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.

Friday, October 10, 2014

Crossing the Coosa River

By October 6, 1864, in an attempt to cut Union Gen. William T. Sherman's supply line from Tennessee, Confederate Gen. John B. Hood led his army past New Hope Church toward Cedartown, near the Alabama border. A little north at Cave Spring, his army was joined by Gen. Joseph Wheeler's cavalry returning from a raid into Tennessee.

On today's date in 1864, the army reached Coosaville on the Coosa River. Over the next couple of days, Hood crossed his army over the river, passing Rocky Face Ridge while aiming for ResacaDalton, and Tunnel Hill, tearing up track as it went. Once again, the men trudged over ground on which they had fought only a few months before.

Source: Hood's Campaign for Tennessee, William R. Scaife

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