Battle of Nashville - Aftermath

Aftermath

Federal casualties in the battle were 387 killed, 2,562 wounded, and 112 missing.

Only a few of the Confederate units submitted reports on the battle, so Confederate casualties are difficult to ascertain. Thomas reported capturing 4,561 prisoners in the battle itself, with an unknown number captured during the retreat. One historian made an educated guess that 2,500 Confederates were killed and wounded at Nashville.

The Army of Tennessee had gone into Middle Tennessee campaign with approximately 38,000 men, exclusive of Forrest’s cavalry. The Army had sustained severe casualties at Spring Hill, Franklin, and Nashville, and suffered at least 2,000 desertions during the campaign. On January 20 Hood reported an effective strength of 18,742, again exclusive of Forrest’s cavalry. Gen. P. G. T. Beauregard, Hood’s nominal superior, advised the Confederate President on January 13 that the Army of Tennessee had less than 15,000 men.

The Battle of Nashville marked the effective end of the Army of Tennessee. Historian David Eicher remarked, "If Hood mortally wounded his army at Franklin, he would kill it two weeks later at Nashville." Although Hood blamed the entire debacle on his subordinates and the soldiers themselves, his career was over. He retreated with his army to Tupelo, Mississippi, resigned his command on January 13, 1865, and was not given another field command.

But the drama of the battle continued into the next century. On Christmas Eve 1977 a headless body was found next to a newly opened grave in Williamson County, Tennessee. The head was found nearby. The body was clothed in what appeared to be a tuxedo. The matter was referred to the state medical examiner who determined that this was a homicide, that the victim was a white male, 5’ 11” tall, weighing 173 lbs., and approximately 26 years of age. The medical examiner further determined that the cause of death was a large caliber bullet wound to the head, and the man had been dead for 6 to 12 months. Everything but the time of death was correct; the body was that of Colonel William M. Shy, who had died atop the hill bearing his name 113 years before. The newly opened grave was his, and he had apparently been exhumed by grave robbers in search of Civil War collectibles. The remarkable state of preservation was due to the fact that Colonel Shy had been buried in a sealed cast iron coffin (also found nearby) and had been embalmed with a fluid heavily laced with arsenic.

Colonel Shy was reinterred with appropriate military honors. The cast iron coffin is on display at the Carter House in Franklin.