Heavy equipment leaves a logistical signature

An army's route can reveal the equipment it can actually sustain. Hood could range away from rivers and railways because his force lacked the heavy artillery and supply burden needed to attack Thomas's fortified concentration effectively. In the Civil War, large weapons and their ammunition depended on water or rail transport even when infantry could keep moving by road. Sherman's columns accepted temporary lightness only because their route ended where the fleet could restore heavy firepower and supply. The contrast turns Nashville into the campaign's decisive battle: one Confederate army abandoned the logistical network it required while the Union paired separate manoeuvre forces with the support each needed.