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The Fifth Battle of Murfreesboro - Preparation, Action, and Aftermath
As the winter began giving way to spring, the Union commander with the greatest degree of numerical superiority over his opponent began to grow restless. That commander was Ambrose Burnside, who had attempted immediately before winter set in to attack the smaller Confederate forces stationed in Murfreesboro. With the reinforcements he'd received over the winter, Burnside was eager to march south and quickly drive out Forrest, seizing the vital railway depot of Murfreesboro, relieving potential pressure on Nashville, and once more threatening Chattanooga.
Forrest, meanwhile, had been preparing all winter for an inevitable attack from Burnside. He'd heavily fortified the town, as well as the heights to the north, and along much of the river. By early March, Confederates had established a deep series of trenches, palisades, and stone-covered dugouts throughout and near the city. The men themselves were the veterans of 3 years of fighting on the eastern front, and were relentlessly drilled over the course of the winter. There were some who had been in all four battles in Murfreesboro. Their federal counterparts consisted largely of inexperienced garrison troops and fresh recruits- however, they outnumbered Forrest's forces roughly two-and-a-half to one, and were receiving progressively advanced, powerful arms in comparison- Joslyn M1864 carbines, Moore M1864 revolvers among cavalry, and interestingly, two new Gatling guns purchased directly by Burnside. Union commanders had viewed the weapon with some interest since 1862, but it was not officially accepted by the upper command, and had yet to be tested in combat. Burnside had requested the government purchase a number of them to assist Union forces across all fronts, believing that it was in the Union's best interest to leverage its large economy and production capabilities to focus on overwhelming firepower and military hardware, rather than expending large numbers of men in combat, which would, and had, made the populous of the Union war-weary. When his request was refused, Burnside personally spent money to acquire two of them, hoping to prove in battle the effectiveness of the weapon.
Meanwhile, most of the arms among Confederate troops were about a decade old, with a small number even sporting ancient smoothbores from around the time of the Mexican-American war, though by this point they had nearly been entirely phased out of the Confederate military. The arms were inferior, but familiar to the men who wielded them, who generally possessed enormous experience in hunting prior to the war- in fact, a large number of men within the Confederate army under Forrest had been using the same weapons since the war started, and even before.
These were the circumstances leading into the Fifth Battle of Murfreesboro- Burnside, desperate to dislodge Forrest to turn the tide of the war, open up a path to Chattanooga, restore his reputation, and prove the value of not only the guns, but his doctrinal idea of hardware supremacy, and Forrest, desperate to repulse Burnside in order to leave a large buffer protecting the deep south, decrease the numerical advantage of Burnside, and keep federal morale low, with the hope of finally causing the Union to come to the negotiating table. Burnside held an overwhelming advantage in numbers and weaponry, but commanded inexperienced, demoralized men. Forrest was severely outnumbered and outgunned, but commanded hardened, experienced veterans, and occupied some of the best defensive fortifications of the war up to that point.
The battle would begin on the dawn of March 7th, with Burnside maneuvering a large portion of his forces to the northwest of the city. An artillery duel would begin at around 10:00 AM, and despite the larger number of superior Union pieces, Confederate artillery, stationed in high positions on the ridges north of the city, held a major advantage, and were able to delay a Union advance for hours, harassing Union engineers as they attempted to build pontoons to cross Stones River. Burnside, having learned from his failure at the Battle of Fredericksburg, would attempt to flank Forrest's fortifications and attack from multiple sides, preventing him from focusing his smaller forces on guarding a single lane of approach. Forrest, however, was prepared for the possibility of such an attack, and had stationed a large force under the command of John Bell Hood near the Lebanon Turnpike. They would encounter Union forces at roughly 1:30 PM, who had expected little resistance until reaching the city's fortifications, and would be quickly repulsed. Hood's men would pursue the retreating federal forces, inflicting a large number of casualties before halting at a position between two ridges to the northeast of the city.
Meanwhile, Burnside's forces would cross the shallower portion of Stones River to the north of the town. They were initially repulsed, but another assault allowed them to secure holds at multiple points on the Confederate side of the river. They quickly encountered Confederate trenches among the ridges north of Murfreesboro. By this point, the Union advances in the west and northeast had almost entirely stalled, and Burnside decided to funnel the majority of his forces to the north of the city, where they were making slow but costly progress. As Union troops troops crossed the river, Hood launched a sudden assault to cut off their retreat. Facing fire from both the south and east, Burnside was faced with the difficult decision to pull out or risk his troops being encircled. Desperate to secure a victory, he halted the advance from the east and pulled a large number of troops to reinforce his men that had crossed the river in the north.
As Burnside's lines in the east grew thinner and weaker, Forrest would launch a counter-attack. While it initially pushed Burnside's lines back, they quickly recovered, and with the Confederate forces outside of their fortifications, it dragged into a stalemate. Meanwhile, federal troops pushing southwards had stalled, as the Confederate trenches were proving immensely difficult to push through. As the fight devolved into a bloody, close-quarters affair on all fronts, all elements of strategy began to break down, and the battle simply became a brutal, violent contest of wills.
