Winstead Hill & The Battle Of Franklin

Winstead Hill is historically rooted to the City of Franklin due to a significant confrontation during the Civil War. The crest of Winstead Hill rises approximately 200 feet above downtown Franklin and is located two miles to the south. Because of its exceptional location and vantage from the south, the hill served as a command and observation post for the Confederate Armies during the Battle of Franklin in 1864.

It was after General William T. Sherman sacked Atlanta in September of 1864 that Confederate General John Bell Hood led the Army of Tennessee towards the middle Tennessee area with intentions to join Gen. Robert E. Lee in Richmond, Virginia. While Hood was camped near this site south of Franklin, Maj. General John M. Schofield slipped Union troops past Confederate forces during the night, joining a well supplied Fort Granger on the north banks of the Harpeth River.

[damage]...against the advice of his subordinate generals, Gen. Hood gathered the Army of Tennessee's 20,000 soldiers for an attack upon the Union camp beginning in mid afternoon. Observing from the vantage point atop Winstead Hill, Gen. Hood witnessed 13 assaults beginning at 4:00 pm and finally ending near 1:00 am in the morning. Union troops withdrew across the Harpeth River and retreated towards Nashville. Hood found his revenge in victory, but at an extreme price.

Although the Union troops retreated in defeat at this battle, the results of this confrontation were anything but a victory for the Confederacy. The Army of Tennessee lost nearly a third of its forces as Gen. Hood witnessed 6,261 wounded and killed soldiers. Gen. Schofield's troops sustained only 2,326 fatalities out of 22,000 soldiers. Hood also lost 15 allied generals in the Battle of Franklin including 8 wounded, 6 killed, and 1 taken captive. The battle signaled the end of hope for the Confederate Armies to halt Sherman's march through georgia. The Battle of Franklin was a turning point in the Civil War, as a substantial threat to the security [of] Washington D.C. vanished in this loss of Confederate manpower. The Battle of Nashville two weeks later culminated the loss of hope for the South.

Winstead Park History

Winstead Hill Park is located approximately two miles south of downtown Franklin. The hill's name comes from an early inhabitant of Williamson County, Samuel Winstead, who owned the land. Some 19 years before the Civil War, he executed a handwritten will that provided for the freedom of each of his 70 slaves after the death of he and his wife. The will called for the sale of his property in Franklin and Spring Hill to pay for the safe passage of his slaves to Liberia for their freedom. Following the death of the Winsteads, the State Supreme Court twice upheld the will insuring that remaining funds were distributed to the freed slaves. Mr. Winstead was laid to rest on this property along with several of his slaves.

Winstead Hill is part of the Winstead-Breezy Hill range made of high ridges formed along the southern border of the plain of Franklin. The crest of Winstead Hill is 840 feet above mean sea level and approximately 200 feet above the City of Franklin. The landscape consists of open meadows, wildflowers and large stands of trees including Eastern Red cedar growing on thin soils that in many areas expose the Ordovician limestone bedrock. The park's landform is characteristic of that identified in the greater Nashville Basin.

Only minor changes have occurred to the site since the Battle of Franklin on Nov. 30, 1864. In 1948, Walter A. Robers deeded 9.75 acres on Winstead Hill to the United Daughters of the Confederacy as a memorial to the Confederate soldiers. In 1954, a stone wall quarried on site was erected with steps and handrails constructed by the United Daughters of the Confederacy. The steps lead to a lookout shelter at the 825 [foot] elevation housing a bronze relief map depicting troop movements during the Battle of Franklin. This lookout shelter, sitting on the adjacent land owned by the Sons of the Confederate Veterans, is still accessible today to the public. The city park property offers a large parking area, multi-use trails, trailhead shelters with interpretive signage, restroom facilities and rest areas. Additional site features include a woodland loop multi-use trail, an amphitheater, and a second small parking facility as future construction.

(Text Adapted From: the "Welcome to Winstead Hill Park" signage at Winstead Hill Park, at the base of Winstead Hill, off Columbia Avenue (the historic Franklin & Columbia Turnpike)).