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spring 1990 "Miamson Goiinty Historical Sodety^ 1^ PublicaUmSpring Number 1990 21

Published by Williamson County HistoricalSociety Franklin, Tennessee 1990 Williamson County Historical Society Publication Number 21 Spring 1990

Published by Williamson County Historical Society

Editors Richard Warwick Ed Manning i

Officers President Robert Hicks 1 First Vice President Gert Uthman

Second Vice President Rebehca Clark

Recording Secretary Evelyn Lester

Corresponding Secretary Marjorie Hales

Treasurer Herman Major

The Williamson County Historical Society Journal is sent to all members of the Williamson County Historical Society. The annual membership dues are twelve dollars for an individual and fifteen dollars for a family. This includes this publication and a frequent NEWSLETTER to all members. Table of Contents

i Statement from the Editors a Dedication Hi The Carter House Dr. Rosalie Carter iv Tod Carter, Home AtLast Dr. Rosalie Carter V Photographs: Hood's Headquarters Carter House ^951) James A. Britt

1 Mary Virginia Nichols Britt James A Britt

Newspaper Articles from the Scrapbook of Mary Nichols Britt: 3 Brave Sam Davis 5 Confederate Cemetery 7 Franklin Battlefield 13 Gea Otho F. Strahl 16 Just Before The Battle, Mother! 18 The Death of Cheatham

20 Speech by T. Patton Adams

32 Battle of Franklin Cletus Sickler

Excerpts from Bright Skies and Dark Shadows Henry M. Field, D. D.

Excerpts from Battles and Sketches ofthe Army ofTennessee Bromfield L Ridley

Contributors Statementfr om the Editors If you ate a Civil War enthusiast, this issue of Journal should be a welcome addition to your collectioa With the Battle of Franklin re-enactment and Tod Carter's 150th birthday celebration, I thought it appropriate to include as much information on the "Great Unpleasantness" as I could gather. I would like to recognize the following society members for sharing their family papers and personal libraries: Jim Britt, a Carter descendant, for making available an 1890's saapbook kept by his mother, Mrs. Mary Nichols Britt, and photographs he took in the 1950's. Dr.Rosalie Carter for providing her Grandfather Carter's copy of Br^ht Skies and Dark Shadows, by Dr. H. M. Fidds. Dr.aiod Mis.William Daii>y for allowing the rare Batdes and Sketches ofthe Arrny of Tennessee, by Bromfidd Ridley, to be copied Cldus Sidder, writer for The Tennessean, and Chuck Issacs, president of the re- enactment, for documenting the tremendous amount of work necessary for a successful re-enactmenL Many thanks to the contributors for taking the time to share thdr knowledge and love of Williamson County. I would personaJly See to thank Ed Manning for his computer skills. Hunter Kay for proofreading, and Vance Little for his guidance and encouragement

—Richard Warwick

Although a complete novice in the editing business, I was recruited by Rick Warwick to try to spmce up this publication a bit I hope I have been somewhat successful, but I fear many of you find errors herein If so, the blame rests with yours truly. The credit for the beautiful type and layout goes to Ellen Gibbons, who gradously donated her time and considerable talent with a Macintosh computer. —Ed Manning,Jr.

-I- f Dedication The 1990Journal is dedicated to the Fountain Branch Carter family. Their suffering and endurance exemplifies the loss and strength of many Williamson County families during 1861-1865. Fountain Branch Carter gave three sons to the Confederate Army: Lt. Col. Moscow Branch Carter, Capt. Tod Carter, Pvt. Francis Watkins Carter, all of whom served in the Twentieth Tennessee Regiment, C.S.A.

Fountain Branch Carter's descendants are still active in Williamson County. We would like to honor Dr. Rosalie Carter, Mrs. Alma Short, and Mr. Jim Britt, fellow society members, with this dedication. Non-society members include Corine Carter Ward, Carter Conway, Nan Conway, and Jesse Short, III.

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Moscow Carter Theodrlck Carter Francis Carter

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The Carter House

The Caiter House remembers yet The tragic day none can foige^ Hiat day when all the fields around Became a blood-stained battle ground It spends long hours in reverie, Recalling scenes that used to be; In sighing winds it often hears The ebbing life of yesteryears. November twilights gather fast; Ghost-soldiers then go marching past, Some clad in Blue, some wearing Gray, As if to fi^t another day. At this old house which once could tell Of minie ball and Rebel yell. We pause to pray - because we should. For peace, and love, and brotherhood.

© Rosalie Caiter

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March 24,1840-December2,1864

Tod Carter - Home At Last

"I am almost home! Come with me, boys!" They could hear Tod shout above the noise Of the cannons' boom, and shrieking shells. The exploding bombs, and Rebel yells!

The Battle raged until near midnight; The women prayed. By the dawn's faint light They found him lying among the dead; He was wounded in the charge he led.

He was carried through the garden gate. While they sobbed in words, compassionate, "Our sad hearts ached as the long years passed. Now our brother has come home at last!" © Rosalie Carter

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General Hood's Headquarters on Winstead Hill taken by Jim Britt in 1951.

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Carter House with porch and dormers that were added by Mrs. Robbie Hunter UUathome around 1915. Photograph taken by Jim Britt in 1951.

-V- Mary Virginia Nichols Britt (1872-1954) by James A. Britt At the request of the society, I am pleased to offer a brief biography of my mother, Mary Virginia Nichols Britt, and an account of her involvement in the preservation of the Carter House. A great-granddaughter of Fountain Branch Carter, Mother was born in Franklin on Carter property in 1872. Mary Carter, one of F. B.'s daughters, married Daniel McPhail, and their daughter, Alice Adelaide, was my grandmother. In 1870, Alice Adelaide married George Searight Nichols. Nichols had been a member of Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest's cavalry. Nichol's jaw was shattered and an eye was shot out in battle, and he wore an eye patch and beard for the rest of his life. As a boy dressed in little Confederate "uniform", I went with him to many Confederate reunions. He taught Mother and me a great deal of history.... Mother graduated from the Franklin Female Academy, where she studied art. The pastel portrait of her which stands in the Carter Museum was done by her art teacher. The replica of the Seal of the Confederacy also hangs in the museum, given in honor of her by a grateful viewer. In 1898, she married my father, James A. Britt, who became a successful businessman with homes in Franklin and Nashville. In 1912, when he was 36 and I was five, he died suddenly. We then moved permanently to Franklin. Over the years. Mother collected so much historical and genealogical data that people constantly sought her for information on their families. Mother's knowledge of history came of family tradition. Her mother Alice often told how, as a small child, she hid in the Carter House cellar with the family during the Battle of Franklin. She told of her mother Mary's going out in the dark to help find Tod Carter (Grandmother's uncle). His horse was lying on top of him, and had to be pried off before Tod could be brought inside, unconscious and soon to die. We heard many other stories from grandparents Alice and G. S. Nichols during their long lives. The Carter heirs sold the Carter House around the turn of the century and it deteriorated through later use as rental property. But when Mother saw visitors looking it over, she'd tell them all about it. She usually gave them a minie ball as a souvenir from the bushel basket full my brother and I had

-1- picked up off our lawn! The Carter House was in danger of demolition in the 1930's and '40's. As other family members weren't interested in saving it, Mother took on the project singlehandedly. Thanks to her tireless efforts, and the help of Senator Tyson, Representative Courtney, and others, the house was deeded to the state in 1951. The Franklin chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy equipped a room in the Carter House with chairs to hold their meetings and named it "The Mary Nichols Britt" in honor of her. Later the Carter House Association was organized. In 1961, the National Register of Historic Landmarks cited the Carter House as one of only four places of "major importance in American history" in the State of Tennessee. If she had lived to know of that honor, Mary Nichols Britt would have surely been pleased - but probably not surprised.

-2- Brave Sam Danis His Execution in Pulaski by the Federals in 1863 Where He Got the Papers That Convicted Him

Mr. Henry White, a prominent farmer of Giles County, living near Pulaski, is in the city visiting relatives, the families of the Hollins and the Benys, In a conversation with a Banner man, the subject of the hanging of brave Sam Davis in Pulaski, in 1863, by the federals was mentioned. Mr. White said: "You will remember that Sam Davis was quite a young confederate soldier and belonged to the First Tennessee Infantry, and when captured he was hanged as a spy because he had on his person important papers and accurate maps of the location of the federal army in this part of the country. The maps were made by an engineer and it was believed that the party from whom they were received was high in authority, and Gen. Dodge, who ordered the execution of Davis, promised to release him if he would tell how and where he secured the documents. The general insisted upon this disclosure and its reward of life, but with a heroism unsurpassed the brave lad had refused to tell anything, saying that rather than betray others he would suffer the penalty of death." "The story of his death is familiar," said the Banner representative, "but it is often republished and always read with interest." "Yes," continued Mr. White, "I have often read it. A few months ago the Murfreesboro News in recounting the patriotic incident, said that it would never be known how Davis got those papers, as he carried the secret with him to his grave. But I have learned the mystery and will give it to you to use as you please." "I will be pleased to hear your story," was the response. "Go on." "A few days ago," continued Mr. White, "I was up at Hendersonville to see Mr. Race Berry, and there I met Mr. Thomas Joplin, of Nashville, who said he was with Davis when the documents were obtained, and he told us the circumstances connected with the transaction. Davis and Joplin were in route south and stopped over-night with Mr. Bob English (now dead), who lived in the northeastern part of Giles county. A few days before this, Alf., one of the colored servants of Mr. English, now living near Pulaski, and respected by all and known as Alf Houston, was loafing about the federal camp as negroes usually did. The officer went into breakfast and left the papers on a table and Alf. took them and gave them to Mr. English. Mr. English gave them to Davis and Joplin, saying that perhaps they would be

-3- of service on their way south. Davis replied that they were just what he wanted and put them in his pocket. Alh, the young negro, was afraid to remain in the community and accompanied Davis and Joplin. When they reached the Tennessee river, the canoe in which they were to cross could only accommodate the ferryman and one other, and Davis crossed first and was arrested. By some means Joplin got an inkling of Davis' arrest and decided not to follow, but took another course and joined his company, the First battalion, Tennessee cavalry. Davis was not a spy, Joplin says, but the court martial adjudged him one, and the circumstances connected with his arrest and execution, unexplained by the real facts, left the public to believe that he was acting in that capacity. Mr. Joplin's statement to me in the presence of Race Berry convinced me that he was no spy. As I said you can use this as you choose, and its publication will be the first solution of the mystery surrounding the death of one of the bravest boys who ever lived. The name of the officer who left the papers on his desk is not known." Since the above was put in type the reporter has seen Mr. Joplin, who is in business in this city with Mr. John Streight, lumber dealer. Mr. Joplin supplemented his former statement by saying that Davis had on his confederate uniform at the time of his arrest and execution. He belonged to Ledbetter's Rutherford Rifles, in Maney's regiment, and was detailed to go on a scout with Joplin. Alf., the colored boy who took the papers, was about to be engaged by G. M. Dodge as a servant and was on trial duty, and the officers who laid the plans of the fortifications, etc., on the table were Gen. Dodge's adjutant and the engineer. The papers were placed there just as the general was summoned to breakfast, and were allowed to remain, not apprehending any theft. A confession by Davis would have involved the arrest, trial and execution of Mr. English, who lived not more than ten or twelve miles distant.

-4- Confederate Cemetery Deserved Compliment to a Grand Southern Mother, Who Keeps Watch and Ward Over the Dead of Her Countiy - Names of Confederate Soldiers to be Published.

Following is an article which appeared in the Memphis Scimitar some times since, but not published heretofore in a Franklin paper. In securing a list of the dead in the Confederate cemetery at Franklin, we discovered it, and deem it worthy of space in our columns. We will begin publishing next week the list of dead in this cemetery, in the hope that the identical resting place of many loved and lost ones will thus, for the first time, be made known to their families at home. "It has remained for the town of Franklin to rescue the dead of a great and historic battlefield from oblivion by her unaided exertion, and arrange the sacred remains systematically, by States and military organizations, in a beautiful cemetery on the outskirts of the town. In doing this the people of Franklin have exhibited an affection and patriotic devotion to their country only second to that which impelled those heroes thirty years ago to give their lives for her upon the bloody field where they now sleep. "A word about the cemetery and its founders. The dead were first buried where they fell, their comrades dutifully marking each grace with the name, company and regiment by which the priceless record has been preserved to us. Soon after the close of the war. Col. John McGavock, a distinguished and patriotic citizen of Franklin, donated a beautiful plot of ground under the great trees of the McGavock grove, hard by his residence. Here, with the assistance of the citizens of Franklin, each body was carefully removed and laid to rest in sections of States, and every grave was numbered, and opposite the number in the register was written the name, rank, company and regiment of the soldier. At first the graves were marked with wooden boards, but as these began to fall, the people of Franklin again promptly took action, and through a committee composed of George L. Cowan, Thomas F. Perkins and W. W. Courtney, appointed by the McEwen Bivouac, Confederate Veterans, of that place, secured the means to replace the wooden headboards with neat stone posts, containing the register number and initials of each soldier. "In her typical Southern home of the olden style, hard by, lives the

-3^ ! widow of Col. John McGavock with her children. Here, like an ancient priestess, this venerable Southern mother keeps watch and ward, as she has done for more than thirty years, over the heroic dead of her country, and guards carefully the register containing their names. "This remarkable woman remembers the great battle as if it was yesterday, and tells .many anecdotes and incidents of that day. It was on the porch of this fine residence that the bodies of Cleburne, John Adams, Cranberry and other slain leaders were brought and laid the next morning to be prepared for burial, while the spacious halls and parlors were thrown open by the hostess for hospital uses, and were soon packed with wounded soldiers and their surgeons. "She tells reverently of the body of Cleburne, the great Irish soldier, as it appeared in plain clothes, and the faded gray cap, so well known to his men, with the fatal bullet hole in the rim over his temple, the only wound, and how she kept this cap and his sword and little trinkets concealed from the enemy until they could be conveyed to friends, the cap still being in the museum at Nashville. "She also tells of how Gen. Forrest strode through her halls and up the stairway to a gallery above, seemingly unconscious of her presence, so absorbed was he in the great tragedy enacted around them, in which he was taking so conspicuous a part, and finally she describes how Gen. Stewart came next morning to gaze mournfully upon his mutilated soldiers with whom her home was filled. Indeed it is worth a pilgrimage to the battlefield to get an hour's conversation with this noble dame, and listen to her glowing words, as she describes these exciting events and scenes of long ago."

