Franklin Animated Map

Experience the drama, decisions, and devastating consequences of the Battle of Franklin through the American Battlefield Trust’s Animated Battle Map—where cutting-edge graphics, expert storytelling, and live-action elements bring history’s most pivotal moments vividly to life, on ground the American Battlefield Trust has helped save forever.

After the fall of Atlanta on September 1, 1864, John Bell Hood and his 30,000 men raced to Tennessee, hoping to divert William T. Sherman’s attention by threatening his supply base at Nashville. Sherman did not take the bait, and instead dispatched John Schofield’s Army of the Ohio, 30,000 strong, to protect Nashville while the rest of Sherman’s army simply left their supply line behind and marched to the Atlantic coast. 25,000 Union soldiers under George Thomas were entrenched in Nashville; if Schofield could reach them before Hood, he would command a numerical advantage on the battlefield. Hood’s hopes for a successful campaign rested on defeating Schofield before the two forces joined. After a missed opportunity at the Battle of Spring Hill on November 29, Hood pursued Schofield to the town of Franklin, Tennessee, where the members of the American Battlefield Trust have proudly saved 182 acres of the battlefield.

The American Battlefield Trust's Animated Battle Maps Collection tells the story of America’s defining conflicts through compelling story telling, state of the art graphics and live action video.