Battle of Columbia The Battle of Columbia was a series of military actions that took place November 24 – 29 , 1864 , in Maury County , Tennessee , as part of the Franklin - Nashville Campaign of the American Civil War . It concluded the movement of Lt . Gen . John Bell Hood ' s Confederate Army of Tennessee from the Tennessee River in northern Alabama to Columbia , Tennessee , and across the Duck River . A Union force under Maj . Gen . John M . Schofield skirmished with Hood ' s cavalry , commanded by Maj . Gen . Nathan Bedford Forrest , and fortified a defensive line south of Columbia , but soon withdrew north across the Duck River , abandoning the town . Hood ' s invasion of Tennessee continued as he attempted to intercept Schofield ' s retreating army at Spring Hill . Background . Following his defeat in the Atlanta Campaign , Hood had hoped to lure Maj . Gen . William T . Sherman into battle by disrupting his supply lines from Chattanooga to Atlanta . After a brief period in which he pursued Hood , Sherman elected instead to conduct his March to the Sea from Atlanta to Savannah , Georgia . He left forces under the command of Maj . Gen . George H . Thomas , the commander of the Army of the Cumberland , to defend Tennessee and defeat Hood : principally the IV Corps from the Army of the Cumberland , commanded by Maj . Gen . David S . Stanley , and the XXIII Corps from the Army of the Ohio , commanded by Maj . Gen . John Schofield . Hood moved through northern Alabama and his corps under Lt . Gen . Stephen D . Lee crossed the Tennessee River at Florence from October 30 to November 2 , with the remainder of his army encamped south of the river at Tuscumbia . He waited there for almost three weeks while his commissary officers attempted to provide 20 days supply of rations for the upcoming campaign . This was a difficult assignment because the supply line was tenuous , requiring transport on two railroads , followed by 15 miles on poor roads to Tuscumbia , using wagons pulled by undernourished horses and oxen . Hood also wanted to wait for the arrival of Nathan Bedford Forrest , who was engaged in a cavalry raid against Thomas ' s supply lines , highlighted by his victory at the Battle of Johnsonville on November 4 – 5 . During the first week of November , raids by the 2nd Michigan Cavalry under Brig . Gen . John T . Croxton damaged the pontoon bridge that Hood had erected across the Tennessee River . After repairs were affected , Hood transferred his headquarters to Florence on the morning of November 13 and Maj . Gen . Benjamin F . Cheatham ' s corps marched across the river that day with the army ' s supply trains and cattle following on November 14 . The final corps , under Lt . Gen . Alexander P . Stewart , crossed the Tennessee on November 20 . On November 16 , Hood received word that Sherman was about to depart Atlanta for his March to the Sea . There was no realistic possibility that Hood could return to Georgia from his current location to challenge Sherman ' s advance , so he focused his strategy on an alternative plan : move north into Tennessee , defeat Thomas ' s army before it could concentrate , seize the important manufacturing center of Nashville , and continue north into Kentucky , possibly as far as the Ohio River . From this point , he could travel east to Virginia to join up with Gen . Robert E . Lee at Petersburg . His theater commander , Gen . P . G . T . Beauregard , urged Hood to take immediate action in an attempt to distract Sherman ' s advance , emphasizing the importance of moving before Thomas could consolidate his forces . Both Sherman and Thomas considered it likely that Hood would follow Sherman through Georgia . Although Thomas received intelligence that Hood was amassing supplies for a movement north , he discounted most of it — heavy rains during November made the roads almost impassable . As he received reports of Confederate movements 14 miles north of Florence , he was unsure what was going on . Schofield assumed it was merely a raid by Forrest ' s cavalry against the railroad between Pulaski and Columbia . By November 21 , Thomas had evidence that all three of Hood ' s corps were in motion and he directed Schofield to withdraw gradually to the north to protect Columbia before Hood could seize it . Schofield arrived at Pulaski on the night of November 13 and assumed command of all forces there , including the IV Corps . Thomas remained concerned that 10 , 000 troops from the XVI Corps , commanded by Maj . Gen . Andrew J . Smith , had not arrived as promised reinforcements from Missouri . Movement to Columbia . Hood ' s headquarters departed Florence at 10 a . m . on November 21 , accompanied by Cheatham ' s corps toward Waynesboro , which they reached on November 23 . The army marched in three columns , with Cheatham on the left , Lee in the center , and Stewart on the right , all screened by Forrest ' s cavalry . Hood ' s plan was to consolidate his army at Mount Pleasant and from there move to the east to cut off Schofield before he