-6- Franklin Battlefield

THE FIELD IN '64 AND NOW A part of the battlefield is now within the corporate limits of Franklin, and that the portion where the conflict was deadliest, but most of it is still farming land stretching away to the encircling Harpeth hills. Numerous tasteful modern homes mark the spot where squadrons charged and breastworks reared their dark fronts. Almost the only buildings that were on the immediate battlefield that are still standing are the McGavock homestead, the Carter residence and the large brick smoke-house in the Carter yard. The residence of Col. Carter, a veteran of the Mexican war, who still lives in Franklin, has been enlarged, but the smoke-house in his back yard stands today just as it did on that November evening when it was struck by multiplied hundreds of Confederate bullets, and it is today the most interesting relic of the great battle, a curiosity of unfailing interest and a striking reminder of the desperate nature of the conflict which raged around it. In an address delivered in Franklin on the occasion of the unveiling of the Confederate monument on the Public Square, Gen. George W. Gordon, late congressman from the Tenth Tennessee district, and one of the most notable figures of the battle, in describing the charge upon the federal breastworks, when he was captured, declared that the bullets were so thick that they 'sounded like bees buzzing about his ears, and it seemed that if he were to wave his handkerchief, he could fill its folds full of them.' A glance at the broad proportions of the Carter smoke-house with almost every brick on the back chipped deeply or broken by a Confederate bullet, enables one to readily understand the accuracy of the gallant Gordon's description. The structure was inside the federal breastworks and near the Columbia pike, about seventy-five yards from the Carter cotton gin. It was tall and exposed to the full fire of the Confederates, who poured volley after volley upon the works in their repeated charges upon this critical point in the line of battle. Gen. Strahl was among the Confederate officers who fell near it. Like a scarred sentinel over the field where once it had received a baptism of fire, this old weather-beaten structure, bearing at every point the marks of its tragic history, still stands on the border of the line of federal breastworks against which the gray waves beat and broke and rolled back in the gathering shadows of that far-away November eve.

-7- THE CARTER COTTON GIN The Carter cotton gin just across the Columbia pike will never be forgotten by officer or private on either side who participated in the battle. Here was the storm center. In the effort to pierce the federal line here Hood hurled brigade after brigade and the loss of life was terrific. It was in front of. this cotton gin that the dead body of Gen. John Adams was found, still in the saddle, the forelegs of his horse on the federal side of the breastworks. Gen. Gist's horse was shot under him here and he went over the federal works and was killed. Only a few feet from here the noble Pat Cleburne, splendid son of Arkansas, surrendered his life in a charge which will live in song and story. Gen. Hood, in his description of an interview with Cleburne just before the battle, said: "Gen. Cleburne expressed himself with an enthusiasm which he had never before betrayed in our intercourse. Said he: "General, I am ready and have more hope in the final success of our cause than at any time since the first gun was fired.' I replied, 'God grant it.' He turned and moved at once toward the head of his division. A few moments thereafter he was lost to my sight in the tumult of battle. These last words spoken to me by this brave and distinguished officer I can never forget; they can never leave my memory, as within forty minutes after he had uttered them he lay lifeless upon or near the breastworks of the foe." Cleburne met his death when the battle was at his height. In one of the first charges he had a horse shot under him, but got another and again led his troops to the attack. In a few minutes horse and rider both lay dead close by the inner federal line, near the top of the breastworks, where he fell after leaping a wide ditch. The assistant adjutant-general on Gen. Scott's staff. Col. Cassius M. Merrill, in an article above his own signature, related the following striking incident about Cleburne: Accompanied by Gen. Scott, Col. Merrill went the next morning to the McGavock homestead. He says: "Near the front entrance we came upon the body of Gen. Pat Cleburne on a wide bier, guarded by two or three young subalterns who seemed to be staff officers. Noticing that his feet were cased in a pair of white socks only, I remarked: 'Isn't it a shame. Gen. Scott, that any Confederate soldier would thus rob one like Gen. Cleburne?' A lieutenant promptly replied, 'Gen. Cleburne's body has not been molested. Late yesterday afternoon he came upon a barefoot soldier, limping along the pike. Quickly dismounting he drew off his boots and made the soldier put them on, remarking that no Confederate soldier shall walk with naked feet while I ride fully shod. It so happened that he rode into the battle in his sock feet.' Said Col. Merrill, "I do not think this incident has ever found its way into any history of the war, but it is worthy to be recorded of that heroic Irish patriot in some enduring form." Cleburne's cap and sword are now in the possession of the Tennessee Historical Society. They were given to the society by the family of Col. McGavock. In the front of the cap just over the brim is the hole made by the bullet which ended the life of the knightly wearer. The right wing of Hood's army extended to Carnton, the imposing McGavock home, where Col. McGavock, one of the finest gentlemen of his time, long dispensed a lavish hospitality over one of the richest estates in Middle Tennessee. He was intensely southern in his sympathies throughout his life. During the battle his house was a Confederate hospital and its inmates nurses. This stately residence, which stands today a perfect picture of colonial architecture, massive in its proportions, of brick and three stories high, has a melancholy distinction shared by no other on American soil. On its broad back porch, which extended the entire width of the building, lay at one time after the battle five dead Confederate generals, who had fallen as they led their troops against the Federal breastworks. They were Maj. Gen. Pat Cleburne, Gen. John Adams, H. P. Granberry, S. P. Gist and O. P. Strahl. What a picture of war's horrors that line biers framed! It was Col. McGavock who, at his own expense, had 1,500 Confederate dead removed from the battlefield and interred on a part of his estate which he had set apart as a cemetery. Here these heroes sleep today beneath monuments which annually bear the floral remembrances of the men and women of this community, for Decoration day is still observed by the Daughters of the Confederacy, the camp and bivouac. No feature of the battlefield today so strikingly shows the changes wrought by time as does the location of an imposing academy, one of the handsomest of the sort in the state, in the heart of the plain across which Bate and Brown led their commands. Bordering it, too, are now two boulevards eighty feet wide and over a mile in length, upon which tasteful homes are replacing the reminders of grim visaged war. And the village of '64 which gave its name to the desperate combat attests the march of progress and of peace. The population has doubled since Schofield's guns boomed the beginning of the duel to the death with Hood, his classmate at West Point. Franklin today is regarded as being one of the best built and most up-to-date towns in all Middle Tennessee, with its notable pretty homes, fine business houses, concrete pavements, ample electric light facilities, the most extensive gravity system of waterworks possessed by any town in the south, with twenty-six miles of piping, and.

-9- too, between Nashville and Franklin, only eighteen miles distant, is the only interurban railroad in Middle Tennessee.

«THE GETTYSBURG OF THE WEST" The battle of Franklin has been aptly termed the Gettysburg of the West. It marked the beginning of the end in the west, just as Gettysburg foreshadowed the doom of the army of Virginia. If Schofield had^been captured, how history might have been changed; Thomas could scarcely have withstood the onslaught of the victorious veterans of the flushed army of Tennessee; the fall of Nashville would have opened the way to Louisville and the Ohio river, and the whole aspect of the fading fortunes of the Confederacy would have been transformed. If - what tragedies the two letters hide. The loss of life at Franklin was not only the heaviest, in proportion to the number of troops engaged, and for the time it lasted, of any battle of the whole civil war, but it was the bloodiest contest of modern times known to any civilized nation. Volumes of thrilling description have been written by distinguished actors in the bloody drama on either side. A noted student of military operation was profoundly moved by the story of its carnage. After twice visiting the field of Waterloo he came three times to Franklin, and said that the latter was the worse of the two. Nor was this strange, for this was the only instance in the war which an army charged without cover across a plain, for a mile under heavy artillery fired almost every foot of the way to attack an equal force strongly entrenched. That single statement lifts the courage of the Confederate troops to the loftiest pinnacle known to history, and explains the terrible toll of human life which was witnessed. The editor of the Confederate Veteran was scarcely more than a lad when he stood near Gen. Hood on Winstead's Hill, in the glow of that bright November afternoon, saw him sweep the federal entrenchments with his glasses and then turn to Gen. Loring with the words, "We will make the fight," thus ushering in the conflict that meant the doom of the gallant army whose banners gleamed in the valley beneath him. In describing the quickly ensuing conflict, Mr. Cunningham used this language: 'When the Confederate army under Gen. Hood crossed the state line from Alabama into Tennessee in October, 1864, how were gloomily reminded of the Silesian campaign of Napoleon. Suspended over the state line was the legend, "A Free Home or a Grave," and, although there was not much vociferous cheering, there was a grim determination in every heart there to fight to the death, if need be, in the accomplishment of the rescue of

-10- Tennessee from the federals." That omen of disaster was a shadow which became a dread reality at Franklin. The mortality among officers at Franklin was not even approached in any battle of modern times. Col. Cassius E. Merrill, the well-known journalist, was assistant adjutant general on Gen. Scott's staff and who was in the engagement, thus reviewed this feature of it.

HEAVY LOSS OF OFnCERS "Franklin was not only the bloodiest battle fought during the civil war, but the bloodiest of all history, so far as is known to the records of civilized countries. This, of course, taking into account the number engaged on either side and the duration of the battle. We formed in line for the final charge with our right rear the McGavock building and not far from the Harpeth river, on either side of which the federals had strong forts and heavy batteries planted. "Franklin was no battle storm, but a cyclone, rather, which struck and seared and scarred the earth and left it red with blood and vocal with groans of dying men. Most of our battles from Virginia to Texas were fought by private soldiers, the generals trolling along 'just to have it said,' but Franklin was 'the generals own,' both in conception and execution. "They led, many paces in front. Between the enemy's outer and inner lines there was a wide, open and extensive plain, almost unbroken, across which we charged under the deadliest fire of small arms and artillery that any troops were subjected to, terribly torn at every step by an oblique cross fire from the forts on the enemy's left, as well as from grape, cannister and lead in front. Our ranks moved as on parade, faltering not till they reached the abatis and cheveau de frise, through or over which no organized force could go. But over these heavy obstacles, impassible to a solid line, many men and officers, with irresistible personal prowess, pressed and fought their way to mount the main embankment. Numbers of every brigade gained the ditch and there continued the stmggle with only the earthworks separating the opposing force. "Desultory firing was kept up until 10 p. m., when it gradually ceased, as the crippled union columns, like a wounded snake, dragged their slow length to Nashville. On our side thirteen generals were killed, wounded or captured: Maj. Gen. Pat Cleburne, killed; Maj. Gen. John C. Brown, wounded; brigadiers, John Adams, killed, H. P. Granbery, killed; S. P. Gist, killed; O. P. Strahl, killed; Thomas M. Scott, wounded; W. A. Quarles, wounded; A. M. Granbery, wounded; H. M. Gist, wounded, and Geo. "W.

-11- Gordon, captured as he rode horseback over the works. "In Gen. Quarles brigade the highest officer left for duty was a captain. During the Tennessee campaign, from Nov. 21 to Dec. 21 (1864) eighteen Confederate generals were killed, wounded or captured. Of the field, line and staff officers - colonels, lieutenant-colonels, majors, captains and lieutenants, the loss at Franklin alone reached into the hundreds. Non commissioned officers and privates, 6800, a total Toss of over 50 per cent. All within thirty minutes, remember, for the battle did not begin till after 4 p. m., and the sun, during the short days of November, set at about 4:50. At the same ratio 100,000 men would, in one hour, have lost the whole army."

-12- Gen. Otho E Strahl

The reamains of Gen. Otho F. Strahl have at alst found a final and fitting resting place at Dyersburg, Tenn., his old home. Gen Strahl was killed in the bloody battle of Franklin, Nov. 30, 1864, and was buried at St. John's Memorial Church, near Columbia, Tenn., where his remains have reposed undisturbed until they were taken to Dyersburg a few weeks ago. The removal was accomplished under the auspices of the Dawson Bivouac, Confederate Veterans, of that place, and the action of the bivouac is a fitting tribute to the memory of one of the most brilliant heroes of the Confederacy. Gen. Strahl was a young man of the brightest promise. He was not a Southerner by birth, but came to Tennessee from Ohio, his native State, in early life. After coming to this State he was for a while engaged in teaching school, but about three years before the war between the States he located at Dyersburg and began the practice of law, and in this profession soon gave promise of a distinguished career. Gen. Strahl was a man of noble traits of character, magnetic personality and brilliant intellect. Such a man could not fail to take a strong hold on the people of the community in which he lived, and the popularity of Gen. Strahl is shown by the fact that though young for such a responsibility he led to battle the first company of Confederate volunteers from Dyer county, at the outbreak of the war. Gen. Strahl's military career was a brilliant one. For his fidelity to duty, dauntless courage, conspicuous gallantry and his ability on the field and as a leader of men he was promoted from one position to another, and at the time Hood made his fatal mistake, which resulted in the terrible disaster at Franklin, the eagles of a brigadier general adorned his shoulders - and so distinguished was the part he played upon that fatal field that if he had lived through the battle he would have been made a major general. The battle of Franklin was one of the most pathetic of the entire war. The flower of the Tennessee youth had returned, under Hood, from the campaign against Sherman in Georgia, to drive the enemy from their native State. In the midst of homes and friends, but with no time to receive the kiss of loved ones after their long absence, these men moved with dauntless courage against the impregnable breastworks of Schofield, and never did soldiers stand more firm amid a more terrible storm of death or more fearful

-13- slaughter. They held the field, but it was a dearly-bought victory, for it cost the South the flower of the Tennessee army and six Confederate generals. The fearful havoc sent a pang to almost every home in Tennessee. On the awful morn which arose on the bloody work of a few brief hours there was witnessed at the McGavock residence, near the battlefield, a scene such as has never been witnessed anywhere else in all of the annals of war. On the McGavock piazza lay the cold and lifeless bodies of six Confederate generals, all slain in the battle. They were Gens. Cleburne of Arkansas, Granberry of Texas, Gist of South Carolina, Adams, Carter and Strahl of Tennessee. Gen. Strahl fell at the head of his brigade in the thickest of the fight, severely wounded, and while being carried to the rear for medical attention by one of his comrades, T. F. Sedinger, who is still living at Dyersburg, Tenn., amid a terrible fire from the enemy. He was shot in the back of his head and died instantly. On the eve before the battle the army passed through the beautiful Ashland district, near Columbia. In this district, amid magnificent estates, where the Polks, Pillows and others lived in almost royal splendor, stood St. John's Memorial Church, with its ivy-clad tower, in peacefulness and beauty. On passing this church Gen. Pat Cleburne told some of his comrades that the shadow of impending death was upon him and that the battle to be fought within the next few hours would be his last and when the end did come he wished to be brought back and laid to rest in St. John's churchyard. After the battle all the dead generals except Gen. Carter, who was buried at Rose Hill, where he still sleeps, were carried to St. John's Memorial Church for interment. The funeral took place at Columbia, almost every home of which was filled with the dead and the wounded. The occasion was a very impressive one. An immense crowd was present when Bishop Quintard conducted the beautiful Episcopal services over the flag-draped bodies of the five generals of the Confederacy, and the scene was one never to be forgotten. All of these generals have been removed since the was to their respective homes. The remains of Gen. Strahl were the last to be removed and that the bivouac and friends at his old home have claimed his ashes we trust that the good citizens of Dyersburg will raise a monument over them. It is a right that we should honor the memory of this hero. He came to us a stranger and his kindred and friends were on the other side, but he felt the cause of the South to be right and with the courage of his convictions through himself into it with heart and soul, and in the defense of that cause

-14- which is so dear to Southerners he gave his life. In honoring the memory of such a man we pay a fitting tribute to character, courage and patriotism.

-15- "Just Before the Battle, Mother!"