After 2 more hours of fighting, the inexperienced, demoralized recruits under Burnside broke, and fled. Hood's forces swept across the north, cutting off many of the federal forces that had advanced beyond Stones River. The remainder of Hood's men attempted to pursue Burnside, but were repulsed by a desperate, last-minute rearguard action. Meanwhile, the men that had been surrounded and trapped by the river and ridges surrendered, though by that point most of Burnside's army had escaped.
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The first major battle of 1864 had been a disaster for the Union. What had seemed as though it would be an easy victory to begin a successful offensive season, and swing momentum back in the Union's favor, had been a costly, pointless failure. Burnside, for yet another humiliating loss, would be demoted and sent out of service for the remainder of the war. Taking his place was Brig. Gen. Robert Brown Potter, who would rapidly fortify Nashville in preparation for a Confederate attack. The Gatling guns which Burnside had staunchly campaigned for had shown little value during the battle, and due to both pieces being captured by Confederate forces during the battle, would not get another chance for some time to prove their worth.
Meanwhile, Forrest's army was in absolutely no shape to advance. While they had dealt a hefty blow to Burnside's forces, inflicting roughly 10,500 casualties, most of whom were prisoners captured during the encirclement, in comparison to the 4,000 received by his own men, that left Forrest with a mere 7,500 men, a pale shadow of the roughly 19,000 men he'd commanded upon splitting from the greater Confederate Army of Tennessee. While regarded by some as a reckless butcher, the victories he'd won were stunning. He'd beaten larger Union forces time and time again, in offensive and defensive battles, seizing and holding Murfreesboro from a number of federal threats to southern and eastern Tennessee. He'd inflicted enormous casualties on a number of Union commanders, and captured thousands of prisoners. In a way, it felt to many like a return to the days of T.J. Jackson- a constant string of incompetent Union generals coming in, one after the other, only to be defeated and replaced by the next in line. While there were few who weren't at least somewhat wary of Forrest's small force being in such a vulnerable position, hopes remained high among the Confederacy, especially as Gen. Price continued to retake more of Arkansas from the skeleton garrison left there, and Confederate forces in the Indian Territories scored a decisive victory at Cabin Creek after launching a surprise campaign northwards.
As Forrest's men experimented around with their captured Gatling guns and continued to harden their defenses, the Union forces of the region simply diverted most reinforcements and supplies elsewhere, primarily to Grant's army. The hope among federal forces was that Grant would sweep through Tennessee, defeat Longstreet and force an unconditional surrender, re-unite with Sherman, and continue east, crushing the remains of Forrest's remaining army, seizing Chattanooga, and either move into Georgia and wreak havoc, or move into southern Virginia and force Lee to divide his men. Regardless of the ultimate decision of which route would be taken, the hopes of the west lay on Grant, and it seemed to many that little stood in his path towards ending the war.
Forrest, meanwhile, had been preparing all winter for an inevitable attack from Burnside. He'd heavily fortified the town, as well as the heights to the north, and along much of the river. By early March, Confederates had established a deep series of trenches, palisades, and stone-covered dugouts throughout and near the city. The men themselves were the veterans of 3 years of fighting on the eastern front, and were relentlessly drilled over the course of the winter. There were some who had been in all four battles in Murfreesboro. Their federal counterparts consisted largely of inexperienced garrison troops and fresh recruits- however, they outnumbered Forrest's forces roughly two-and-a-half to one, and were receiving progressively advanced, powerful arms in comparison- Joslyn M1864 carbines, Moore M1864 revolvers among cavalry, and interestingly, two new Gatling guns purchased directly by Burnside. Union commanders had viewed the weapon with some interest since 1862, but it was not officially accepted by the upper command, and had yet to be tested in combat. Burnside had requested the government purchase a number of them to assist Union forces across all fronts, believing that it was in the Union's best interest to leverage its large economy and production capabilities to focus on overwhelming firepower and military hardware, rather than expending large numbers of men in combat, which would, and had, made the populous of the Union war-weary. When his request was refused, Burnside personally spent money to acquire two of them, hoping to prove in battle the effectiveness of the weapon.
Meanwhile, most of the arms among Confederate troops were about a decade old, with a small number even sporting ancient smoothbores from around the time of the Mexican-American war, though by this point they had nearly been entirely phased out of the Confederate military. The arms were inferior, but familiar to the men who wielded them, who generally possessed enormous experience in hunting prior to the war- in fact, a large number of men within the Confederate army under Forrest had been using the same weapons since the war started, and even before.
These were the circumstances leading into the Fifth Battle of Murfreesboro- Burnside, desperate to dislodge Forrest to turn the tide of the war, open up a path to Chattanooga, restore his reputation, and prove the value of not only the guns, but his doctrinal idea of hardware supremacy, and Forrest, desperate to repulse Burnside in order to leave a large buffer protecting the deep south, decrease the numerical advantage of Burnside, and keep federal morale low, with the hope of finally causing the Union to come to the negotiating table. Burnside held an overwhelming advantage in numbers and weaponry, but commanded inexperienced, demoralized men. Forrest was severely outnumbered and outgunned, but commanded hardened, experienced veterans, and occupied some of the best defensive fortifications of the war up to that point.
