AFTER THE BATTLE OF NASHVILLE At the subsequent meeting of these two forces at the Battle of Nashville on December 15-16, 1864, the U.S. won a decisive victory, shattering the Confederate Army of Tennessee. As the Confederates retreated, there were a small number of minor engagements near Franklin. On December 17, there was a sharp fight near Holly Tree Gap and a subsequent charge on the Confederate line. Federal troops advanced on Confederate forces as they crossed the Harpeth River via a railroad trestle bridge and a temporary pontoon bridge. A Confederate battery provided cover as the remainder of the Confederate troops entered Franklin and destroyed the bridges. Confederate Lt. Gen. Stephen D. Lee ordered a retreat. They proceeded south along Columbia Pike with U.S. forces in pursuit. The two sides engaged briefly near Winstead hill and then again near sundown along the West Harpeth River. The engagement along the west Harpeth devolved into vicious hand to hand combat. Additional skirmishes continued until January 1, 1865, when the Confederate forces crossed the Tennessee River. DAILY LIFE IN FRANKLIN The Civil War greatly impacted the daily lives of the town’s residents. Troops movements through the town were common in the first two years of the war, but when Federal troops arrived in early 1863 everything changed. That spring Fort Granger was constructed over the course of several weeks and encampments sprung up in and around the large military installation. Simultaneously, emancipation spread like fire across Middle Tennessee following the formal onset of the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863. While Tennessee was exempted from the proclamation, such technicalities were irrelevant to the enslaved. Escaped men, women, and children, numbering in the many hundreds, sought their own freedom and began to arrive in Franklin from the rural areas of Williamson County. At Fort Granger, thousands of soldiers who built the earthen fortification along the east side of the Harpeth River, on Figuers Bluff, set up encampments. They had to learn how to fortify the town and immediate vicinity and simultaneously deal with the humanitarian crisis related to escaped slaves. 1864 1865 On December 16, the U.S. won a decisive victory, shattering the Confederate Army of Tennessee. Battle of Nashville On January 1, 1865, the Confederate forces crosses the Tennessee River, ending the ongoing conflict. ( Source: Digital Commonwealth) On April 9, 1865 Gen. Robert E. Lee surrenders to Union forces. The war officially ends on August 20, 1866. Downtown Franklin rapidly expands following the war Civil War Ends 48 FRANKLIN, TN | PRESERVATION PLAN
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