In September 1864, after Union Gen. William T. Sherman defeated Confederate Gen. John Bell Hood at Atlanta, Hood led the Army of Tennessee northwest against Sherman's supply lines and then moved north into Tennessee rather than contest Sherman's March to the Sea. Gen. John M. Schofield, detached from Sherman's army, delayed Hood at Columbia and Spring Hill before falling back to Franklin, where the bloodbath on November 30 crippled the Confederates, who then followed Schofield to the outskirts of Nashville and Union Gen. George H. Thomas's strong defenses. Hood's campaign ended when Thomas crushed his army on December 15-16, 1864, at Nashville, about twenty miles north of here. After that defeat, Hood and the dispirited Army of Tennessee retreated south toward Franklin with Thomas's forces following closely. Late in the morning of December 17, rain soaked and chilled the Confederates as Federal cavalry under Gen. James H. Wilson closed in across these rolling fields. Hood's rear guard, Gen. Stephen D. Lee's veterans, held a line at the Harpeth River near here while Wilson's 3,000 cavalrymen charged on both sides of the Franklin Pike to rout and destroy the remnants of the Army of Tennessee. Confederate cavalrymen and artillery firing from the riverbank slowed the Federal attack and enabled Lee's men to escape across the river. Confederate engineers toppled the railroad trestle, stranding some of their comrades on the northern bank, and a few swam across to temporary safety. The Confederates crossed the Harpeth River on a narrow pontoon bridge amid panic. Much of the Federal cavalry charge swept over what is today known as Harlinsdale Farm and was among the largest of the war. As the day progressed, fighting continued through and south of Franklin until nightfall ended the cavalry attacks and the worn-out Southerners continued their flight south. Wirt Harlin established Harlinsdale Farm in 1935, and over the next eleven years it gained renown in the Tennessee Walking Horse industry. Its landscaped grounds and handsome buildings attracted investors and helped the industry grow. This was the home of Midnight Sun, the national champion Tennessee Walking Horse in 1945-1946 and one of the breed's most famous sires.