Those of our readers who followed the Letters from the South published last year, and now gathered in the volume, "Bright Skies and Dark Shadows," will remember the description given of the Battle of Franklin, and perhaps will recall an incident furnished by Colonel McEwen, then and still a leading citizen of Franklin. It was in brief to this effect: That a Federal officer, who had taken quarters at his house, asked his daughters to sing to him, who kindly responded with a song which had been recently composed, and though not remarkable for its poetry, had in these war times become very popular. They had sung but a few lines, when the singing was interrupted by the opening of the battle itself, on which the officer rushed from the house to place himself at the head of his regiment, and on his way was shot through the lungs, but as by a miracle not killed. He was carried off the field to the camp hospital, and finally to Nashville, where, by the best medical care and faithful nursing, he finally recovered. Eighteen days after the battle Col. McEwen received a message from him through an officer, that in every waking moment the piece of music that the young ladies had begun to sing, was still ringing in his ears. Four months later, in April, '65, just as the war was over, the man who had been so desperately wounded but recovered, returned to Franklin, bringing some of his brother officers with him; and went to Col. McEwen's, and asked his daughters to finish the song that had been so strangely interrupted, "and relieve his ears!" They complied and sang it through, when, as our informant tells the story, "all the officers wept like children." [The incident will be found in the Book on pages 248-9.1 Several weeks since it was our privilege to visit Franklin for the second time, and again to sit at the hospitable table of Col. McEwen, we asked one of his daughters if she had in her possession the song which had such a history connected with it. She could not then lay her hand upon it, but now encloses it, saying, "Many years have flown by since we sang it, and as time has worn away the rough edges of "the times that tried men's souls,' it seems quite tame." This may be, but at such a moment the rudest lines, if full of spirit, stir the blood like a bugle, and we can well understand how those Southern voices should linger long in the ears of the wounded Federal officer. Here are the words they sang:

-16- Just before the battle, mother, I am thinking most of you. While on the field we're watching With the enemy in view. Comrades brave around are lying. Filled with thoughts of home and God, For well they know that on the morrow Some will sleep beneath the sod.

O I long to see you, mother. And the loving ones at home; But I'll never leave our banner Till in honor I can come. Tell the traitors all around you. That their cruel words we know In every battle kill our soldiers By the help they give the foe.

Hark! I hear the bugles sounding, 'Tis the signal for the fight; Now may God protect us, mother. As he ever does the right. Hear the battle cry of freedom, As it swells upon the air! O yes, we'll rally round the standard. Or we'll perish nobly there.

CHORUS.

Farewell, mother, you may never Press me to your heart again; But O you'll not forget me, mother. If I'm numbered with the slain.

- New York Evangelist.

-17- The Death of Cheatham C. E. Merrill in Memphis Avalanche. Gen. Cheatham, brave and blunt, had a heart as tender as a woman's. - A member of his corps. A passing vehicle on the street made a rumbling sound; his eyes opened and he raised his head; "There go the troops," he said; "bring me my horse...I am going to the front." His head fell and the veteran had gone to the front. - Avalanche Nashville special Sept. 5.

"Look! Where go my brave battalions, ragged, few, but undismayed; Marching careless into battle as on holiday parade. Bring my horse! My boys without me ne'er shall bear the battle's brunt- Quick! The warm blood stirs within me; I am going to the front!

"See! Where? So; have I been dreaming; laggard by the wayside here; Sunk beneath the ceaseless watching and a soldier's toil and care? Listen! Where's old Frank?' they're asking; Bless the rascals! Come; let's go; As I sat here I was dreaming of the fields of Mexico.

"Dreamed I saw Old Rough and Ready - time the memory more endears - Heard the voice of Buena Vista calling for the Volunteers; Saw Chepultapec uprising like a mirage in the sky; Saw - but - why sit here idle while 'my boys' are marching by?

"Belmont - Shiloh - Chickamauga - Maney - Morton - Walker, Field; Ah, my pure, proud Tennesseans! They may die, but never yield! Arkansas and old Kentucky; Cleburn, Hanson Dibrell, Hunt - Bring my horse; the troops are marching; I am going to the front!

"Who detains me? Scoundrel! Villain! See - my feet are cold as clay! There goes Bate - and Brown - and Forrest - eagle hearts, to dare the day! Rogue! - what holds me here? - release me! Quick! Unhand me! Let me go! Yet the words fall - from - my - lips like ice drops - cold - and - slow! Ah! forgive -1 - well, a soldier's speech, you know, is rude and blunt; 'Where's Old Frank,' I hear them calling! Come, I'm going to the front!

-18- "Sergeant, help me to the saddle; now my sword; there, thank you; come Listen Porter, Cheney; don't you hear the long roll of the drum? Just beyond the crest they await us; on, my lionhearted men! All the music of the battle atir within my pulse again!"

His eyes grew dim, and through the mists of memory and tears He saw the dear hands beckoning he had clasped in other years; Saw the great hosts marching on along the further shore. Like mingled clouds in mist and gray of loved ones gone before: "There go my troops! - I'll join them!" and the soldier, brave and blunt. Through glory's gates ajar passed on forever to the front!

It is sad that where the heart is there the real man must be - Where the unconscious spirit wanders from the body's prison free. So the hero, as he had willed it many a time in that dark past. Realized his wish, and died the soldier's death at last!

Wake, O Fame, thy holiest paeans - Cheatham, Hatton, Forrest, Rains! Noblest of our Tennesseans! ours while deathless love remains; Ours by right devine and human; ours, bequeathed in blood and tears, By a heritage in common; ours through all the eternal years!

-19- The Battle of Franklin a speech given by T. Patton Adams for the Opening Ceremonies of the Battle of Franklin Re-enactment at the Carter House, Franklin, Tennessee November 30, 1989

Thank you for the kind introduction. I am honored to be here in Franklin for the commemoration of one of the Civil War's most tragic battles - a time which was short in duration, yet to those involved, it must have seemed like an eternity. The story of the clash at Franklin between the Confederates under Gen. John B. Hood and the Federals under Gen. John Schofield has unfailingly captured the interest of historians and common men alike. The irony of war shows its face as we learn that these two warriors were classmates at West Point in 1853. General John Bell Hood, 22 years old - one legged and one useless arm - was Commander of the Confederate Army of Tennessee. He had to be strapped to his horse to ride and he was driven with the desire to stop Sherman's march to the sea. Hood's move through Tennessee was to recapture Nashville, a Union supply point. He wanted the Army of Tennessee to push on into Kentucky and Ohio where he expected to pick up 20,000 recruits, and eventually to Virginia. Look now for a minute at John Bell Hood. Understand him, and you understand much about the bloody slaughter at Franklin. In 1864, he could look back on a military career that had been both brief and meteoric. A near failure at West Point, he had come close to expulsion because of poor grades and heavy demerits. He graduated near the bottom of his class and began his first tour of duty as a Cavalry Lieutenant in Texas. In 1861, he entered the Confederate Army as a Cavalry Captain, and by the autumn of 1861 he was Colonel of the New and Roudy Fourth Texas Brigade. He had won praise and honor at the Battles of Seven Days and Second Manassas. At the time of the Antietam Campaign, he was leading a division and in late 1862 was promoted to Major General. At Gettysburg he lost the use of an arm, but became a full-fledged hero of the Confederacy. It was during his recuperation from this wound that he made his fateful trip to Georgia, in which he lost a leg at Chickamauga. Fate intervened for Hood while he convalesced from his wound in

-20- Richmond, Virginia. He became a favorite of Jefferson Davis, and was eventually awarded a Lieutenant Generalship, a Corps Command in the Army of Tennessee, and eventually the Army Commander. Fate intervened in Richmond also when Hood fell in love, and became engaged to a young woman named Sally Preston. His desire to continue to prove himself, to win a hero's accolades, certainly must come in part from this relationship. Hood's problem went deeper than either his burning ambition for hero status or the fact that he had been promoted far above his abilities. Hood was tied too strongly to his glory days in the Army of Northern Virginia. He remembered that Lee had achieved fame by the attack, the open field charge, at the Battles of Seven Days, Second Manassas, and elsewhere. But Hood had not fought in the East since Gettysburg. He did not understand that the war had changed. Generals had learned that open field charges against rifles were suicidal. Now Lee fought in trenches. Hood did not grasp this, and because he could not, the Army of Tennessee would suffer at Franklin. One of Hood's fantasies was to smash General George H. Thomas, the "Rock of Chickamauga", in Nashville and move eastward to Virginia, combine with Lee, and defeat Grant and Sherman in turn. But Hood's first dream was to divert Sherman from his drive to the sea by forcing Sherman to chase Hood's Tennesseans even more. Hood was relentless in his drive for success. So relentless that he wrecked his Army in the battle at Franklin where the Tennessee boys suffered over 6,000 casualties - 1,750 killed - more deaths than the Federals had incurred at Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Chickamauga, or Shiloh. Confederate generals were particularly affected: 12 were killed, wounded, or captured. The five generals killed in battle were: Generals Cleburne, Adams, Gist, Strahl, and Granbury. General Schofield's Union Army numbered 34,000 soldiers which he planned to mate with the 30,000 Federals under General George Thomas in Nashville, 18 miles to the north of Franklin. But Hood was blocking his way to Nashville. Schofield had to get by somehow. He found his way around Hood in November 29 at Spring Hill, south of Franklin. Under the cover of darkness Schofield's forces slipped past Hood and Schofield gained the advantage as he marched to Franklin. The next morning. Hood was furious when he found out what Schofield had done. Hood, who was quick to anger anyway, was now about to make terrible decisions, partly due to his poor health and partly to his own rash judgements.

-21- So, at Spring Hill, months of frustration welled up for John Bell Hood. Sick, tired, and distraught, he was too emotionally unstable to continue in command. He lashed out at his generals, such as Frank Cheatham and Pat Cleburne, arguing that the war's greatest opportunity had been lost at Spring Hill. Worse, Hood was determined to fight somewhere, no matter the cost. Through the morning of November 30, he pushed his army on toward Franklin, following Schofield's line of retreat. Shortly after 2 p. m.. Hood's infantry reached Winstead Hill, the high, cedar-covered slope overlooking Franklin and the Harpeth River Valley. Hood, Cheatham, Nathan Bedford Forrest, and others rode to the summit, took their field glasses, and looked down on the Franklin plain. Below spread the panorama of the river valley and Franklin, and thousands of bluecoats who waited for them. Franklin was a natural fortress. Located in a curve of the Harpeth River, Schofield's position was protected on the north, west, and east. The southern approach had no river barrier, but was just as formidable. The Federals had maintained a line of breastworks here since 1862, and now reinforced them heavily from the river above the town to the river southeast of Franklin. These works, with deep outer ditches and headlogs, were fronted by chevaux-de-frise and abatis. It would even be difficult for Hood to reach such formidable works. The three main approaches from the south, the Lewisburg, Columbia, and ^ Carter's Creek Pikes, jammed irlto a narrow space on the outskirts of town. From farthest pike to farthest pike. Hood's battle line at Winstead Hill would be three miles wide. This was bound to cause disorganization and confusion. Also, there was no protection from Schofield's artillery, which bristled not only in the breastworks, but at Fort Granger across the Harpeth River. After two years of Federal occupation, the rolling fields between the Carter House and Winstead Hill had been stripped of trees. Only open ground lay across the two miles from the hill to the Carter House. Thus it was no surprise that Cheatham, Forrest, Pat Cleburne, and other generals were astonished when Hood announced that he planned to attack immediately. No, said Forrest. He knew the country well, and knew that he could cross the Harpeth River east of town, and perhaps flank Schofield out of Franklin. Hood would not listen. He was so determined to attack that he would not wait for most of the Army's artillery, and for General Stephen D. Lee's Corps to arrive. Instead, only 19,000 infantry, with almost no artillery

-22- support, would make the attack. Hood's lines, spread from the Lewisburg Pike to the Carter's Creek Pike, were so thin that he had no reserves. Why did Hood attack? His anger and frustration were only partly to blame. Perhaps Hood intended the attack, in his own tormented way, as an exercise of discipline for the Army, because of the failure at Spring Hill. Hood later admitted that he used frontal assaults for such a purpose, and that he reveled in the shedding of blood as a booster to morale. In his own tormented way, the Franklin charge would be a last great effort to mold the Army of Tennessee into the image of the Army of Northern Virginia as he remembered it after the war. If Hood desired casualties as evidence of valor, he would not be disappointed. It was an Indian Summer. A balmy breeze blew against Winstead Hill as the Army made ready. Cheatham's Corps was on the left, from the Carter's Creek Pike eastward across the Columbia Pike. East of the Columbia Pike, General A. P. Stewart's Corps formed the right, and extended the line eastward to the Lewisburg Pike. About 4 p. m. the signal came to advance, and the Army of Tennessee moved down the slopes of Winstead Hill and onto the Franklin plain. The column lurched forward in one of the last great spectacles of the Civil War. Bands played "Annie Laurie". In near perfect formation, eighteen infantry brigades, banners flapping in the mild wind, moved across the open plain. Except for the regimental bands and occasional shouted orders, there was little noise. Coveys of quail rose from the fields. Rabbits fled the infantry advance. Finally, a half mile south of the Carter House, the columns halted and formed into two battle lines. Then came the order to charge, and thousands of yelling Confederates moved forward. This awe-inspiring sight was eloquently described after the battle by Colonel, later General, and subsequently Bishop, Ellison Capers, Commander of the 24th South Carolina Infantry Regiment of Brown's Division (whose living namesake, by the way, is a good friend of mine in Columbia). He wrote:

"About 4 o'clock the two corps moved down the hills, our division marching by the rightflank of regiments until we descended the slopes, then forming forward into line. As we advanced the force in front opened fire on us, and our line moved steadily on, the enemy retreating as we pressed forward, fust before the charge was ordered the brigade passed over an elevation, from which we beheld the magnificent spectacle the battlefield presented - bands were playing, general and staff officers and gallant couriers were riding in front of

-23- and between the lines, 100 battle flags were waving in the smoke of battle, and bursting shells were wreathing the air with great circles of smoke, while 20,000 brave men were marching in perfect order against thefoe. The sight inspired every man ofthe Twenty-fourth with the sentiment ofduty."

