Advancing from Spring Hill on June 4, 1863 two brigades of Nathan Bedford Forrest’s cavalry engaged Union cavalry south of Franklin between the Columbia and Lewisburg Pikes. Following a counter-attack by Union forces and artillery fire from Fort Granger, Forrest flanked the Union line by way of Carter’s Creek Pike and occupied Franklin. There, Forrest freed several prisoners from the jail and captured sutlers’ stores. Union reinforcements commanded by Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger soon arrived from Triune forcing Forrest to withdraw from Franklin.
Watauga River
On April 26, 1864 a Confederate force partially destroyed a bridge on the Watauga River. Union troops commanded by Brig.