In an effort to cover his right flank during the Franklin/Nashville campaign, Maj. Gen. John Bell Hood dispatched the cavalry of Maj. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest and the infantry division of Maj. Gen. William Bate to Murfreesboro to cover his line of supplies and potential route of retreat.  Advancing to Murfreesboro along two roads on December 5, 1864, Forrest drove the Union forces into Fortress Rosecrans and then encamped on the outskirts of the city.  On December 6 Forrest was joined by the infantry brigades of Brig. Gen. Claudius Sears and Brig. Gen. Joseph Palmer.  The following day, December 7, Union Maj. Gen. Lovell Rousseau sent two brigades under Brig. Gen. Robert H. Milroy on the Salem Pike to reconnoiter Forrest’s position.  In the engagement that followed, Forrest was forced to retreat but not before he had destroyed railroad track, blockhouses, and disrupted Union operations in the area. Notably, Forrest succeeded in keeping Rousseau confined to Murfreesboro and kept the important supply line and retreat route open.