For an instant -1 repeat - just for an instant, there was a glint of hope of Confederate victory. It came here, around the Carter House. The Federal line was open here at the Columbia Pike, to allow wagons to pass through. There was a secondary barricade across the pike north of the Carter House. Down the Columbia Pike, south of the Carter House, there is a small hill, the location of the present-day rock quarry. Wagner's Federal command held this advanced position as Pat Cleburne's and John C. Brown's Divisions advanced fiercely up the Columbia Pike. The advanced Federals broke in panic, and ran pell mell up the Columbia Pike, and through the gap in the lines here by the Carter House. Brown's and Cleburne's men broke through the gap, and hand-to-hand fighting raged across the grounds of the Carter House. Federal reinforcements came hurrying up the Columbia Pike from downtown Franklin, and the Confederates were pushed back through the gap in the road into the ditch on the outside of the parapet. There they remained for the rest of the battle, firing over the breastworks. Brown's and Cleburne's Divisions paid an awful price for this heroic effort. General Patrick Cleburne was killed, just across the road from the Carter House, approximately where the Pizza Hut is now located. Cleburne, the Irish ney of the Confederacy, had been the finest infantry officer in the Army of Tennessee. One of Cleburne's brigade commanders. General Hiram Granbury, was also killed. Losses in Brown's Division were even worse. Brown was wounded severely, and all four of his brigade commanders were either killed or captured - General States Rights Gist and Otho French Strahl were killed outright in the ditch. General John C. Carter was mortally wounded, and General George W. Gordon was taken prisoner. General Gist had been an Adjutant General of the State of South Carolina, and many of his descendants are friends of mine. The day after the battle, a colonel was the ranking officer in Brown's Division. It was General Gordon who later described the death of Cleburne:

"Amid this scene General Cleburne came charging down our line to the left; and diagonally toward the enemy's works, his horse running atfull speed, and ifI had notpersonally checked my pace as I

-24- ran onfoot, he would have plunged over and trampled me to the earth. On he dashed, butfor an instant longer, when rider and horse both fell, pierced with many bullets, within a few paces of the enemy's works. On we rushed, his men of Granbury's brigade and mine having mingled as we closed on the line, until we reached the enemy's works; but being now so exhausted and sofew in numbers, we halted in the ditch on the outside of the breastworks among dead and dying men, both Federals and Confederates. A few charged over, but were clubbed down with muskets or pierced with bayonets. For some time, we fought them across the breastworks, both sides lying low and putting their guns under the head-logs upon the works, firing rapidly and at random and not exposing any part ofthe body exc^t the hand thatfired the gun...It was fatal to leave the ditch and endeavor to escape to the rear. Every man who attempted it (and a number did) was at once exposed and was shot doum without exception."

One reason why Brown and Cleburne lost so heavily was because there was no simultaneous Confederate attack. Because of the curve in the Federal line, Stewart's Corps did not strike the Federal line until after Brown and Cleburne had been repulsed. The same is true of Bate's Division, on the far left of Cheatham's Corps. Wherever they struck the Federal lines, the Confederates were first repulsed, then trapped in the outer ditch. There the battle raged for five hours. Then, about 9 p. m., the firing died away. Morning brought a ghastly sight in the long outer ditch across the outskirts of Franklin. Bodies were piled upon one another. In some places the casualties were so thick that bodies were standing. Franklin was less a battle than a slaughter. Counting wounded who later died, the Confederates lost almost 2,000 men killed. Altogether, some 8,000 Confederates were killed, wounded, or captured. Six Confederate generals were killed, and another six were wounded or captured. Small wonder that Franklin has been called "the generals' battle". Fifty-four regimental commanders were killed, wounded, or captured. Even after the arrival of General Stephen D. Lee's Corps, Hood's army now had less than 18,000 effective infantry. For five hours the carnage took place. For five hours the blood flowed and men screamed in agony. Heroic acts became commonplace. Privates met their maker; Generals were not exempt: General Cleburne, General Gist, General Strahl, General Granbury, and my great-great uncle General John Adams.

-25- General John Adams' Brigade was especially hard hit. Seeing his men start to falter, he galloped forward, waving his sword and urging on his troops. His charge carried headlong on the Federal breastworks. Awestruck at General Adams' bravery, LTC Scott Stewart of the 65th Illinois shouted at his men to hold their fire because, as one Federal soldier later said, "Adams was too brave to be killed." But when the Confederate general tried to snatch the 65th flag, the color sergeant shot him down in a flash. Adams' horse Charley was also shot and it fell, forelegs over the parapet. General Adams was given water by the Union soldiers, but he died a few minutes later. His last words were, "It is the duty of a soldier to die for his country." The smoke, the noise, the cries and whimpers are still in the air from that awful day and at times when the wind is right and your heart is attuned you can hear it the way I do - from the past. No account more poignantly describes that horrible scene than the pen of Private Sam R. Watkins, whose words I quote:

Kind reader, right here my pen, and courage and abilityfail me. I shrink from butchery. Would to God I could tear the pagefrom these rnemoirs and from my own memory. It is the blackest page in the history of the war of the Lost Cause. It was the bloodiest battle of modern times in any war. It was the finishing stroke of the independence of the Southern Confederacy. I was there. Isaw it. My flesh trembles, and creeps, and crawls when I think of it today. My heart almost ceases to beat at the horrid recollection. Would to God thatI had never witnessed such a scene! "I cannot describe it. It begs description. I will not attempt to describe it. I could not...The death-angel was there to gather its last harvest. It was the grand coronation of death. Would that I could turn the page. ButI feel, though I did so, thatpage would still be there, teeming with its scenes of horror and blood. I can only tell of what I saw. "As they marched on down through an open field toward the rampart of blood and death, the Federal batteries began to open and mow down and gather into the garner of death, as brave, and good and pure spirits as the world ever saw. The twilight of evening had begun to gather as precursor of the coming blackness of midnight darkness that was to envelope a scene so sickening and horrible that it is impossible for me to describe it. 'Forward men,' is r^eated all along the line. A sheet offire was poured into our veryfaces, andfor a

-26- moment we halted as if in despair, as the terrible avalanche of shot and shell laid low those brave and gallant heroes, whose bleeding wounds attested that the struggle would be desperate. Forward, men! And the blood spurts in a perfectjet from the dead and wounded. The earth is red with blood. It runs in streams, making little rivulets as it flows. Occasionally there was a little lull in the storm of battle, as the men were loading their guns, and for a few moments it seemed as if night tried to cover the scene with her mantle. The death-angel shrieks and laughs, and old Father Time is busy with his sickle, as he gathers in the last harvest of death, crying, 'More, more, more!' while his rapacioi4s maw is glutted with the slain. "I had made up my mind to die -felt glorious. We pressedforward until I heard the terrific roar of battle open on our right. Cleburne's division was charging their works. I passed on until I got to their works, and got on their (the Yankee's) side. But in fifty yards of where I was the scene lit up byfires that seemed like hell itself. It appeared to be but one line ofstreaming fire. Our troops were upon one side ofthe breastworks, and the Federals on the other. I ran up on the line of works, where our men were engaged. Dead soldiers filled the entrenchments. The firing was kept up until after midnight, and gradually died out. We passed the night where we were. But when the morrow's sun began to light up the eastern sky with its rosy hues, and we looked over the battlefield, O, my God! what did we see! It was a grand holocaust of death. Death had held high carnival there that night. The dead were piled the one on the other all over the ground. I never was so horrified and appalled in my life. Horses, like men, had died game on the gory breastworks. "... We shed a tearfor the dead. They are buried andforgotten. We meet no more on earth. But up yonder, beyond the sunset and the night, away beyond the clouds and tempest, away beyond the stars that ever twinkle and shine in the blue vault above us, away yonder by the great white throne, and by the river of life, where the Almighty and Eternal God sits, surrounded by the angels and archangels and the redeemed of earth, we will meet again and see those noble and brave spirits who gave up their lives for their country's cause that night at Franklin, Tennessee..."

This is not a pilgrimage to pay homage to war, or to victory for a particular side. This is a remembrance and memorial to bravery for so many who believed and who followed and who suffered and died.

-27- The South's healing and the rebirth of our wonderful United States was paid for in great part in Franklin, Tennessee. Perhaps the greatest tragedy of Franklin is that so few Americans know about it. Most Americans consider the Civil War something fought in the East. The schoolboy knows of Pickett's Charge, Stonewall Jackson, and Lee's surrender at Appamatox. Gettysburg has become the War's decisive battle, Virginia the main theater of war, and the generals who fought with Lee and his opponents the War's main figures. To many casual readers, names such as Felix Zollicoffer or Patrick Cleburne, and battles such as Perryville and Franklin, have only a vague meaning, if at all. TTie reasons why the Virginia theater has dominated American attention are obvious. The fields of Virginia lay near the great population centers of the East. Both citizens of the war era and modern tourists naturally evinced more curiosity and concern over a Gettysburg than a Stone's River. Too, Robert E. Lee was the South's most successful general, and Americans love a winner. Then the cavalier appeal of war on the Virginia front affected the popular mind. For many the w^r is still a romantic saga - Pickett with his oiled ringlets, flamboyant Turner Ashby, laughing Jeb Stuart - the list is almost endless. A perfect example of how the western front in the Civil War has been neglected is the fate of its battlefields. Vast military parks are found in the east - Antietam, Gettysburg, Chancellorsville, Fredricksburg, Richmond, and elsewhere. Few battlefields remain intact on the western front. North of Atlanta, fields such as Resaca and New Hope Church lie silent by the wayside. The battlefield at Nashville is a mosaic of subdivisions and shopping centers. Shopping centers and factories now dot the once-waiving grain fields here at Franklin. But the memories of the grandeur of war in the west is still a matter of record. There were the shouts of anger, when disgusted Confederates broke their flintlock muskets across fence posts at Mill Springs when the powder failed to ignite...the sound of Folk's and Hardee's regimental bands at Murfreesboro, as brigades emerged from the cedars against the angle in the line...the hoarse cheers at Chickamauga when Folk's and Longstreet's wings united after smashing Rosecran's army...the incessant whine of shells in Atlanta as Sherman pounded that city and burned my own city of Columbia. Above all, there were the scenes at Franklin...the lone, pitiful figure of John Bell Hood, strapped to his saddle, staring through field glasses at the Franklin entrenchments...the sound of regimental bands as Hood's veterans began moving down the slopes of Winstead Hill...the quiet interval as the

-23- Army marched forward across the Franklin field...the shouts as Cleburne's and Brown's men poured through the gap at the Carter House...the hours of shouts and rifle fire as the Carter family huddled in the basement...wounded Confederate soldiers crawling to the spring near the Carnton house, where later they would build the Willow Plunge swimming pool. Franklin was a grand saga, a story of almost forgotten valor that needs to be better known, but which can never weary of the telling. Like the better- known struggle in Virginia, it was not the whole war, but the picture of the tragic conflict is sadly incomplete without it. We have grown beyond blame and now we can only learn lessons from the past. We must appreciate the legacy of change which that terrible war brought to the country. We are the greatest nation on earth, but this has not been without cost. From Washington's rag-tag army at Valley Forge to the fading uniforms of the Confederacy against the deep blue of the Union, our nation has painfully learned the lessons of the past. We have paid the price in many lives for the freedoms we enjoy today. Let us never forget that none of those deaths was in vain and all were heroic. Today we have drawn together to honor those who fought so bravely - soldiers of our great land, who fought for their cause, many in gray, many in blue. We owe them our heritage. We owe them our gratitude. Their personal sacrifice and dedication in the toughest of times for our great nation must never be forgotten. Their bravery and unfailing sense of duty - nowhere more strongly expressed than here at Franklin 125 years ago - must surely call us to renew our own sense of values and virtues and the things which we hold most precious in life. For the most part they were citizen-soldiers, not seeking personal gain or a path to fame. Their country called and they answered - a simple patriotic response. They recognized a civic duty and they performed accordingly. And when the war ended - when the shelling stopped, the smoke cleared, and the guns were silenced - they returned home to build a bigger and better country - an America where freedom is our lifestyle of choice: Freedom above all else - for ourselves, our friends, and our allies who desire it. I doubt if many soldiers ever liked war. Those who have seen the death, destmction, and desolation of war quickly learn to hate it in much the same fashion that Pvt. Watkins earlier expressed. As General Creighton W. Adams once observed: "Nobody in his right mind welcomes war, especially those who have seen it. The destruction, the pain are beyond the telling."

-29- Our memories linger on from this place of blood, and gore, and utter devastation of 125 years ago. But remembrance is good for us - remembrance of the human condition which spurred men on to fight for their beliefs, to fight for the freedom they desired. The great English philosopher John Stuart Mills once said: War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest ofthings. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patrioticfeeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. A man who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing he cares more about than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature who has no chance of beingfree. In our growing pains we tested America's fabric in a painful and agonizing way. But in time, wounds heal - those of the soul as well as the body. And today our beloved America remains free and strong and united. The winds of adversity and division are passed. Our forefathers returned from the battlefields and set about to build the greatest nation on this earth. From war we learned about peace. And we learned that freedom isn't free and that peace is impossible only through military strength. Since the five tragic hours and the thousands of human lives lost at Franklin, Americans have been put to the test many more times. We have always met the test in the defense of freedom. Like the soldiers of 125 years ago, the men and women who have answered our nation's call have come from every region of the country, are of every creed and race, and are of every kind of background. That's the way it should be. These men and women who defend America are, in essence, America itself They are the sons and daughters of generations past - generations which built this nation with blood, sweat and toil. They have picked up the baton from the soldiers of yesterday, and are running their own leg in the continuing contest for freedom and democracy. Those who serve today share the same dream with those who bravely served before - a dream of peace and prosperity within the framework of human rights. Today, here at Franklin, on these hallowed grounds, we embrace all that we hold dear - a nation united in the cause of freedom and justice; a heritage of brave men and women whose sense of loyalty and duty will forever inspire us; a peace throughout the land that signals the healing of the wounds of the soul; and a calm which transcends political differences. We are a nation united forever. So, on this special day, there is much to commemorate. We

-30- commemorate the bravery and loyalty and sacrifice of the men in blue and gray whose fate placed them on this hallowed ground. We commemorate, too, 125 years later, a nation united in the cause of freedom and liberty. Remembrance is good - but is one day enough? No. Certainly not. Abraham Lincoln once remarked that speeches and statues are not adequate repayment for those who died for their country. He was right. We owe something more. The debt we owe to our soldiers in blue and gray requires a commitment on our part. It's a commitment to the principles of our nation and the personal sacrifice, and the bravery and the sense of duty needed to preserve that vision. Now it's our time to safeguard our land. You and I, and soon our children. For the honor of those who came before us, for the sake of those who follow, I pray we do it well. I pray we do it successfully. That is the honor - the greatest honor - we can ever give to their memory. Thank you.

