Brentwood TN015
1863-03-25 to 1863-03-25 · TN · Middle Tennessee Operations [February-April 1863] · frozen result: Confederate · NPS summary (as listed)
Union Lt. Col. Edward Bloodgood held Brentwood, a station on the Nashville & Decatur Railroad, with 400 men on the morning of March 25, 1863, when Confederate Brig. Gen. Nathan B. Forrest, with a powerful column, approached the town. The day before, Forrest had ordered Col. J.W. Starnes, commanding the 2nd Brigade, to go to Brentwood, cut the telegraph, tear up railroad track, attack the stockade, and cut off any retreat. Forrest and the other cavalry brigade joined Bloodgood about 7:00 am on the 25th. A messenger from the stockade informed Bloodgood that Forrest's men were about to attack and had destroyed railroad track. Bloodgood sought to notify his superiors and discovered that the telegraph lines were cut. Forrest sent in a demand for a surrender under a flag of truce but Bloodgood refused. Within a half hour, though, Forrest had artillery in place to shell Bloodgood's position and had surrounded the Federals with a large force. Bloodgood decided to surrender. Forrest and his men caused a lot of damage in the area during this expedition, and Brentwood, on the railroad, was a significant loss to the Federals.
Command responsibility (ledger v2)
US: Edward Bloodgood
Grade A under rule 2; echelon detachment_or_post.
A cited passage states the command.
Lieutenant Colonelarnold-cwsac-commanders, battle TN015, belligerent US, fullname Edward Bloodgood; column rank · snapshot
6c587c298717…Union Lt. Col. Edward Bloodgood held Brentwoodarnold-cwsac-battles, battle TN015; column description · snapshot
952b5d08402a…Confederate: Nathan Bedford Forrest
Grade A under rule 2; echelon unknown.
A cited passage states the command.
Brigadier Generalarnold-cwsac-commanders, battle TN015, belligerent Confederate, fullname Nathan Bedford Forrest; column rank · snapshot
6c587c298717…Confederate Brig. Gen. Nathan B. Forrest, with a powerful column, approached the townarnold-cwsac-battles, battle TN015; column description · snapshot
952b5d08402a…Side strength (ledger v3)
US: grade A, 400 (380–420)
compiled_dependencederivation_unknownwhole_engagement_leakage
| Input | Class | Printed | Basis | Bound | Codes | Passage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| us-cw | A | 400 | reported_engaged | derivation_unknown | ||
| us-nps-desc | B | 400 | unknown | derivation_unknown | dossier claim reported-force-scope | |
| us-jp-surrendered | bound | 529 | unknown | lower | partial_scope | dossier claim reported-force-scope |
Confederate: grade D: no usable figure (modelled in the rating runs)
whole_engagement_leakage
Dossier claims
Draft dossier, revision middle-tennessee-review-correction-2026-09-25. Claims are extraction records with their quoted passages, not historical adjudication. JSON
information
supportedunresolved NPS says Bloodgood found the telegraph cut when he tried to notify his superiors; Jordan and Pryor say Starnes eluded the Union pickets without discovery.
Summary and commander-endorsed accounts of communications and surprise; no inspected message log.
eluding the enemy's pickets without discoveryjordan-middle-tennessee-selections-v1, p.241 (OCR page markers; not checked against print) · snapshot
60d2ae8d10c5…logistics
supportedpost_outcome Jordan and Pryor say the surrender yielded sixteen or seventeen wagons, three ambulances, the men's arms and the baggage of Coburn's late command.
Post-outcome captures reported by the commander-endorsed history; no inspected inventory.
with sixteen or seventeen wagons, and three ambulances and teamsjordan-middle-tennessee-selections-v1, p.242 (OCR page markers; not checked against print) · snapshot
60d2ae8d10c5…objectives
supportedunresolved NPS says Forrest ordered Starnes to cut the telegraph, tear up track, attack the stockade and cut off retreat; Jordan and Pryor call it a coup de main approved by Van Dorn.
Stated orders from a summary and the commander-endorsed history; no inspected original.
to go to Brentwood, cut the telegraph, tear up railroad track, attack the stockade, and cut off any retreat.nps-tn015-v1, Description · snapshot
7dc7039468a9…to attempt a coup de mainjordan-middle-tennessee-selections-v1, p.241 (OCR page markers; not checked against print) · snapshot
60d2ae8d10c5…outcome
supportedpost_outcome The frozen and live results read Confederate victory. Jordan and Pryor say the bridge and stockade were burned.
Retain the original result and engagement interval; later movements and campaign contribution are different measures. No new probabilities or individual causal credit.
The bridge and stockade being burned to the groundjordan-middle-tennessee-selections-v1, p.243 (OCR page markers; not checked against print) · snapshot
60d2ae8d10c5…disputedpost_outcome The frozen casualty text reads 311 total (US 305; CS 6); the live NPS field reads 532 total (US 529; CS 3;). Jordan and Pryor give the Confederate loss as one killed and two wounded, and about ten Federals killed besides prisoners.
