1.6km) to your left but was unable to achieve any success. Gen. Abraham Buford’s division moved north along Lewisburg Pike and encountered Croxton’s troopers. Buford eventually pushed them back across the river at McGavock’s Ford to your right but had little success otherwise. About .9 miles southeast of here, Gen. William H. Jackson’s division crossed the Harpeth River at Hughes’s Ford and engaged Gen. Edward Hatch’s horsemen. After a brief but intense fight, Hatch forced Jackson’s troops back to the river’s western side. At all three points, the Federals held their flanks and enabled the remaining Union forces to concentrate against the Confederate infantry assault., (sidebar) , Among the military units that fought at the battle of Franklin was Company F, 4th Tennessee Cavalry Regiment (CSA). That company was organized here in John McGavock’s grove in 1861.