-31- Batde ofFranklin

by Cletus Keefer Sidder

The soldier was cold, tired and hungry, but happy. The Battle of Franklin was over and tonight he would be hcme with his wife. It had been a long struggle with sub-zero temperatures that kept the soldiers on both sides from sleeping. Tent fires had happened only too often as the soldiers and the civilians tried to warm themselves throu^ the long nights. Plenty of \\^ter was a problem for all, despite the best efforts of their leaders. The events leading up to the battle and the battle itself brou^t everyone closer together, a closeness they would share for the rest of their lives. The soldier was later to describe the emotions everyone felt when bugles played the final taps and people hug^d each other, crying. "We sat there for a minute and took it all in. We knew in five minutes we had to get back to the 20th century and on that crazy radio." The soldier is Chuck Isaacs, a member of Clebume's 2nd Tennessee, who spearheaded the 125th anniversary re- enactment of the Battle of Franklin. The Battle of Franklin Re-enactment Association, Inc. presented a four-day event, November 30-pecember 3, 1989, which captured a time in history. The Battle of Franklin, and at the same time gave an overview of life during the Civil War. Spectators were invited to wander through the troop camps and see for themselves how soldiers of the Civil War lived and fought Civilian re-enactors' camps were also open to the public. Sutler's Row, with it's merchandise authentic to the period, gave spectetors an opportunity to purchase a bit of history to take home with them. The re-eniactors all wore period dress, used period tools and utensils, Lectures and demonstrations by experts added to the feeling of stepping back in time. The re-enactment was held at the northwest comer of Franklin Road and the Mack Hatcher Bypass on the 800-acre Aspen Grove development site. In the past 125 years the city of Franklin has developed on the actual site of the battle around the Carter House, making it impossible to hold a re-;enactment there. On Thur^y, November 30, the opening ceremonies took place at the Carter House, where with battle raged in 18^ with Dr. Rosalie Carter, a descendant of Fountain Branch Carter, speaking briefly. Fountain Branch Carter was owner of the Carter House 125 years ago when his home was used as a Union Army Field Headquarters during the battle. In her remarks. Dr. Carter described the buildings and roads when the battle took

-32- place and talked about Confederate Capt. Tod Carter wdien he was found mortally wounded trying to get to the house. T. Patton Adams, mayor of Columbia S.C and great-great nephew of Brig. Gen. John Adams who was killed in the Battle of Franklin, spoke about the battle. A memorial service was held at the Confederate Cemetery near Camton Mansion later that day. More than 200 spectators attended the service for the 1,481 victims of the battle buried in the cemetery. A replica of the first Confederate flag waved at treetop height at the cemetery with a wreath from Tod Carter Camp 854 of the Sons of Confederate Veterans at its base. Following the memorial service, officials of the Franklin Chapter 114 of the United Daughters of the Confederacy opened a one-of-a-kind display featuring items wom by Maj. Gen. Patrick R Clebume. It was the first time in 125 years the items had all been in the same place. One of the items that was part of the unique exhibit is Clebume's fixx± coat, on loan by the Museum of the Confederacy. The coat was recently been specially treated to preserve it and went on public display in March 1990 at ifs home museum in Richmond, Va. Many of the other items came fiom private collections, such as Clebume's Belt and Belt Buckle and a signed picture of Clebume. The Tennessee State Museum loaned the Camton Mansion Clebume's kepi and cane. The Layland Museum in Clebume, Texas loaned his pistol and pistol belt. Historic Travelers Rest lent Nathan Bedford Forrest's sword and a guest book with John Bell Hood's signature. Other items for the special four-day exhibit included a drum carried by James Calvin Jenkins, riding spurs wom by Tod Carter, Gen. Adam's coat, a pistol fiom the Battle of Franklin, a broken sword, a uniform worn in the battle, the original Confederate Cemetery Book signed by Mrs. John McGavock as well as a private collection of battlefield artifacts including shells, swords, pipes, utensils, belt buckles, cannon balls, money, bullets and guns. Pioneers' Comer Association published Homespun Tales, eyewitness accounts of the battle and stories passed on to descendants of the people who lived in Franklin in 1864. A 42-page book "McGavock Family Cemetery" was published by the Franklin Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy. It was written by Helen Potts and Helen Hudgins and gives the history of Col. John McGavock's work to create a burial place for the Confederate soldiers killed in the battle. The book includes photographs of the cemetery, a map of the battlefield, and the most complete name list of the soldiers compiled. Fred Williams, descendant of A.N.C. Williams, the first independent black merchant in Franklin and a former slave, displayed his collection of military artifacts at

-33- the J.L Clay Senior Citizens Center. His collection includes a framed copy of an original 1868 hand bill promoting the candidacy of Gen. U.S. Grant for President, guns and officer's swords. An estimated 5,000 school children visited the site of the re-enactment on Friday, December 1. Re-enactors showed some of the equipment to the youngsters and answered questions. Brief skirmishes, representative of the march from the Tennessee River toward Columbia, were also part of die demonstration. One visitor, Pete Mosley, Williamson County Planning Commissioner, told his children, "Can you imagine this many people—there has to be 5,000 here today—were dead after this was over?" Learning Circles and displays included a variety of things. On Friday the displays were The Changing Silhouette of Fashion, Victorian Christmas Decorations and 19th Century Toys. Teaming Circles were "A Wartime Christmas" by Nancy D. Baird of Western Kentucky University, "The Art of Spencerian Script" by Michael Sull, "The History of Eyewear" by Sarah Appel Essex, "Crinoline, Crape and Corpses" by Susan Lyons Hughes of the Kentucky Historical Society, and "Stickout Petticoats" by Saundra Ros Aultmaa Children's activities took on a Christmas theme and the youngsters made period Christmas tree decorations and viewed a Christmas Tableau. Early Saturday, December 2, company, cavalry, and battalion, artillery and brigade drills were completed as visitors began arriving to tour the camps and watched the drills. The first volleys of the Battle of Spring Hill rang out at 11:55 a.m. Both Union and Confederate cannons and artillery could be seen heard as re-enactors fired long rifles. Gen. Clebume's division charged the hillside and forced the Union troops to retreat toward Franklia As the retreat was taking place, a grass fire accidentally started on the eastern flank. A Franklin Fire Department put out the fire which was formed by high winds. A second fire broke out and the firefighters rushed back into the center of the action. On Saturday night the re-enactors attended a ball with all period decorations. For the evening a warehouse was tumed into an 1864 ballroom with two 30-foot Christmas trees decorated with popcorn and other decorations of the era. The 8th Georgia Regimental Band and other fiddlers provided the music for the evening. "It just floored you to see how nice it was with all the candlelight and lanterns," said Chudc Isaacs later. Sunday morning, December 3, both Confederate and Union troops passed in grand review. Church services were conducted in the camps. The grand review paid honor to the men who died in the Battle of Franklin and to the late Steve Bell, a re-enactor. Bell's widow, Sandy, had a place of honor at the ceremony with a riderless horse posted near her.

-54- All flags, estimated at more than 40, Union and Confederate, were marched together during the review. The Battle of Franklin got under way at 12:55 RM. in a wind chill of 10 degrees. Gen. John Bell Hood's Confederate troops assaulted the Union troops despite warnings from Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest that it would be disastrous. On the march to the battle, the Army of Tennessee stopped in fiont of the Baugh home much the way the troops march^ up from Spring llill 125 years ago stopped at homes along the roadside on thbir way to liberate their home state. As the army came from "Winstead Hill" and deployed into battle it was as though they were readying for a grand parade. The long, straight lines presented an awesome sight to the federal troops. The energy flowing from the men made it difficult for the officers to hold the line. Rabbits and birds scurried out of the way of the advancing troops. Once the battle got underway, after the first charge, smoke and noise isolated the men as they fought like wild men on the breastworks. The soldiers fell back and charged the breastworks again and again as the fallen wounded soldiers urged their comrades on in the melee. The battle raged around the Carter House and Carter's cotton gin as young Tod Carter received his mortal wounds just yards from his family home, fiie warfare ended at 1:56 P.M. with the bodies of some 3,000 Confederate re-enactors littering the field of battle. As the bugles played taps, the soldiers took off their caps out of respect for those brave souls who died 125 years ago. The troops march^ back to their camps to begin the long trek to their homes all across the country.

Battle of Franklin participants included:

Federal

l4thININF ythOHINF 17th OH ART SthTNINF ISthUSlNF 91st OH INF 1st IL ART 93rdPAINF 1st MI ART 9thMAn^JF 1st MN IMF Battery G, 2D, n Art IstMNLTART Co A, 1st MN INF 1st NY SIGNAL Co A,6th OH INF 1st OH IT ART Co B, 2nd OH INF 20thILINF Co B,6th IL CAV 20thMEINF CoC,4thUSEvIF

-35- 21stOHINF Co D,75th OH INF 23idILINF CoE,l48thNYINF ZythlNINF Co E, 54th MA INF 28thMAINF Co E, 9th IN INF 28thPAE>IF Co G,54th MA INF 2nd IL ART Co H, 20th IL INF 30thOHINF Co 1,19th IN INF 32ndININF Co I^ 104th H INF , 33idNFINF Cumberland Guard 37thILINF Excelsior Mess 3rd NJ IMF Federal Brigade of GA 46th HINF Federal Headquarters Staff 4thMIINF Firelands Mess 4th NY Holmes Brigade 4thUSINF Independent 52 0HINF Logan's Brigade 54thMAINF Lone Star History Assn. 5th KY IMF Lone Star Living History Assn. 5th KY IMF(Mudsills) Ohio Brigade Headquarters 5thOHINF Ohio Brigade Staff 63idPAINF Ordinance Depot 6thlLCAV Signal Corps 75th NY IMF Staff 7thKYINF Stones Battery 7th MI INF Union Rifles U.S. Christian Commission U.S. Signal Corps

Confederate

nth MS INF Co A 5th LA INF nth VA INF Co A 5th VA INF 12thAL Co B 12th VA INF 12th LA INF Co B 13th VA INF 12th TN ART CoBlstKYART 12thTNCAV Co B 20th TN INF l4thIAINF CoB2ndWIINF l4thTNEsIF CoB4thALCAV 154th TN INF CoB53rdVAE^ 15thALCAV Co B 7th FL INF l6thNCINF CoB7thTNINF

-36- l6thSCINF CoB9thTXINF 18th IAIN Co C 12th GA INF ISthlAINF Co C 2nd FL INF 19thTNINF CoC3rciKYINF IstARCAV CoC5thVAE^ 1st ARINF Co D 17th MS INF IstKYCAV Co D 1st FL INF 1st lA IMF Co D 3Ki MO INF 1st Rockbridge ART Co E 2nd MD INF 20th TN COB INF Co E 5th TN INF 20thTNINF CoE8thTNINF 21st AL Co F 1st MO INF 21stmon'sCAV CoF21stVAINF 22ndNCINF Co F 26th MS INF 24th TN INF Co F 3rd LA 24th VA INF CoF59thTNE^JF 26th NC CAV Co F 7th FL INF 26th NC INF CoF9thTXINF 27th TN INF Co G 11th MS INF 27th/6th MS INF CoG12thVAINF 28th AL INF Co G 15th ARINF 2nd KY INF Co G 15th TN INF 2nd NC CAV Co G 26th NC INF 2nd TN CAV Co G 26th VA INF 2nd TN CAV CoG5thTXCAV 30th NC INF CoH13thVAE^ 35th TN INF CoH5thVAE^JF 3nl ARINF Co 112th AL INF 3rciKYINF Co 126th TN INF 3rd MO INF Co 128th LA EvIF 3rd TX INF Co 12nd SC INF 43rd MS INF Co 14th VA 43rd Yh (Mosby's Rangers) CoK5thTXE\!F 44th VA INF Co M 5th TN E^JF 47th VA INF Cos 1st TN EvIF 49th NC INF Cobb's KY Battery 4th KY INF Cobb's Legion 52nd TN INF Confederate Guard 63rd TN INF Corput's Battery 6th KY INF Crowleys 3rd MO INF

-37- 7thMSINF GA Battalion INF 7thTNCAV GA Division-Signal Corp SthKYINF Georgia Battalion 8th TN IMF Hardaway's Battery 9thARINF Horse Soldiers Inc. 9thKYINFREG Independent AL Division Jefferson ART AZ Civil Council Jeff Davis Rifles Bankhead's Battery littlefield-Half Section Benton's LA Battery Medical Staff Cheatham's Division MO Brigade INF Clebume's Division Morton's Battery Co A l4th LA INF Scott's TN Battery ART CoA19thTXINF Signal Corp KY Detachment INF Co A 1st TN INF Tarrant Rifles CoAlstTXINF Terry Texas Rangers Co A 2nd MD INF Trans MS Rifles Co A 33rd VA INF TroupARTGA CoA36thVAINF TX Rifles

125th ANNIVERSARYOF'IHE BATIIE OF FRANKUN On July 18, 1988 the Battle of Franklin Re-enactment Association, Inc. was incorporated with a plan for the 125th Anniversary of the Battle of Franklin. Board menJbers, experience re-enactors, represented a variety of professions ranging from banking, law, accounting, management to history. The board included; Al Gatlin, chairperson; Jean Byassee and Chuck Isaacs, co- chairpersons; Tim Allen, secretary; Sherry Beard, treasurer; John Hudson, co-chair of military committee; libby Smith, cMian committee; David Keith, public relations; Billy Ray Reynolds, operations committee; Pam Reynolds, Sutlers committee; Sam Green, co-diair of military committee; Sheila Green, social committee; Nancy Bassett, office committee. Other people who devoted time and energy to the project include: Sandy Bell, Thomas Cartwright, Mickey Fitzgerald, Barbara Gatlin, Tara Harl, Shad Herbert, Cathy I^cs, Fred Isaacs, Julia Isaacs, John Jacobs, Al Ladd, Craig Moates, Garry Neal, Biff Petty, Deborah Petty, Tom Petty, Colon Pope, Tad Porter, "William Reed, Bonnie Reuter, Mark Riggsbee, Rick Rowie, Ted Rupel, Sam Davis SCV Camp, Marvin Stalnacker, Debra Stillwell, Tom Stillwell, Mark Tayor, Mary Sue Tayor, Mike Thompson, Donna Wilson, Charles Wilson, Fred Wisdom,Jerry WhghL

-38- The Franklin Police and Fire Departments, the "Williamson County Ambulance Service and the "VCTUiamson County Rescue Squad also were at the site throughout the event Chuck Isaacs estimated that "over 300" people worked on the re-enactment at some stage or another and said it was impossible to recognize everyone for their time and donations. The site, 800 acres known as Aspen Grove at the northeast comer of Franklin Road and the IVbck Hatcher Bypass, required preparation. The land was made available for free by the J.W. Cross family. Volunteers, using donated materials, constructed a replica of the Carter House and cotton gin as well as breastworks. Funds were received fixjm the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development to help promote the event Williamson County, Lojac Enterprises, and Vulcan Materials donated gravel used at the site for roads. All monies raised fncm the four-day event were donated for specific projects for sites which pertained to the Battle of Franklin. An estimated 35,000-40,000 spectators attended. The experienced re-enactors discovered one of their perhaps more unexpected tasks involved explaining to the community that a re-enactment was a chance for everyone to see a living history with participants stepping into the roles occupied by people 125 years ago. Many re-enactors not only dr^ in authentic clothing, but also assume the persona of someone from that period. The question of racism was raised but quickly dispelled by historians and re- enactors (which included black units). The opportunity for people to see history brought to life received praise throughout the community. An estimated 4,000 re-enactors came to the four-day event from 35^ states, England and Canada. No one predicted the sub-zero temperatures that complicated some of the basic day-to-day operations of the camps. The camps included Confederate Infantry, Union Infentry, Union Artillery, Union Cavalry, Confe^rate Cavalry, Civilian and Sutler's. Getting enough water to everyone was slower than organizers had planned. Jean Byassee climbed on an old flatbed tmck wearing her bonnet and gloves without fingers driving from campsite to campsite hauling water barrels where needed. Because of the cold and high winds both civilian and military re-enactors experienced tent fires. Isaacs relates how it was in camp the night before the final battle; "On Saturday night we had a couple of fires; one tent had gotten close enough it went up. About 1 a.m., finally all of the fires looked good and it was so cold we couldn't stand outside. I laid down and dozed a little while when somebody yelled fire—^it was a tent about 30 yards away. "With no coat or shoes on I went running out; by the time I got there the tent was destroyed. The wind was blowing so hard it had the fires kicked up; we had two or three guys standing by each fire to make sure it

-39- was safe. By then it was about 3 and Sam (Green), Al(Gatlin) and I were still up. Al and I laid down but it was so cold we never got to sleep." Tragedy struck in the morning light when Stanley Kahrl, 56, an Ohio State Univeisity English professor, found face down outside his tent in the Union Army camp. His d^th was attributed to natural causes. "We thought about what to do now, should we continue or call it off. The federal commander said he (KahrD loved what he was doing and he wouldn't want us to call it off," Isaacs said. So they continued as planned. For the men and women who participated a closeness had developed from working together even before the event started. Isaacs said one re-enactor from California made a point to meet him face to face after corresponding with him about the re-enactment On Saturday aftemoon Isaacs got a call of the two-way radio from Ted Rupel over in the federal camp. "He said Chuck I've got something for you. And the fife corps played "Dixie"—you could hear it plain as day," Isaacs said. With a 10 degree wind chill, events at Sunday aftemoon's Battle of Franklin moved along briskly. Isaacs said after forming their lines of battle the troops charged the works immediately. "The crowd was freezing, you could tell they were cold." The event did have it's more humorous moments as well. Isaacs said on Wednesday night a policeman woke them up and said one of their horses was loose on Franklin Road. As I^cs, Al Gatlin, Colon Pope grabbed a piece of nylon rope and got in the truck to catch the horse, they all tegan laughing when they realized none of them knew the first thing about roping a horse. Before they had an opportunity to try out their roping skills, the police discovered the horse had come ft^ a nearby farm and it was captured by more experienced hands. One of the most special moments came on Saturday night after the ball Isaacs said. The re-enactment was dedicated to Steve Bell (1952-15^9) a member of the 1st Brigade, 2nd Tennessee Volunteer Infantry, who was never far from the thoughts of his friends. The symbol of the 1st Brigade is a crescent moon with a star. "Al Gatlin called us and we walked behind the cabin and looked over Roper's Knob. There was a crescent moon with the star right there—^it was like Steve was there looking over us. We missed him a lot and needed him a lot"

W

-40- BRIGHT SKIES AXI) DARK SHADOWS

lii?

