Battle of Franklin | Animated Battle Map

After the fall of Atlanta on September 1, 1864, John Bell Hood and his 30,000 men raced to Tennessee, hoping to divert William T. Sherman’s attention by threatening his supply base at Nashville. Sherman did not take the bait, and instead dispatched John Schofield’s Army of the Ohio, 30,000 strong, to protect Nashville while the rest of Sherman’s army simply left their supply line behind and marched to the Atlantic coast. 25,000 Union soldiers under George Thomas were entrenched in Nashville; if Schofield could reach them before Hood, he would command a numerical advantage on the battlefield. Hood’s hopes for a successful campaign rested on defeating Schofield before the two forces joined. After a missed opportunity at the Battle of Spring Hill on November 29, Hood pursued Schofield to the town of Franklin, Tennessee, where the members of the American Battlefield Trust have proudly saved 182 acres of the battlefield. The American Battlefield Trust's Animated Map Collection tells the story of America’s defining conflicts through compelling story telling, state of the art graphics and live action video. The American Battlefield Trust preserves America’s hallowed battlegrounds and educates the public about what happened there and why it matters. We permanently protect these battlefields for future generations as a lasting and tangible memorial to the brave soldiers who fought in the American Revolution, the War of 1812, and the Civil War.