could reach Columbia and the Duck River . The rapid forced march 70 miles north was under miserable conditions , with freezing winds and sleet , which made progress difficult for the underfed and underclothed army . Nevertheless , Hood ' s men were in good spirits as they returned to Tennessee . Because of Forrest ' s relentless screening , Schofield had no idea where the Confederate Army was headed . The aggressive Forrest had a considerable advantage over his Union cavalry opponents , commanded by Maj . Gen . James H . Wilson . Wilson had arrived from the Eastern Theater in late October to reorganize and command Thomas ' s cavalry , but he possessed only 4 , 300 horsemen , scattered around the theater in numerous small units , compared to 10 , 000 men unified under Forrest . The Confederate cavalry advanced to Mount Pleasant by November 23 . Croxton ' s brigade was hopelessly outnumbered against Forrest , so Thomas reinforced him with a division under Brig . Gen . Edward Hatch and a brigade under Col . Horace Capron . Forrest kept up the pressure and on November 23 heavy skirmishing occurred from Henryville to the outskirts of Mount Pleasant . At Fouche Springs ( near present day Summertown ) that evening , the Confederate cavalrymen raided one of Capron ' s encampments , throwing them into chaos and capturing over 50 prisoners . Forrest came close to becoming a casualty as he mistakenly rode into a small group of Federals . One of his staff officers , Maj . John P . Strange , deflected the arm of a Union soldier who was aiming his pistol directly at Forrest ' s chest at close range and the bullet narrowly missed . The survivors from Capron ' s brigade fled toward Columbia . To the east , Forrest ' s divisions under Brig . Gens . Abraham Buford and William H . Jackson forced Hatch ' s division out of the Lawrenceburg area and drove them back toward Pulaski . Early on November 24 , Schofield began marching his two infantry corps north to Columbia . Forrest pursued aggressively with the division of Brig . Gen . James R . Chalmers , who occupied Mount Pleasant and hit Capron ' s men repeatedly as he forced them north . Capron ' s brigade was reduced from 1 , 200 to 800 men during the retreat to Columbia . Buford and Jackson drove Hatch north toward Lynnville and captured a number of prisoners , but the Confederate cavalry was unable to prevent the Northern infantry from reaching Columbia . The 5 , 000 - man division of Brig . Gen . Jacob D . Cox reached Columbia only a few hours before Forrest ' s men could seize the river crossings and Stanley ' s corps completed a 30 - mile march from Pulaski to reinforce him . Together they began constructing an arc of trenches just south of the town . Columbia . On the morning of November 24 , Forrest ' s cavalry drove Capron ' s men through Cox ' s line south of Columbia and began probing attacks in an attempt to break through . The line straddled the Mount Pleasant Pike ( present day U . S . Route 43 ) just north of Bigby Creek and then continued eastward across the Pulaski Pike into the town , curving northward toward the river . By November 25 , this line was supplemented with an interior line that roughly encompassed the entire residential area of Columbia . The Confederates bombarded the lines with artillery and a number of skirmishes occurred , but it became apparent to the Union defenders that only a single infantry division with some dismounted cavalry were participating in the attacks and that Hood was merely demonstrating , intending to cross the Duck River either upstream or downstream and cut off the Union force from Thomas , who was assembling the remainder of his force in Nashville . On the morning of November 26 , Schofield received an order from Thomas to hold the north bank of the Duck River until reinforcements under A . J . Smith could arrive from Nashville . Schofield planned to move his trains during the day and his infantry overnight , using a railroad bridge and a recently installed pontoon bridge , but heavy rains that day made approaches to the bridge impassable . That evening , the bulk of the Army of Tennessee reached the fortifications south of Columbia . On November 28 , Forrest crossed the river east of town against little resistance from the Union cavalry ; the Southern cavalrymen had deceived Wilson and drawn his force to the northeast and away from the action . At the same time , Hood assigned the bulk of Lee ' s corps and almost all of his artillery to remain at Columbia and lead Schofield to believe that he was planning a major attack against the town . Instead , he marched Cheatham ' s and Stewart ' s corps across the Duck River on a pontoon bridge assembled at Davis ' s Ford . Aftermath . No casualties were officially recorded at the " Battle of Columbia " , which consisted primarily of demonstrations , artillery fire , and almost - unopposed maneuvers . Hood ' s army successfully turned Schofield at Columbia and proceeded north toward Spring Hill in an attempt to isolate the Union force and destroy it .