By HENBY :M. FIELD D.D.

^aps

REV. HENRY M. FIELD. D.D.

new YORK CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 1890 CHAPTER XVL

THE BATTLE OF FHANKLIN. "Wlien I left Atlanta, and turned nortliward, it "waa deliglitful to feel that, at last, after two months absence, I was'liomeward boruid. My hiend, Mr. Cunningham, who had met me on my way South at Chattanooga, now met me again, and accompanied me to Nashville. Our last day together had been on Lookout Mountain, and now we were to pass over other historic scenes. Middle Tennes see is full of war' memories. Here is the field of Mur- fi-eeshoro, which tells its story silently in thii-fy thousand graves. As we approach Nashville, the crumbling remains of old earthworks that once girdled the city, remind us how two great armies were once camped on these hills. But just noiVmy ejes were turned in another quarter, to the town of Franklin, a few miles south of Nashville, that had been the scene of a battle near the close of the war, which, though less in the number of those engaged than some others, was contested with the most desperate courage on both sides, and was one of the most important in its results to the Union cause. In this battle Mr. Cun ningham had borne a part as a Confederate soldier, and he had told me so much about it, with such details as 210 TISrr TO FRANKLIN. THE CRISIS OF THE AVAR. 211 brought it all vividly before nie, that I had it in mind, if I To make the description intelligible, Ave must recall the came this way again, to pay a visit to the historic ground, general position of the arniies in tlie South in the Fall of that from a study of its geography, and of the jiosition 180-4. That Avas the crisis of the war. AVhilc Lee held of the contending armies, I might be able to appreciate Eichmond, he could do nothing to sustain the foiiunes of the tremendous conflict, and do full justice to the brave the Confederacy in any other part of the field, h.'st he men on both sides who peiished in it. should leave the Caiiital to his vigihnit and jiowerful Accordingly we fi.ved a day for the visit, when he brought enemy. Hence the active campaign Avas ti-ansferred to a friend. Major Vaulx (pronounced VoasJ, who was Insi^ec- the farther South, where Slierman in a series of battles tor-General to Cheatham's Division, which bore a leading had pushed Johnston back to Atlanta—a movement wliich jiai-t in the battle. Franklin is but eighteen miles from created such alarm that he Avas removed, and the com Nashville, and a half hour's ride brought us to the sta mand given to Gen. Hood, Avho had shoAvn his courage on tion. As we entered the town, we had the good fortune many fields,' haviiig_lost _an _arni^ at Getty.sburg and a leg to meet Col. McEwen, an old resident, wlio Avas here Avhen at Chickamauga, but Avho in his mutilated body still c!ir- the battle was fought, and from his front door witnessed ""necTThe heart of a lion. He inaugurated his campaign by it all, and who now kindly consented to accompany us a new system of tactics. Instead of manccuvering and over the field, and give us the benefit of his iiersonal ob retreating, he believed that battles Avere. to be gained by servations. Later we had also Mr. Carter, Avhose house hard fighting, and at once took the oftensive, and fought was such a centre of fire from both sides, that he and his three bloody battles, but could not save Atlanta from sur family fled to the cellar for safety. Of these four persons, render. Failing to shake the hold of his adversary by three Avere eyeAvitnesses of the battle; and the fouiih, if direct attack, he undertook a movement in the rear. he did not see so much, it Avas only because the roai' of Leaving Sherman in Atlanta, he crossed the Chattahoochce conflict was going on over his head; but as soon as the with an army of more than forty thousand men, and battle Avas ended, he had the fullest opportunity to visit struck into Tennessee, intending to cut his adversary's the field Avhile it was yet covered with the dead and communications, and thus compel him to retreat in self- woupded, and his observations will come in in the proper defence. It Avas a brilliant plan of camijaign, and might place. have been successful if the Confederate leader had not As the points to be visited were at some distance from been dealing Avith a Avary old soldier. But Sherman Avas each other, my first step was to engage a caiTiage Avith then planning his march to the sea, and did not mean to two horses, with a negro following on an extra horse in be diverted fi'om it. That Avas a bold stroke, but not case any of our party preferred to make his observations Avithout its danger, for the farther he got aAvay, the more from the saddle. Thus provided AA-ith the best of guides, he left the enemj' fi-ee to SAveep the countrj'; and so it Ave set out on our morning's ride, driving directly to the might have been that AA'hile Shernian was marching line of entrenchment, along which General Schofield, who through Georgia to the sea. Hood should be marching commanded the Union army, drew up his line of battle. through Tennessee and Kentucky to the Ohio 1 The let- ilOOU CROSSES THE DI CK RIVER. 2l:l 212 GENERAT. SCHOFTEI-D. ters of Grant written at the time, show that he was full of was sent with two corps to his sn]ipoit. But even with anxiety as to the residt. this reinforcement, Tliomas did not feel strong enough to To guard against the danger from that quarter, it was dcid the crushing blow which he afterwards gave in the necessary that Sherman slmuld leave in his rear a suffi battle of Nashville, and so .sent Schofield as fai- south as cient force to deal with such a moveiiiciit. Accordingly, Pulaski, a distance of eighty miles, to keep w atch of Hood, Thomas was left in command at Nash^'ille, and Schoficld * falling back as he advanced, and thus check his uiiurh northward. At Columbia the t\yo armies were separated ♦If proof were needed of tlio great value of institutions for only bv a river, which furnished an excellent lino of de the training of ollieers who are to be at the h*>ad (»f aiiuies, it would bo afforded by the late Civil War, in wliich the same fence against the pursuer, if he shoidd try to force a cross , Military Academy furnished the leaders on both sides. In the ing at that point. But instead of this. Hood moved east battle that is hero described, the opposing commanders were to a ford five or six miles above, from which Schoficld not only both graduates of West Point, but members of the same at first siqqioscd that he would turn along the north bank class, entering oh the same day, and had spent four years together, of the river, and- attack him in his position ; but he soon little dreaming that they should ever be arrayed against each learned that, instead of this, his antagonist had struck other in the field. General John McAllister Schofield is a son of tlie State of northwest towards Spring Hill, the point where the road New York, having been born IB Llhaulanqua county, Sept. 29, by which he was nuu-ching, Avould strike the main road 1829. He graduated at West Point in 1853—when General from Columhia to Franklin. The object of this movement Robert E. Loo (then only a Captain of Engineers, though a was iilaiu ; it was to place Hood between Schofield and Colonel by brevet for his services in the Mexican War) was Superintendent, and General George H. Thomas Instructor of Thomas, who was at Nashville, and thus cut the Union Artillery and Cavalry—in the same class with General Hood, and ai-my in two. This woidd give him an opimrtunity to fight also with General McPhcrson and General Sheri he was given coniiiiaiul of (he froutier, incliuHug wards Generals in the Union Army, and on the Confederate side the Kansas as well as Missouri troops, lie was nuule a niajor- Generals G. "W. Custis Lee, John Pegram, J. E. B. Stuart, the geueral of voluntiau's Nov. 29, 1862, ami after (li.stinguishc(l famous cavalry officer, and Stephen D. Lec, who commanded a services in iliffercnt fields (especially in the campaign of General corps at Franklin. On his gmduation, Schofield 'arag aMlgnccl to Sherman against General Jo-sejih E. Johnston in the Summer Tm ^Isond Artillery, and yet such was his standing as a student and Autumn of 1801, whieh ended in the capture of Atlanta, and that for five years ho was retained at West Point as Instructor in the Battle of Franklin), he was l.n-eveted a major-general in in Natural Philosophy; and then obtained leave of absence from the regular army. In July, 1867, he was appointed to the com the army, that he might go to St. Louis, and there fill the same mand of the first militiiry district. In 186S he was Secretary t>f chair in Washington University. But at the breaking out of the War. The following year he was assigned to the ei.)mman

