For a number of reasons, Major General John Schofield had been tardy in evacuating his position at Columbia and retreating to Franklin, but although starting late, the Federal army carried out a well planned and executed retreat. Schofield and his subordinates made their headquarters in the saddle and issued clear, concise instructions. All that evening and past midnight, Federal wagons, artillery, and long columns of infantry marched north toward Franklin on the dark macadam road. Lieutenant Chesley Mosman of the 59th Illinois Infantry recalled that the rebels were in line of battle south of town, a quarter of a mile from the pike along which the Federals marched, with their campfires burning brightly, while staff officers along the pike warned the men not to talk or let their canteens rattle so as to make noise because those were the fires of the enemy. The Union army had lost the Spring Hill races, but it escaped the trap unscathed.