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.

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Renamed the Army of Tennessee

On this date in 1862, Gen. Braxton Bragg’s Army of Mississippi was renamed the Army of Tennessee. Currently, Gen. Braxton Bragg's army is facing Nashville to the northwest, arranged in a wide arc with Murfreesboro at the center. My great grandfather's Company D, in the 32 Mississippi Regiment in Buckner's Division, is stationed a little south at Tullahoma. The army is preparing to battle Gen. William S. Rosecrans's Army of the Cumberland.

While the Confederate army was positioned to oppose Rosecrans's force at Nashville, there were several skirmishes with the enemy, fought mainly by Brig. Gen. Joseph Wheeler's cavalry. Having been recently promoted to the rank of brigadier general, due in large part to his successful fighting in the Kentucky Campaign, Wheeler's appointment placed both Gens. Forrest's and Morgan's cavalry regiments under his command. Wheeler's cavalry is now attached to Hardee's Corps. It is on constant patrol between its army and the Federal lines at Nashville.

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