out to him tho position of the Federal line, and seeing it, sent REFERENCE. two staff officers to report the situation to Cheatham. who, not 1. na(«*9 wivixion. hearing the guns, had said to his staff, • Let us go and see what 2. CIcbiirm-N DivLtlon, 4 BrfgaJes. 3. Uriiwn'a Dlvblon, 4 Brij^adca. is the matter!' On the way to Brown, ho mot tho officer who 4. Strahl's lirigadr. Tliom|V)on d ' Stfitiou was coming to report the situation on the right, and hearing it, 5. Johnson's bivouac. said' Go with me, and report to Gen. Hood just what you have 6. SU'warl'a llivouac. said to me,' which being done. Gen. Hood replied to Cheatham, Station «If that is the case, do not attack, but order your troops to hold i^SPRING HILL the position they are in for the night.'" [This explanation will bo clearly understood by reference to the map.] ^■/ r' ^ Such, to Major Vaubc, is the true explanation TROOPSai: I t t of the reason why General Cheatham did not attack Stan ley at Spring Hill. It was from no lack of courage, hut o because of the darkness coming on, and the bold front Carter Occk of the enemy. Another account indicates that, with all SnnfoTu R the rage that Hood showed afterward at his lost oppoiiu- nity, he had himself an access of irresolution. Gen. Bate V reports that on that night he had occasion to go to the "■v- headquarters, which were about two miles back from the road, and there found Hood in consultation with General Forrest, at the condusion of which he tmned to Bate and said that no movement would be undertaken that jight: for that Forrest had just reported to him that he could - -.'SIhtIxT's easily seize and hold the pike at a point above Spring Hill, which would prevent the passage of Schofield, so that in COLUM the morning" they would bag the whole Federal army"! While thus vindicating the good name of his old DaviB'9 Fora l^eeuf friend, the Major takes occasion to stamp out another Jillujd'i lufatury cruel story which has been permitted to float about in different quarters. As if the imputation of unmilitary conduct in disobedience of orders, were not enough, the Ilu Mill charge is made still more odious by the explanation given of this culpable neglect, viz : that General Cheatham was IloMl Lurolr] grossly intoxicated! This I myself have heai-d stated, not as a mere rumor, an idle report, but as something which FROM COLUMBIA TO SPRING HILL. HOOD IN A KAGE. 2111 218 CHBATHAM VINDICATED. would be liable to run into some of our own troops, and they "everybody knew" in tbe army. To this Major Vaulx wouid fire into each other. Major Bostick suggested that lie gives a peremptory deniaL He says: couid show Gen. Johngon where the turnpike was, and jxiint out "I was with Gten. Cheatham when ho was giving his orders whore our linos were posted; but Jolinson said he could not, to Gen. Brown. The charge that he was intoxicated is false. I and was not willing to'undertake such a movement in the dark, never saw him more self-possessed than on that afternoon. He ignorant as he was of the country and all surroundings. It was gave his orders in a very plain and explicit manner. His words then suggested by Major Bostick that he had no decision in the expressed just what he wanted, and in such a manner that no matter, but that Gen. Johnson might give orders to his command doubtful construction could be given them." to prepare to move, and then go himself to Gen. Cheatham, and To the same effect, ex-Govcrnor Porter of Tennessee writes: lay the case before him, which ho did, and impressed it upon "I was with Cheatham during the entire day from Columbia Gen. Cheatham that lie could not undertake the move intelli to Spring Hili, and he was not only not intoxicated, but I am gently or safely." positive that he did not taste nor see a drop of liquor of any But the next morning, when Hood found that the great kind." opportunity had been lost, he was unwilling to bear the The injustice of a Commander-in-Chief throwing upon reijroach of its being due to any want of energy on his a subordinate a responsibility which he should take upon own part. Major Vaulx told me of a conversation which himself, is answered by the Major with this telling remark: he had with General Brown as they were riding side by "General Hood was himself on ike field, but a few hundred side, in which the latter said ; yards from Cheatham's line, and if he felt that his orders were "General Hood is mad about the enemy getting away last not being obeyed, he could have ridden to the front in Jive night, and he is going to charge the blame of it on somebody. minutes, and in person ordered, the charge which he blames Ho is as wrathy as a rattlesnake this morning, striking at every Cheatham for not making." / thing. As he passed along to the front a while ago, he rode up [The whole subject is very fully treated in a paper read before to mc and said:' Gen. Brown, in the movement to-day I wish the Southern Historical Society at Louisviiie by Major D. W. you to bear in mind this military principle : That when a pursu Saunders, who served upon the staffs of Generais Pegram and ing army comes up with a retreating enemy, he must be immedi Walthall. Its vindication of Gen. Cheatham is complete.] ately attacked. If you have a brigade in front a.s advance guard, Major Vaulx adds these further particulars: order its commander to attack the enemy as soon as ho comes "Gen. Edward E. Johnson's Division was detached from up with him; if you have a regiment in advance, and it comes Stephen D. Lee's Corps, then at Columbia, and arrived in front up with the enemy, give the colonel orders to attack him; if of Spring Hili after dark. Gen. Johnson was ordered by Hood there is but a company in advance, and it overtakes the entire to report to Cheatham, and Hood ordered Cheatham to have Yankee army, order the captain to attack it forthwith; and if Johnson placed in position to command the turnpike road run anything blocks the road in front of you to-day, don't stop a ning from Columbia to Spring Hill. Gen. Cheatham sent his minute, but turn out into the fields or woods, and move on to Staff Officer, Major Joseph Bostick, to order Gen. Johnson to the front'." take such a position (Johnson had gone into bivouac). Upon getting this order, Johnson vehemently objected to undertaking Aside from this Confederate testimony, it argues a cer this movement in the dark; said he couid not do it, as he had no tain simidicity in tlie commander of an army to assume idea of the country, or the position of the other troops; that he that, while he is wide aw.ake and urging on his soldiers, had reached the ground after dark, and knew nothing about directions; and if he went to moving about in the dark, ho the opposing commander is not ecpially vigilant and equally CALCULATINr, THE CHANCES. 221 220 PERFECT COJfCERT IN THE FEDERAL ARMY. determined. The whole argument of Hood eeems to imply To return to General Schofield : having anticipated the flnnTr movement of the enemy, ho calculated the chance.s. that the TJnion commander was quite unprepared, whereas General Schofield had had his eyes open all the time to This he did, rea-soning from his iicrsonal knowledge of the the possibility of such a flank movement, and as soon General pitted against him. He and Hood had been class as the cavalry reported that the enemy were crossing the mates at West Point, and he knew that, while a braver river, he at once despatched General Stanley with a divis man never lived, his mind was not exact. At est Point ion comprising three brigades and all the reserve artillery he had no standing in mathematics; he did not calculate of the Fourth Corps to Spring Hill, with orders to throw distances nor imi)cdiments ; and he had no idea of the, value up intrenchments and hold the position. of time. This he proved to-day : for while he and Stanley As these bickerings between Gen. Hood and his corps were aiming for the same point, and he had the start, and division commanders contributed so much to defeat Stjinley got there before him. True, the latter had the the Confederate army,they suggest by contrast the opposite advantage of a smooth, hard turnpike, while the former state of things in the Federal camp, where General Scho had to move by a country road, in which his artillery and field was supported by Generals Stanley and Cox, on whom baggage waggons would sink deep at every step. I say he relied with the absolute confidence that one brave man icould, for in fact the baggage trains had been left behind gives to another. The situation was critical. The Union at the river, and the artillery also, exeeiit a few light guns. army was threatened on two sides: by the flanking move Thus the army was stripped for a forced march. Can any ment directed towards Spring HiU, and at the same time one doubt that, if Stonewall Jackson had been in com by the persistent attempt to force a passage of the river mand, even though his men might have been barefoot, at Columbia, where the attack was kept up without inter ragged, and sore, he would have carried them, dead or mission. Had Schofield withdrawn his whole force, the olive, to the point where the fate of the contest was to Confederates would have immediately, crossed with all be decided ? But Hood, as he tells the story himself, did their heavy artillery, which could have been transported not come in sight of the turnpike tiU three o'clock, when rapidly over the hard, macadamized turnpike. Against he was still two miles awaj', and then only to see "the both these movements, aimed at points ten miles apart, enemj-'s waggons and men" streaming along the road of he had to be equally prepared. As has been well said, which he had been so eager to get possession! General J. "He must hold back his enemy at Columbia with one D. Cox in his History * states that the division of Staidey hand,and fend off the blow at Spring Hill with the other." , ♦ Thi.s little volume, one of a series published by the Scrib- So while Stanley marched with all speed to Spring Hill, i nors, entitled "Campaigns of the Crvin WAK," is the clearest Cox was ordered to hold on to the last moment at Colum I account I have found anywhere of the battle of Franklin, and of bia, to prevent the enemy crossing the river. It was to j the campaign of which it was a i)art. General Cox is one of the J men who rank high both in military and in civil life. Since the the admirable manner in which both these orders were / war he has been Governor of Ohio and a Member of the Cabinet. carried out, that was due the success of this and the fol I His book is written not at all in the style of a partisan, but in lowing day. 222 STANLEY AT SPRING HILL. IN PKJIIT OF THE CA.Mr-FIRI'S. 223 reached Spring Hill at noon, just in time to prevent its vented further operations. Thus it was that a large j^art of being seized by a party of cavalry. Thus he was fully the Confederate ai'iiiy was camped within sight of the road three hours in advance of Hood. Those three hours saved along which the Union army was moving. Schofield found the Union army. In that time the division had thrown up them there when he came up, and just after dark he walked earthworks around the little town, and was preparing for to a slight ridge in front of his lines, and looked straight an attack. If Hood was two miles away at three o'clock, into their cam2)-fires. They could have thrown themselves soldiers can make the calculation how long it would take upon his line of march, but it would have been a fight in to move a large body of troops over that distance, and get the dark, with a result by no means so certain as they it into hue of battle. StiU it is true that the head of seemed to su2)iiose.* the army approached the turnpike before sunset, within As night came on, the troops under Cox were ordered gunshot of the Federal troops, and opened fire, which was to withdraw from before Columbia in detachments,leaving so vigorously returned that they found, to their surprise, that they were in the presence of an enemy that was well ♦If further light be needed on the disputed questions in regurtl to prepared for their reception. the incidents of tiie day before tiie 1lattli; of Franklin, it may be found in a very full and detailed narrative by Thomas Sliced, Esq., of The truth is that, although Hood tried afterwards to Louisville, Kentucky, who, as Adjutant of a Kentucky regiment in belittle the force in possession of Spring Hill, in order to tlie Twenty-tidrd Corps, took part in tlic battie, and who gives us, throw the blame of his failure upon Cheatham, that vital not only ids peraonal observations, but tiie re.sultof a careful study point was held too firmly to be shaken. Stanley was a of tiie Confederate reiwrts, all of wliicli leail him to the conclusion dangerous man to attack at any time, especially at the tliat Hood found tliat to make, tiiat nigiit attack, of which he after head of five thousand of those Western troops that had wards talked as so easy to lie made, would have been a pretty seri fought BO splendidly in the Atlanta campaign. To add to ous business. Tiie paper was prepared to Im; read liefore tlie. Oliio his strength, all the reserve artiUery of the Fourth Corps Commandery of the Loyal Legion, and is published in their Histori had been sent forward in advance, which enabled him to cal Transactions. put thirty pieces in position : so that when Clebume, the In a private letter Mr. Speed gives the testimony of an officer ' most dashing division commander in the Southern army, who was at Spring Hili, as to the preparations tiiat had been made who led the advance, moving forward in obedience to for an attack. Ho says: "A few years since General Cheatham came Hood's orders, began the attack, he wan received with to Louisville to address his old companions-in-arms on this very such a tremendous shock that, brave as he was, he drew campaign (an address that was listened to with equal interest by off and sent back for reinforcements; but before they could those who fought on both sides), in which he explained why he could not reach the turnpike tiiat memorable niglit. On tlie platform sat come up and be put in line of battle, night fell and pre- General Walter Whittaker, a gallant Kentuckian, who commanded a the spirit of fairness and candor. As he took part in all the brigade under General Stanley. As wo left the hall, he came up to movements preceding the battle, and was in command on the mo and said in his characteristic way: ' Yes, the reason he didn't get lino that bore the brunt of the battle, there can be no ques- thar was because he couldn't. I was thar myself—I was thar with tioning'facts that passed under his personal observation. seven regiments'.'" The explanation appears to be quite sufficient. .V com.\iasdi;r without orders. 225 224 IN A VERY TIGHT PEACE. till the very last a force sufficient to prevent the enemy "On hearing from Stanley that he was attacked bj crossing. The rear-guard did not leave till after mid infantry, Schofield hastened to Ruger's division, which night. There ■was no moon, but the stars were shining was nearest to Si>ring HUl, and led its two brigades in brightly; and the old soldiers, elated to be once more in person by a rapid march to Stanley's suiiport.' Again, motion, swung along the road rapidly. Three hours of "Learning that some force of the enemy was at Thomp thiw steady march brought them near Spring Hill, and as son's Station [three miles beyond], he immediately march they caught sight of camp-fires in the distance, they began ed with a division to that iioint, to open the way to to cheer at the prospect of hot coffee and a night's rest. Franklin." He returned to Spring Hill at midnight. But the cheer had hardly been heard before it was silenc To add to his peiificxities, he was without orders, and ed : as an officer at the head of the column put his finger wholly ignorant of what the rest of the Federal army to his lips, and whispered " Hist!"—a warning that passed might be doing. It had been understood that as soon as quickly along the line, and hushed every voice: for those General A. J. Smith, with his corps from Missouri, arrived camp-fires were not surrounded by the boys in blue, but in Nashville, he should push southward to Schofield's suir- by those who, at the least alarm, would have seized the port. But whether this movement had been executed, the guns that were stacked at the edge of the woods, and fired latter did not know, for he had received no recent com into the crowded column that was moving along the high munication from Gen. Thomas. Surrounded as thej'' ere way : though, if the attack had been made, it would not by enemies, of course they could not telegraph to each have found the column unprepared; for even while on other except by cipher—a cipher which they themselves the march, it was kept ready for battle. " The divisions did not understand : for Mr. Stanton (knowing how often were all moving by the left fiank, so that when they should important secrets leak out through the treachery of .some halt and face, they would be in line of battle, and could one who may be a trusted ago-nt, and in the very tent of use the road fences for barricades, if attacked. By this a commanding officer) had, with an excess of caution, arrangement there was the least risk of confusion, and issued an order that the ciiiher should be known only to the greatest readiness for any contingency which might, certain telegraph opeivators sent from the "War Office in arise." But while the position had these advantages, the Washington ; so that in one case Schofield received a General could but feel that it was one of great exposure message which no one in camp could interpret, and and of great danger. He never passed a night of greater remained ignorant of its contents for forty-eight hoiu-s! anxiety. When it was all over, he telegraphed to Thomas: So he heard nothing from Thomas, and knew nothing of "I don't want to get into so tight a place again." the movements of Smith. But in th.e evening a train had But just now he was in "the tight place," and it re come in, the conductor of which said that as he passed quired the utmost promptness and skill to get out of it. Franklin, he lhou;/ht he saw troops there ; but as it was The decision with which he acted showed that he had after dark when he came through, he could not be posi the resources of a soldier fitted for high command. He tive. At once an officer was desi)atchcd with all speed to seemed to be present at every exposed point. Cox says. Franklin, to bring positive infoimiation ; and if he found 22G THE NIGHT MARCH. AUKIVAL IN FRANKLIN. 257

General Smith, to order him (for he would have been "Forrest gallantly opposed the enemy to the full extent under Schofield's command) to push on instantly to join of his power." If so, it is a wonder that he did not him for the battle that must be fought at daybreak. But accomplish more. Perhaps the exphination is that, as an rutuming to the conductor, and questioning him more old officer once told me, "cavalry do not like to attack closely, the General felt that his information was too infantry iji the dark. The long roll of musketry empties uncertain for him to rely upon, and at midnight he gave the saddles and the horses rush about in confusion." And orders for the whole army to push on to Franklin. so it is not surprising that, in spite of such "dashes" here In this forward movement the troops which had just and there, the column continued its march. The night come from Columbia led the way, the two wings of the seemed very long, but the tramp never ceased tiU the army reversing their positions: Stanley, who had marched troops halted in the outskirts of Franklin. The advance to Spring Hill in the morning, remaining where he stood ; arrived before daybreak, and the officers who led the way while the Twenty-third Corps, that had been keeping back rode up to the Carter House (the first that they came to), the enemy at the river, as it now came up the road, filed and woke up the- old man, the father of the Colonel, who behind the Fourth Corps, and passed to the front. Gen. showed us over Jhe„liaJitl£££.ld.,(who had been in the Stanley, who had had the honor of leading the advance, CoBfederate aimy, and was then at home on parob), and now had the honor of guarding the rear—a position which politely informed him that they woindlaTve^ossession of his might bring upon him the whole of Hood's army, but house as their headquarters, to which, knowing the usages which he held till all of the Twenty-third Corps had passed, of war, he dii not object. One who was in that groui) when silently regiment after regiment formed in column, says: "IVliile sitting out in fi-ont of the house, waiting and followed. for the head of the column to arrive, everything was as still That night march will never be forgotten by those who as the grave, and there was time to ponder on what the were in it, or those who saw it; for it was in full view of day would bring forth. Few anticipated the dreadful and the camp-fires of the enemy. If the army had marched in bloody outcome, but rather looked for another flank move single column, with its baggage trains, it would have ex ment, as at Columbia. Presently the tramp of horses in tended fourteen miles! This was shortened one-half by the distance, and the rattle of tin cups against bayonets, doubling up, for which there was room on the turnpike, so told us that the troops were coming." * As they came up, that the baggage train was kept in motion, with a column of troops marching at its side, ready for attack. The ♦For this and many touches which give vividness to the picture, cavalry under Forrest were hovering along the hne, trying Iam indebted to a most spirited account of the battle, and of the to strike a blow. Cox says," Forrest's troopers made an campaign of wliich it was a part, entitled " The Retreat from Fulaski occasional dash at the long waggon train, but only in one _tpJ!i0shviUe.'la paper road before tlie Ohio Commandery of tlie MiU- or two instances did they succeed in reaching it"; and yet tary Order of tlie Loyal Legion of the United States, December 1st, Hood says (as if he wished to emphasize the difference 1830, by Companion Levi T. Scofleld, late Captain U. S. Volunteers. (Published by H. C. Sherick & Co., Cincinnati.) It is written in the between this dashing cavalry officer and Cheatham), style of a soldier, with all the lire of one who describes scones in i)isi'o.srno.v ou 'i iik 'luooPa. 2"29 228 A CRITICAIi SITUATION. and in two or three hoius had dug a ditch a mile and they were turned to the right and left of the road, that the a half in length, tlirowing the earth on the iiiside to trains might pass through into the town. General Scho- make a breastwork (to which sothc added a log on the field at once pressed on to the river, where he had hoped crest, raised three inches to leave space for their i*illcs), j to find the bridges standing, and pontoons, for which ho had sent urgent messages to Thomas, ready to lay others, along which at inteiwals there were openings for the bat to pass over the artillery and baggage waggons. Instead teries ; all which being done, they threw themselves upon of this, he found that the bridge connecting with the the ground for a sleep which to many of them was to be turnpike had been swept away, and that there was not a their last. single pontoon with which to construct another. AH that General Schoficid too was glad.of a short inteiwal of remained was the railroad bridge, which had to be planked rest. For several days and nights he had had little sleep, to make it passable for waggons, and even then furnished except such as he got in the saddle. On the march he but a slender resource for the passage of an army. Find could clasp his hands round the pommel, and for a few ing this condition, he returned to the front in a state of minutes rclaps6"into a state of forgetfuhiess, which, if not great anxiety. Thorough soldier as he was, he took the so refreshing as rest in a quiet bed or by the camp-fire, at chances of war as they came, but for once he was taken least kept him from the point of utter exhaustion. So aback at the unexpected position in which he was placed. when the position had been made secure, he went to the "I never saw him," said General Cox," so disturbed, house of a good Union woman (it was jjointed out to us as as he now contemplated the probability, which a soldier we rode through the street), and threw himself on a bed dreads, of having to fight a battle with his back to a river, and fell' asleep, and rested for an hour and a half, till he when a disaster is likely to prove fatal. [The orders of was awakened for orders. Hood were to" drive them into the river"!] But it was no All the forenoon the troops eame jmuring in, the last time for idle regrets. Gen. Cox was placed in command to arrive being those that had remained at Spring Hill. of the two divisions of the Twenty-third Corps, his own and The Confederate army was but a few miles behind, some Gen. Euger's, and ordered to entrench strongly on a line times approaching nearer, when the Federal rear-guard "running to the right and left of the turnpike. This was turned at bay, and showed such a grim fi-ont, with its a new task for the soldiers, weary as they were -with th0ir batteries ranged so as to sweep the road, that its pursuers all night's march,covering a distance of twenty-three miles. kept at a resj^ectful distance. It was not till a few hours They were almost dead with fatigue, but not a moment later that they were to come to close quarters. As the was to be lost. As" soon as they had snatched a hasty different divisions reached Franklin, there was another breakfast, thej' were set to work with spades and shovels, reversal of positions ; for as those that arrived in Hie morning were now entrenched, they remained in their which he was an actor; and yet, we are informed on the best author works; while the Fourth Corps under Gen. Stanley, which ity, that it is as accurate in its details as it is pictures