Original casualty returns were not inspected; preserve totals, categories, cutoffs and differences. No canonical reconciliation or casualty-based opening count; related actions must not be added without resolving population overlap.
311 total (US 305; CS 6)arnold-cwsac-battles, battle TN015; column casualties_text · snapshot
952b5d08402a…with the loss of one man killed and two wounded.jordan-middle-tennessee-selections-v1, p.242 (OCR page markers; not checked against print) · snapshot
60d2ae8d10c5…lost about ten killed in the skirmish preceding the capitulation.jordan-middle-tennessee-selections-v1, p.242 (OCR page markers; not checked against print) · snapshot
60d2ae8d10c5…responsibility
disputedunresolved NPS says Bloodgood refused a surrender demand under a flag of truce, and that within half an hour Forrest had artillery in place and the Federals surrounded, after which Bloodgood decided to surrender. Jordan and Pryor say the surrender at Brentwood was made without further parley, and place a refusal at the separate bridge stockade (about 230 men), whose garrison declined the demand and yielded after a single shot from Freeman's gun. Whether the accounts conflict about one post or describe different posts is unresolved. The live heading ranks Forrest Major General against the frozen Brigadier General.
The sequence differs between the sources; neither is adopted. The heading rank is not adopted.
Forrest sent in a demand for a surrender under a flag of truce but Bloodgood refused.nps-tn015-v1, Description · snapshot
7dc7039468a9…Within a half hour, though, Forrest had artillery in place to shell Bloodgood's position and had surrounded the Federals with a large force. Bloodgood decided to surrender.nps-tn015-v1, Description · snapshot
7dc7039468a9…which was made without further parley.jordan-middle-tennessee-selections-v1, p.242 (OCR page markers; not checked against print) · snapshot
60d2ae8d10c5…demanded through his aid-de-camp, Captain C. W. Anderson, was curtly declined.jordan-middle-tennessee-selections-v1, p.243 (OCR page markers; not checked against print) · snapshot
60d2ae8d10c5…A single shot, however, from Freeman's gun, hurtling and crashing through the stockade, wrought an immediate change of purposejordan-middle-tennessee-selections-v1, p.243 (OCR page markers; not checked against print) · snapshot
60d2ae8d10c5…Brigadier Generalarnold-cwsac-commanders, battle TN015, belligerent Confederate, fullname Nathan Bedford Forrest; column rank · snapshot
6c587c298717…strength
unknownunresolved
No inspected return establishes matched personnel at a common opening boundary. Imported numerical estimates remain unchanged; this pass does not validate them as simultaneous opening forces.
disputedunresolved The frozen force text gives approx. 400 Union detachments (structured 400/400) and Forrest's Division; the live field reads zero. NPS says Bloodgood held Brentwood with 400 men; Jordan and Pryor, citing Federal accounts, say some 529 officers, men and teamsters surrendered there, and about 230 more at the stockade, 759 in all.
Garrison and surrender counts differ in scope; surrender counts are not opening strengths. No Confederate count is given. The OCR prints the total as '7591'; 759 follows from 529 plus 230 and is not checked against print.
Detachments of the 22nd Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, 33rd Indiana, and 19th Michigan Volunteer Infantry regiments, 1st Division, 1st Cavalry Corps (approx. 400) [US]; Forrest's Division [CS]arnold-cwsac-battles, battle TN015; column forces_text · snapshot
952b5d08402a…according to Federal accountsjordan-middle-tennessee-selections-v1, p.242 (OCR page markers; not checked against print) · snapshot
60d2ae8d10c5…some five hundred and twenty-nine officers, men, and teamstersjordan-middle-tennessee-selections-v1, p.242 (OCR page markers; not checked against print) · snapshot
60d2ae8d10c5…the sum total of prisoners 7591jordan-middle-tennessee-selections-v1, p.243 (OCR page markers; not checked against print) · snapshot
60d2ae8d10c5…terrain
supportedinherited NPS calls Brentwood a station on the Nashville & Decatur Railroad; Jordan and Pryor say the troops guarded the railroad bridge over the Little Harpeth, defended by a stockade.
Site description; no map verification.
guarding the railroad bridge over the Little Harpethjordan-middle-tennessee-selections-v1, p.241 (OCR page markers; not checked against print) · snapshot
60d2ae8d10c5…which he found defended by a stock- ade strongly garrisonedjordan-middle-tennessee-selections-v1, p.242 (OCR page markers; not checked against print) · snapshot
60d2ae8d10c5…Open questions
- Bloodgood's and Forrest's reports, returns and the surrender sequence remain deferred.
- NPS/CWSAC is one family. Cist is an interested retrospective Union staff history; Jordan and Pryor is a retrospective Confederate history for most of whose statements Forrest's prefatory note accepts responsibility, and is not independent of Forrest. Where both are used they are separate families. Reports and newspapers cited inside either book are not additional families.
- No automatic commander attribution, causal campaign score, morale/readiness number or battle/campaign double counting.