Spring Hill
Rippavilla Plantation and Mansion
Portions of the Spring Hill battlefield are preserved by the Civil War Preservation Trust (CWPT) in partnership with the Maury Heritage Land Trust and Maury County, Tennessee, with assistance from a federal grant from the Land and Water Conservation Fund (administered by the American Battlefield Protection Program of the National Park Service).
Information about the battlefield may be obtained at Rippavilla Plantation, Spring Hill Driving Tour Stop 9. The mailing address is 5700 Main Street, Spring Hill, TN 37174. Telephone: 931-486-9037. Rippavilla Plantation is located just south of Spring Hill, Tennessee, on Highway 31, 1/4 mile south of the Saturn Parkway Exit.
The contested area of the Battle of Spring Hill extends from the town of Spring Hill south and southeast for circa three miles centered on Kedron Road (historic Rally Hill Pike).
The Rippavilla Mansion, Gift Shop, and Bookstore are open Tuesday through Saturday, 9:00 am to 5:00 pm; Sunday 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm. The last mansion tour begins at 4:00 pm.
A circa 8 mile, self-guided driving tour highlights several important battlefield locations, some on CWPT land and some on private property. Interpretive markers, monuments, and artillery pieces are situated along the driving trail at several Tour Stops.
Civil War Sites Advisory Commission Report on Spring Hill: TN035
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Battle of Spring Hill: November 29, 1864
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Spring Hill was the prelude to the Battle of Franklin. On the night of November 28, 1864, Gen. John Bell Hood's Army of Tennessee marched toward Spring Hill to get astride Maj. Gen. John M. Schofield's Union army's life line. Cavalry skirmishing between Brig. Gen. James H. Wilson's Union cavalry and Maj. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest's Confederate troopers continued throughout the day as the Confederates advanced. On November 29, Hood's infantry crossed Duck River and converged on Spring Hill. In the meantime, Maj. Gen. Schofield reinforced the troops holding the crossroads at Spring Hill. In late afternoon, the Federals repulsed a piecemeal Confederate infantry attack. During the night, the rest of Schofield's command passed from Columbia through Spring Hill to Franklin. This was, perhaps, Hood's best chance to isolate and defeat the Union army. The engagement has been described as "one of the most controversial non-fighting events of the entire war."
(Text Adapted From: Civil War Sites Advisory Commission Report: Battle Summaries, published by the National Park Service.)