After the battles of Franklin and Nashville, the defeated Confederate Army of the Tennessee retreated southward in severe winter weather. At Old Bainbridge near here on December 26, 1864, its soldiers began to cross the Tennessee River on a pontoon bridge. On the morning of December 20, North Carolina and Texas troops, the last brigade of the rear guard, crossed over, ending the campaign. "They did their work bravely to the last," Union General George H. Thomas said.