In honor of Pvt. Nathan R. Oakes, CSA

150 years ago, my great grandfather, Nathan Richardson Oakes, served as a private in Company D of the distinguished 32nd Mississippi Infantry Regiment in the Army of Tennessee. He participated in the great Civil War campaigns, including the battles of Perryville, Murfreesboro, Chickamauga, Atlanta, Franklin, Nashville, and Bentonville. I am writing about his engagements as well as some details about fighting for the Lost Cause. I hope to honor him and commemorate the events and individuals that contributed to making this a renowned unit in the Confederate Army of Tennessee.

Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Hood resigns

Following his army's retreat from the disaster at the Battle of Nashville, Gen. John Bell Hood led his defeated troops to Tupelo, Mississippi, returning it at last from an odyssey begun 2 1/2 years earlier. On today's date 1865, Hood's superior, Gen. 
P.G.T. Beauregard, visited the Army of Tennessee at Tupelo. On the same day, Gen. Hood sent a dispatch to Richmond requesting to be relieved of command. His request will be granted on January 23rd.

The following day, after consulting with Gen. Beauregard, Hood instituted a system of 10-day furloughs for his war weary troops. For my Great Grandfather Nathan Oakes, this probably was the first time since leaving Mississippi in June of 1862, that he was given official leave to visit his family in Kossuth, 50 miles north of Tupelo.

Sources: The Confederates' Last Hurrah, Wiley Sword; Hood's Campaign for Tennessee, William R. Scaife; Official Records, Vol. 45, Pt. 1
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