Nashville: The Siren's Song of the Western Confederacy

By Greg Biggs

Presentation to CCWRT on 21 May 2009, Summarized by Dan Bauer

©Cincinnati CWRT, 2009

Greg Biggs gave us a 45 minute fast paced, rapid fire talk summarizing the movements of the Confederate armies in the western theater during the entire Civil War. The main point Mr. Biggs seemed to make was that while many historians see the Confederate effort in the west only in terms of a disjointed reaction to what the Federals were doing, in actuality the Confederates were consistently trying to achieve one overriding goal. They wanted to recapture of the city of Nashville.

So where did he come up with the term Siren’s Song? In Homer’s Odyssey, Ulysses was warned to beware of Sirens who lived on islands in the Aegean Sea surrounded by cliffs and rocks. Sailors who sailed near were compelled by the Siren’s enchanting music and voices to shipwreck on the rocky coast. Much like Sirens of Greek mythology, Mr. Biggs thinks the allure of recapturing Nashville was to doom the Confederate effort in the west. To this point, Greg sees the war in the west as five separate failed initiatives by the Confederates to retake Nashville. His talk broke down these five attempts in terms of the key players, the execution, and then the results.

Once Confederate forces were routed from Forts Henry and Donelson, in February, 1862, Confederate commanders decided that any further effort to defend the poorly fortified Nashville would be pointless, and they abandoned the city. It was the cheapest land grab of Union military during the entire Civil War. The city was almost immediately occupied by Union forces which rapidly began preparing fortifications. Two of the Union-constructed forts mentioned by Mr. Biggs were Fort Negley and Fort Casino. The loss of Nashville, due to its being an industrial, agricultural, and transportation center, was a huge political blow to the state and the Confederacy as a whole. The Confederates were desperate to come up with a plan to regain Nashville.

The first effort to regain Nashville was for the Army of Mississippi to move north from Corinth, strike Beull’s army at Pittsburgh Landing, move up the Tennessee River and then retake Nashville. In opposition, the Union plan was to take Corinth. The result was the Battle of Shiloh on April 6-7, 1862. Unfortunately the Confederates lost the element of surprise, Albert Sydney Johnston died, and Buell showed up on the second day of the battle. The battle ends with the Confederates falling back to Corinth. Thus, the first attempt to retake Nashville fails.

The second effort to capture Nashville is the Kentucky campaign. Kirby Smith, who has taken over in Chattanooga, thinks that if he invades Kentucky, 25,000 Kentuckians will join the Confederacy. Meanwhile, Bragg wants to take Nashville by maneuver. The plan is a good one except that Jefferson Davis fails to appoint an overall commander. Although they are able to recruit 6,000 to 7,000 troops, they are not able to recruit more because there is no guarantee the Confederates can stay in KY. The campaign ends with the Battle of Perryville on October 8th, 1862 and the plan to recapture Nashville is put on hold.

The third effort to capture Nashville is Stone’s River campaign. Breckinridge was told to hold the railroad junction at Murfreesboro and prevent the Federals from advancing down the Stone’s River. The ultimate Confederate goal, after destroying Rosecrans’ army on the banks of the Stone’s River, was to retake Nashville. Unfortunately for Bragg, just before the battle, he lost some of his strength when Jefferson Davis ordered the division of Carter Stevens to go to Mississippi. The campaign ends as a stalemate with the battle of Stone’s River on Jan 1-3, 1863.

The fourth effort to capture Nashville is the Chickamauga campaign. Although Bragg had been outmaneuvered and forced out of Tennessee with the Tullahoma campaign, Bragg along with help from Longstreet had plans to bag each corps of Rosecrans’ army as they came out of the mountains and then move onto Nashville. The result was the September 19th and 20th Battle of Chickamauga. Although Bragg is able to defeat Rosecrans at Chickamauga and retake Chattanooga, due to logistical problems, the redeployment of Longstreet to Knoxville, and the difficulty of terrain, they are unable to launch a campaign to retake Nashville.

The fifth attempt to regain Nashville is Hood’s action after the fall of Atlanta in October of 1864. Because Hood has only 35,000 troops while the Union is able to counter with the armies of Thomas and Schofield totaling 70,000 troops, the plan is doomed from the outset. Any hope of success effectively ends with the Battle of Franklin November 30th, 1864, a battle which does not need to happen. Still, Hood sticks to his plan and presses on to Nashville with the remnants of his battered army. On December 15th and 16th, Hood’s army is smashed on the rocks just south of Nashville by George Thomas, just like what happened with the sailors of Greek mythology upon hearing the song of the Sirens.