The battle would begin on the dawn of March 7th, with Burnside maneuvering a large portion of his forces to the northwest of the city. An artillery duel would begin at around 10:00 AM, and despite the larger number of superior Union pieces, Confederate artillery, stationed in high positions on the ridges north of the city, held a major advantage, and were able to delay a Union advance for hours, harassing Union engineers as they attempted to build pontoons to cross Stones River. Burnside, having learned from his failure at the Battle of Fredericksburg, would attempt to flank Forrest's fortifications and attack from multiple sides, preventing him from focusing his smaller forces on guarding a single lane of approach. Forrest, however, was prepared for the possibility of such an attack, and had stationed a large force under the command of John Bell Hood near the Lebanon Turnpike. They would encounter Union forces at roughly 1:30 PM, who had expected little resistance until reaching the city's fortifications, and would be quickly repulsed. Hood's men would pursue the retreating federal forces, inflicting a large number of casualties before halting at a position between two ridges to the northeast of the city.
Meanwhile, Burnside's forces would cross the shallower portion of Stones River to the north of the town. They were initially repulsed, but another assault allowed them to secure holds at multiple points on the Confederate side of the river. They quickly encountered Confederate trenches among the ridges north of Murfreesboro. By this point, the Union advances in the west and northeast had almost entirely stalled, and Burnside decided to funnel the majority of his forces to the north of the city, where they were making slow but costly progress. As Union troops troops crossed the river, Hood launched a sudden assault to cut off their retreat. Facing fire from both the south and east, Burnside was faced with the difficult decision to pull out or risk his troops being encircled. Desperate to secure a victory, he halted the advance from the east and pulled a large number of troops to reinforce his men that had crossed the river in the north.
As Burnside's lines in the east grew thinner and weaker, Forrest would launch a counter-attack. While it initially pushed Burnside's lines back, they quickly recovered, and with the Confederate forces outside of their fortifications, it dragged into a stalemate. Meanwhile, federal troops pushing southwards had stalled, as the Confederate trenches were proving immensely difficult to push through. As the fight devolved into a bloody, close-quarters affair on all fronts, all elements of strategy began to break down, and the battle simply became a brutal, violent contest of wills.
After 2 more hours of fighting, the inexperienced, demoralized recruits under Burnside broke, and fled. Hood's forces swept across the north, cutting off many of the federal forces that had advanced beyond Stones River. The remainder of Hood's men attempted to pursue Burnside, but were repulsed by a desperate, last-minute rearguard action. Meanwhile, the men that had been surrounded and trapped by the river and ridges surrendered, though by that point most of Burnside's army had escaped.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The first major battle of 1864 had been a disaster for the Union. What had seemed as though it would be an easy victory to begin a successful offensive season, and swing momentum back in the Union's favor, had been a costly, pointless failure. Burnside, for yet another humiliating loss, would be demoted and sent out of service for the remainder of the war. Taking his place was Brig. Gen. Robert Brown Potter, who would rapidly fortify Nashville in preparation for a Confederate attack. The Gatling guns which Burnside had staunchly campaigned for had shown little value during the battle, and due to both pieces being captured by Confederate forces during the battle, would not get another chance for some time to prove their worth.
Meanwhile, Forrest's army was in absolutely no shape to advance. While they had dealt a hefty blow to Burnside's forces, inflicting roughly 10,500 casualties, most of whom were prisoners captured during the encirclement, in comparison to the 4,000 received by his own men, that left Forrest with a mere 7,500 men, a pale shadow of the roughly 19,000 men he'd commanded upon splitting from the greater Confederate Army of Tennessee. While regarded by some as a reckless butcher, the victories he'd won were stunning. He'd beaten larger Union forces time and time again, in offensive and defensive battles, seizing and holding Murfreesboro from a number of federal threats to southern and eastern Tennessee. He'd inflicted enormous casualties on a number of Union commanders, and captured thousands of prisoners. In a way, it felt to many like a return to the days of T.J. Jackson- a constant string of incompetent Union generals coming in, one after the other, only to be defeated and replaced by the next in line. While there were few who weren't at least somewhat wary of Forrest's small force being in such a vulnerable position, hopes remained high among the Confederacy, especially as Gen. Price continued to retake more of Arkansas from the skeleton garrison left there, and Confederate forces in the Indian Territories scored a decisive victory at Cabin Creek after launching a surprise campaign northwards.
As Forrest's men experimented around with their captured Gatling guns and continued to harden their defenses, the Union forces of the region simply diverted most reinforcements and supplies elsewhere, primarily to Grant's army. The hope among federal forces was that Grant would sweep through Tennessee, defeat Longstreet and force an unconditional surrender, re-unite with Sherman, and continue east, crushing the remains of Forrest's remaining army, seizing Chattanooga, and either move into Georgia and wreak havoc, or move into southern Virginia and force Lee to divide his men. Regardless of the ultimate decision of which route would be taken, the hopes of the west lay on Grant, and it seemed to many that little stood in his path towards ending the war.
- Pulmonic_Consonant
- Word Count: 1.6k