The consequences of the Battle of Nashville, which took place December 15-16, 1864, are still being debated, but one thing is certain: the Union victory there marked a major turning point in the War of 1861. After losing three battles in a row, including Spring Hill (November 29) and Franklin (November 30), Confederate General John Bell Hood and his troops were forced to flee southward, leaving the all-important region of Middle Tennessee largely under Union control. Confederate power in the Western Theater had been vanquished, for as Yankees loudly and proudly proclaimed, they had crushed the backbone of the rebellion, a victory that helped lead to Lee’s surrender at Appomattox just a few months later.
There are serious problems with this simplistic view, however. The Union win at Nashville was not a remarkable display of Northern military skill, nor was the Confederate defeat an illustration of the inferiority of Southern generals, as we have been taught. For one thing, the North had 82,000 soldiers at Nashville, the South a mere 20,000. In addition to a four-to-one numerical advantage, the North had unlimited funds, weaponry, ammunition, clothing, and food, while many of Hood’s men were starving, coatless, and barefoot.
As for the so-called Rebellion, the Conservative South idolized the Union and therefore would not have rebelled against it. What she was actually rebelling against was the Liberal takeover of Washington, which began with the election of Left-wing Abraham Lincoln (the two parties were reversed in the 1860s), who publicly promised to overthrow the Constitution in order to implement his progressive policies. Furthermore, the Confederate Cause was not slavery, racism, or treason, as our history books falsely preach. It was, and still is, conservatism, a principle that is stronger and more alive today than ever before. Clearly the backbone of the rebellion was not crushed at Nashville!
So what are the facts about this famous conflict? In his book The Battle of Nashville: Recollections of Confederate and Union Soldiers, award-winning author and historian Colonel Lochlainn Seabrook allows those who were there to answer this question. After reading the 30 eyewitness accounts he provides, the reader will have a much better understanding of the conflict, of the battles that led up to Nashville (which was never meant to be fought), and even of the War itself. Illustrated with rare images and generously footnoted, Col. Seabrook also includes a thought-provoking introduction, battle statistics, 19th-Century maps, a pertinent appendix, and a comprehensive bibliography. A companion to his classic books The Battle of Spring Hill and The Battle of Franklin, The Battle of Nashville is available in paperback and hardcover.
Col. Seabrook’s other titles include: Abraham Lincoln Was a Liberal, Jefferson Davis Was a Conservative; Everything You Were Taught About the Civil War is Wrong, Ask a Southerner!; Lincoln’s War: The Real Cause, the Real Winner, the Real Loser; Confederate Monuments: Why Every American Should Honor Confederate Soldiers and Their Memorials.