Brentwood was a Civil War engagement fought in Tennessee, 1863. It was a Confederate victory.
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.
During the American Civil War, fighting broke out at Brentwood, Tennessee, located in Davidson County, on March 25, 1863, resulting in what became known as the Battle of Brentwood.
On the morning of March 25, 1863, Union forces numbering 400 under Lt. Col. Edward Bloodgood occupied Brentwood, a stop along the Nashville & Decatur Railroad. Confederate Brig. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest was closing in on the position with a substantial force. His preparations had begun the previous day, when he directed Col. James W. Starnes, leader of the 2nd Brigade, to march toward Brentwood, sever telegraph communications, damage the rail line, strike the stockade there, and block any Union escape route.
Around seven in the morning, Forrest's cavalry brigades reached Bloodgood's position and engagement began. Word reached Bloodgood from inside the stockade that Confederate troops had wrecked the railway and were preparing an assault. When Bloodgood tried reaching his commanders for guidance, he found the telegraph wires had already been severed. Under a flag of truce, Forrest called on the Federal officer to surrender, but Bloodgood turned down the demand. Not thirty minutes passed before Forrest positioned his guns to bombard the Union defenders and closed his troops around them from all sides. Facing this pressure, Bloodgood yielded and gave up the stockade.
The raid inflicted heavy damage on Union interests in the area, and the fall of Brentwood, situated along the vital rail corridor, represented a serious setback for Federal operations in Tennessee.
The road once known as Johnson Chapel Road, the route Forrest's men took westward into the fight, now goes by the name Maryland Way. That march would have begun near the present junction of Maryland Way and High Lea Road within the River Oaks subdivision, at coordinates 36.036798, -86.821647. From there the soldiers pushed eastward toward the site now marked by Franklin Road and Church Street, located at 36.033407, -86.788866.
Meanwhile, a second Confederate brigade came in from the eastern side. Commanded by Colonel James Wellborn Starnes, this unit took up a position atop a hill that today holds the Hilton Suites on Church Street, found at 36.032563, -86.780939.
The bulk of the fighting unfolded in the area now occupied by a Shell station, situated on the northwest corner where Franklin Road meets Old Hickory Boulevard, at 36.038072, -86.787273.
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