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[CIVIL WAR] THOMAS, George H. "The Rock of Chickamauga" (1816-1870). General, Union Army. Autograph telegram signed ("Geo. H. Thomas") to General Lovell H. Rousseau, Nashville, [TN], 30 November 186[4]. 1 page, 8vo, neatly tipped to a separate leaf, fine.
THOMAS EXPRESSES CONFIDENCE LESS THAN AN HOUR BEFORE THE BLOODY CONFEDERATE ASSAULT AT FRANKLIN. As General John B. Hood (1831-1879) aligned his Confederate Army for a grand frontal assault upon the fortified Union position at Franklin, Tennessee, Thomas assures Rousseau (1818-1869) that they will prevail over the Confederates. Hood had led his army into Tennessee in hopes of forcing Sherman's entire army to pursue him. Sherman, determined to begin his "March to the Sea," sent Thomas with an army of 50,000 to deal with Hood. Here, as Hood prepares to attack the Union position at Franklin, Thomas reassures Rousseau, thirty miles to the east: "I did not intend to send any more trains south until further orders. I feel confident you can hold Murfreesboro against any force Hood will be likely to send against you, until we can get our cavalry ready in about five days I think."
Thomas's certainty that he could stop Hood's advance would prove correct. Thirty minutes after this telegram, the Confederates attacked at Franklin, charging across two miles of open ground against well-constructed breastworks. The cost was high: 6,252 of the 27,000 Confederate soldiers engaged became casualties and five southern generals were killed. The Confederate Army of Tennessee was fatally weakened and, after the Battle of Nashville two weeks later, ceased to be an effective fighting force.
THOMAS EXPRESSES CONFIDENCE LESS THAN AN HOUR BEFORE THE BLOODY CONFEDERATE ASSAULT AT FRANKLIN. As General John B. Hood (1831-1879) aligned his Confederate Army for a grand frontal assault upon the fortified Union position at Franklin, Tennessee, Thomas assures Rousseau (1818-1869) that they will prevail over the Confederates. Hood had led his army into Tennessee in hopes of forcing Sherman's entire army to pursue him. Sherman, determined to begin his "March to the Sea," sent Thomas with an army of 50,000 to deal with Hood. Here, as Hood prepares to attack the Union position at Franklin, Thomas reassures Rousseau, thirty miles to the east: "I did not intend to send any more trains south until further orders. I feel confident you can hold Murfreesboro against any force Hood will be likely to send against you, until we can get our cavalry ready in about five days I think."
Thomas's certainty that he could stop Hood's advance would prove correct. Thirty minutes after this telegram, the Confederates attacked at Franklin, charging across two miles of open ground against well-constructed breastworks. The cost was high: 6,252 of the 27,000 Confederate soldiers engaged became casualties and five southern generals were killed. The Confederate Army of Tennessee was fatally weakened and, after the Battle of Nashville two weeks later, ceased to be an effective fighting force.
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