General Hood's Narrow Escape

Following his tragic defeat at Franklin and Nashville, General John B. Hood managed to escape over the Tennessee River at Bainbridge Ferry, a few miles south of here on December 26, 1864. Two corps under General Benjamin Cheatham and Stephen D. Lee were the first to cross, followed by men under General Alexander P. Stewart. General Nathan B. Forrest and Edward C. Walthall were the last to escape over this treacherous pontoon crossing which narrowly missed becoming one of history's bloodiest fields of slaughter.