On November 30, 1864, in the waning light of a beautiful Indian summer afternoon, Confederate Gen. John Bell Hood stood here and studied Union Gen. John M. Schofield's strong defensive position two miles in front of you. The night before, Schofield's troops had slipped past Hood’s army near Spring Hill. Hood decided that he had one final chance here at Franklin to destroy the Federal army before it escaped to Nashville, and he ordered a massive frontal assault.
