Third Battle of Murfreesboro The Third Battle of Murfreesboro , also known as Wilkinson Pike or the Cedars , was fought December 5 – 7 , 1864 , in Rutherford County , Tennessee , as part of the Franklin - Nashville Campaign of the American Civil War . Background . In a last , desperate attempt to force Maj . Gen . William T . Sherman ' s Union army out of Georgia , Gen . John Bell Hood led the Army of Tennessee north toward Nashville in November 1864 . Although he suffered a terrible loss at Franklin , he continued toward Nashville . In operating against Nashville , he decided that destruction of the Nashville & Chattanooga Railroad and disruption of the Union army supply depot at Murfreesboro would help his cause . He sent Maj . Gen . Nathan Bedford Forrest , on December 4 , with an expedition composed of two cavalry divisions and Maj . Gen . William B . Bate ' s infantry division to Murfreesboro , Tennessee . Battle . On December 2 , Hood had ordered Bate to destroy the railroad and blockhouses between Murfreesboro and Nashville and join Forrest for further operations . On December 4 , Bate ' s division attacked Blockhouse No . 7 protecting the railroad crossing at Overall Creek , but Union forces fought it off . On the morning of December 5 , Forrest headed out toward Murfreesboro , splitting his force , one column to attack the fort on the hill and the other to take Blockhouse No . 4 , both at La Vergne . Upon his demand for surrender at both locations , the Union garrisons did so . Outside La Vergne , Forrest hooked up with Bate ' s division and the command advanced on to Murfreesboro along two roads , driving the Union forces into their Fortress Rosecrans fortifications , and encamped in the city outskirts for the night . The next morning , on December 6 , Forrest ordered Bate ' s division to " move upon the enemy ’ s works . " Fighting flared for a couple of hours , but the Union troops ceased firing and both sides glared at each other for the rest of the day . Brig . Gen . Claudius W . Sears ' s and Brig . Gen . Joseph B . Palmer ' s infantry brigades joined Forrest ' s command in the evening , further swelling his numbers . On the morning of December 7 , Maj . Gen . Lovell Rousseau , commanding all of the forces at Murfreesboro , sent two brigades out under Brig . Gen . Robert H . Milroy on the Salem Pike to feel out the enemy . These brigades were led by Col . Minor T . Thomas , a veteran of the Dakota War , and Col . Edward Anderson . With Thomas ' brigade forming the first line of battle and Anderson forming the second , Milroy engaged the Confederates and fighting continued . At one point some of Forrest ' s troops broke and ran causing disorder in the Confederate ranks ; even entreaties from Forrest and Bate did not stem the rout of these units . The rest of Forrest ' s command conducted an orderly retreat from the field and encamped for the night outside Murfreesboro . Forrest had destroyed railroad track , blockhouses , and some homes and generally disrupted Union operations in the area , but he did not accomplish much else . The raid on Murfreesboro was a minor irritation , and Forrest was absent at the Battle of Nashville . Order of battle . Union . District of Tennessee - Maj . Gen . Lovell H . Rousseau Confederate . Cavalry Corps - Maj . Gen . Nathan B . Forrest Attached Infantry