nts from the south and east would have been
cut off, and he might have been attacked in Nashville, not later
than December 2, with several thousand fewer men than he finally
had there, a large part of his army--A. J. Smith's three divisions
--not fully ready for battle, and with fewer effective cavalry;
while Hood would have had his whole army, fresh and spirited,
without the losses and depression caused by its defeat at Franklin,
ready to attack an inferior force at Nashville or to cross the
Cumberland and invade Kentucky. In short, the day gained at Duck
River and Spring Hill was indispensable to Thomas's success. The
time gained by that "temerity" made success _possible_. The
additional time and relative strength gained by Hood's disastrous
repulse at Franklin made final success easy and certain. A retreat
at any time before nine o'clock A. M. on the 29th would have led
to substantially the same result as if begun at 2 A. M.

If the plan adopted and ordered early in the morning of November
29 had been carried out, by which the line of Duck River would have
been abandoned in the middle of that day, the head of column from
Spring Hill would have arrived at Franklin about midnight, expecting
to cross the Harpeth without delay; but, under the conditions
actually found to exist at Franklin, not much progress toward
providing the means of crossing the Harpeth could have been made
before daylight in the morning; therefore our condition for battle
at Franklin would not have been materially different, in time or
otherwise, from what it actually was. Hood's artillery, as well
as his infantry, could have reached Spring Hill before daylight on
the 30th, and would have had practically a clear road to Franklin;
for the enemy's superior cavalry having been interposed between
our cavalry and infantry, it was necessary for our infantry,
artillery, and trains to retreat from Spring Hill to Franklin in
one compact column. A small force could not have been left at
Spring Hill, as had been suggested, to delay Hood's advance, because
of the imminent danger that it would be attacked in flank and rear
by the enemy's cavalry, and thus cut off and captured; hence Hood
could have made his attack at Franklin about noon, instead of at
4:30 P. M., and with a large force of artillery as well as of
infantry. Such an attack would, of course, have been far more
formidable than that which was actually made; whether it could have
been successf