*This terrible disaster at the opening of the l)attle has often led to the inquiry, why these brigades were i)laccd in such an exposed position ? And gentle homo critics think that they tcih detect here a fault of strategy. A word of explanation, with Si the help of the map, may relievo their minds, and show them that there was no mistake at all in the disposition of the Union army. The reader must boar in mind the position of Gen. Schofleld on that morning. He had not planned for a battle at Franklin, but had intended, in accordance with tlie orders of Thomas, to continue his march to Nashville, as he would have done if he had 1/^ found bridges or pontoons to cross the Harpeth river. Disap pointed in this, he had to change his plan, and prepare for the contingency of battle where he was. As yet ho was wholly in the dark as to the intentions of the enemy. Judging from the move ment of Hood at Columbia, in crossing the river and endeavoring to get in his rear, it seemed probable tliat lie would repeat the same movement at Franklin; and instead of attacking in front, \N Carftr where the Twenty-third corps held a strong line of defence, would cross tlie river, and making a circuit, move round tlio town, BO as to take the Federal army in tlie rear, and cut off its retreat ;w.v whe** to Nashville. In anticipation of such a movement, one division r of the Fourth corps, to be followed by others, if necessary, 5^ had been got across the river to the bluff on the other side, where General Schofleld, from the earthworks (designated on the map as Fort Granger, the only point of suffleient elevation N, I ,to command a view of the whole flcld), was able to watch the sN CHEATHAM'S C0RP8 advance of the enemy, and change his own movements to meet N the attack from whichever quarter it might come. It was with an eye in both directions, that the two brigades LEE CORPS had been placed in front, to obseiwe the movements of tlie t enemy; and if he should turn towards the river, to swing round BATTLE-FIELD OF FRANKLIN. with him, keeping in his front, and fending off the attack till the . interior lines could be reformed to meet the tremendous sliock that must follow. The plan was perfect in every detail. As Gen. Cox, repelling the criticisms which had been made on his com- GHNlillALS UALI.TING THE MEK. 237 236 CONFEDERATIH DRIVEJiT BACK. onet. So sudden was this apparition of armed men, start he had lost his life, for by this act of madness he lost a ing up as if they had literally come out of the ground, thnn«t"d men I The result was what might have been ex and so tremendous their onset, that some accounts make pected- As the enemy's line of battle overlapped these their commander the hero of the battle. It would be more brigades on both sides, it instantly closed in upon them, correct to say one of the heroes: for there is no need to and poured in such a fire that in a few moments they exalt him at the expense of others, who shared in the were utterly broken, and rushed at full speed back to the same achievement. This brave oflicer now sleeps in a sol entrenchments, the Confederates following in hot pursuit. dier's grave, and no praise can be too gi-eat for his courage This was a double disaster. Not only were the brigades at that decLsive moment. But with his brigade were the themselves overwhelmed, but the whole line had to hold portions of the two divisions under Eeilly and Strickland its fire for fear of killing its own men; and so when the tliat had been pushed back by the rush of agncr s men, column rushed into the works, their pursuers rushed in with the avalanche of Confederates behind; but who, as after them, and were inside of the Federal lines, where soon as the mingled mass swept by, so that they could they seized the shotted guns, and whirled them about to /HgGngnish friend from foe, reformed under those gallant pour their contents into the flying crowd. But in the wild soldiers. All those in high command did their duty on uproar, even the horses had caught the panic, and tearing this great day. General Stanley had been so sure that away fled down the road, with the limbers containing the the attack of the enemy, when it came, would be on the primers, so that the guns could not be discharged ; and in other side of the river, where he was, that he had remained the midst of this confusion, the tide of battle rolled back there with General Schofieid till the firing began. Then again, and all was recovered. he mounted his horse, and spurred to the front just in But this was not accomplished without a terrific con time to meet Wagner's brigades (that belonged to his own flict In the rear of the line the ground descends in a Fourth Corps) in full retreat; and exerted himself with gentle dope, and here a reserve brigade of two thousand- the utmost energy to rally them, when his horse was shot men, under Colonel Opdycke, had been ordered to lie down, under him, and he was wounded,and compelled,very much that they might not be exposed till they were needed. against his will, to return to his quarters for surgical skill. They had been warned of the danger of a break in the This threw the whole burden of command upon General line, and now, at the call of their leader, they sprang to Cox at a moment when the fate of the army was at stake. their feet, and rushed upon their assailants with the bay- The imminent peril insi^ired him to increased activity, so mandlng officer for this disposition, as aiso for his being at Fort that he seemed to fly from point to point. The voice of Granger instead of being with him at the front, said with command could not be heard in the ujiroar of battle; but emphasis, "General Schofieid was exactly where he ought to soldiers along the line could see that figure waving his have been, and the orders issued were exactly what they ought sword in air, and dashing wherever the combat was the to have been." He might have added, that if those orders had deepest and the danger the greatest; and catching th/ been strictly obeyed, the result would have been not only the ■ defeat but the entire destruction of Hood's-army. inspiration, they reformed their broken ranks, and rush 938 ArrACK OP cheatham's corps. (JREAT l.OSS OP OPPICKRS. 239

upon the foe -with a fury that was irresistible. The issue ing along between the divisions." This magnificence was is briefly told :" There was a few minutes' fierce melee, terribly maiTed when the broken Federal line was restored, but the guns were retaken, and all the men in gray and the trooj)s poui'ed in their deadly fire. But still the inside the parapet were dead or prisoners." charge w.'is renewed with incredible fury. Again and again General Schofield, who was watching the battle from the Confederates rushed to the assault, even when it seemed the Fort, had felt his heart sink as he heard the yells with hoijeless,for the fire never slackened an instant. Instead of which the Confederates rushed over the works, and saw coming in fitful voUeys, it was one continuous roar, sweei)- his own men swept away by the torrent. For the moment ing away whole ranks of men ; so that the survivors, as they his heart stood still, for it seemed as if the battie was lost. staggered on, had to pass over the dying and the dead. But he soon breathed again, for though, at the distance he Major Vaulx told us of the terrible slaughter in what was, he could not see the forces engaged, since the roll of passed under his own obseiwation. He said :" Cheatham's musketry was so incessant that friend and foe were TSTap- old division (which still retained his name after he had ped in a dense cloud of smoke ; yet, as the space behind been promoted to the command of a corps), was com was clear, and he could see that there ivere no more men manded by General John C. Brown. I was riding at his running to the rear, he knew that his troops had regained side when a ball struck liim, and he fell forward on his their position. horse's neck. I at once di.smounted, and with others This tremendous attack, which had threatened to de lifted him off and irlaeed him in an ambulance, to be car stroy the Federal army, had been made in the centre by ried from the tleld, when I mounted and rode on, till of General Cheathara. Those who saw it coming say that five general officers attached to our division, besides the never was there seen in war a grander sight than that of commander, who had just been wounded, three were this whole Corps, massed in one mighty avalanche, sweep killed, and the fifth cairtured inside the Federal works ; ing down with a force that, it seemed, must be irresistible. while of the staff officers att.achod to the division and to One who looked at it with a soldier's eye, in which admi the four brigades, out of twelve, all but one were either ration mingled with di-ead, draws this picture: " The day killed or wounded! Such a loss of general and staff offi had been bright and warm ; the afternoon sun was setting cers, I never saw before in any battle that I was in, and on the distant hills; and in the hazy, yellow light, and indeed do not think I ever read of in war." with their yellowish-brown uniforms, those in the front While this murderous conflict was going on in the cen ranks seemed to be magnified in size: one could almost tre, another great Coips (that of Stewart), on the right of imagine them to be phantoms sweeping along in the air. Cheatham, was converging towards the Federal lines. It On they came, and in the centre their lines seemed to be came on with unbroken ranks till it got within range of many deep and unbroken,their red,tattered flags, as numer the guns from the other side of the laver, which swei^t ous as though every company bore them, flaring in the sun's that part of the field, and the heavy shot lilunging into with conspicuous groups of general and staff oflicers the solid columns, cut long lanes of death. But "officers Cor their midst, and a battery or two in splendid line charg- on horseback and afoot were at every gaj), trying to clos THE LULLS OF THE RATTLE. 241 240 Stewart's corps. At the instant one of General Cheatham's staff rode up in them up," and the unfaUen brave kept on till, as they came great excitement to report that ho had carried a part of nearer and nearer the works, their numbers grew fewer. the Federal line, but could not hold it unless immediately Never did men fight more desperately, and yet more hope reinforced. * How does Gen. Cheatham estimate his loss? lessly, as even Major Vaubc had to admit. To one who has asked Gen. Hood. 'At one-half of his whole command in diared in the fierce conflict of battle, it always seems as if killed and wounded,' was the reply. At this he raised his there might have been done something more ; and in the hands, clasping them together, and exclaimed' O my God! morning, as we were overlooking the field, and he recalled this awful, awful day!' Then recovering himself, he turn every feature of the great struggle, he had felt again all ed to one of his staft' and said' Go to Gem^tephen P.Lee, the excitement of the hour. Standing up in the carnage, and tell him to move lip to the support of Gen. Cheathaln, arid looking intently at the ground in front, along which putting in Johnson's division first, and Clayton s next. Stewart's men had swept up to the Federal lines, he took As my battery was between the two, I knew that my time in the whole scene, arid it seemed as if a little more dan, had come, and moved on with the rest. or a thousand or two more men, might have carried the And now the battle raged all along the lines. The first day, and he exclaimed,"By the Eternal! Stewart ought success of the Confederates proved their ruin, as it had to have broken through!" It was the natural feeling of a been so easily gained that it led them to repeat the soldier, and yet in it he forgot that the Confederates, fear attack, pom-ing division after division upon the works, less as they were, were met with a courage equal to their only to see them melt away under that tenible fire. iVfter own ; and later in the day, when we came to ride over the these terrific charges, came what was not less impressive- - ground by which Stewart's Corps advanced, he saw at once the lulls of the battle. First, there was a sound in the the concentrated fire which it had to encounter, and was distance, as of a great multitude in motion, coupled with able to do more full justice to his braVe companions-in a feaifuLyell, which culminated in a rush and roar, as the arms in recognizing that they had done all that human living human wave struck upon the beach, and broke and valor could do. rolled back again. Then for a few minutes there was a A gentleman recently living in New Tork, who was in lull, as the enemy were gathering their forces to renew the command of a battery of steel guns, told me that as he onset—a comparative silence, broken only by the groans moved forward, he passed over the hiU on which General of the wounded and the dying. One who was in the battle Hood had taken his position, in whose presence he sud writes me that the charge itself was not so dreadful as denly found himself, and could not resist the unpidse to these moments of expectation. Then rose the same ter pause a moment to see how a Commander looked in the rific yell, and on they came again with the same desperate midst of a battle. As he described the scene," Gener^ courage, but not with the same confidence: for they came, Hood was sitting on a flat rock at the foot of a tree, his not with erect, martial air, but with heads bent low. as legs (one of which was of wood, to replace the original when facing a tempest, and caps drawn o.or theii ejes, tihat had been lost in battle) extended in front, between as if to shut from their sight the fate that awaited them. Coihich a fire had been lighted, and was still smouldering. THE CARTER HOUSE. 243 ATTACKS CONTINUED IN THE NIGHT. \ 242 At some points of the line the fire was such as no troops he would have found the Federal line weaker, and might i could stand long. Mr. FuUton. of the Maxyfill TTflllflfi IB have made a charge that would have led to victory! Col. Nashville, told me that he belonged to a troop of cavalry, McEwen told how Forrest, the famous cavah-y leader, went which, when earthworks were to be attacked, were dis- to Hood, and asked permission to cross the river with his y mounted, every fourth man being detailed to hold the mounted men, when, as he said, "he would flank the / horses, while the rest served as infantry. As they advanced Federals out of their position in fifteen minutes!" But to the attack, they had hardly come within range before the Commander had made his onm plan of battle ; and twelve of his company fell, and it seemed as if the whole being in an angry and imperious temper that day, was not would be swept away if they had not been ordered to in a mood to receive suggestions, or to listen to the pro throw themselves on the ground ; and there, he said," we posal of any manoeuvre other than that of direct battle, lay the greater part of the night, not daring to raise our and answered haughtily to the bold trooper who would heads, nor to crawl forward even a few rods to give succor flank the enemy," No, no! Charge them out!" to the wounded and dying, whose groans we could hear But leaving speculations as to what might have been, we distinctly right in front of us." proceed to observe what actually took place. iH. Carter Driven back at one point, the charge was renewed at now led house, which, was- the very centi-e another Nvith the same desperate courage, but always with oFth^attle. As it stands fronting on the Columbia tm-n- the same result, until it was evident that further efforts plke, which runs through the town, and was but a few were only a useless sacrifice of human life ; and still the rods in the rear of the Federal breastworks, it was in the rage of battle was such that the attacks were repeated at angle of two lines of battle : for, when the brigades of intervals far into the night. Wagner came flj'ing in utter rout, they swept past its very All these incidents of the day were detailed to me with door, followed by the Confederates, and the two sides great minuteness, as we rode over that battle plain, by fought around the dwelling ; and when the onset was Siose who had been actors in the scenes they described. stayed, that portion of the line which was nearest was As we came back along the Columbia turnpike to the stiU held by the Confederates, while the Federals formed edge of the town, Mr. Cai-ter met us and conducted us to another line a few rods in the rear, so that the house was the old ftin-House'^icti fi.Turcs in all the accounts of the left between the two lines,.mA. received the fire of both. battle ; and along the line of the entrenchments, pointing At this time the house contained a large family. The out where this or that Confederate division charged, and mother had died ten years before, but.the .father_was still ; where the leaders fell. He had a theory of his own, accord "Evirrg, and with him were a son (who was now our guide,) ing to which, if his plan had been followed, the result would and four daughters, a daughter-in-law, and several chil have been otherwise. He was quite sure that if Gen. Bate, dren. Of course, had they foreseen how near the battle instead of rushing headlong into the fight, and getting se would come to them, they would have fled to the other verely crippled before the battle had really begun, had been end of the town, or across the river. But in the early a litUe less impetuous, and moved roundfarther to the left. part of the day, while this was the headquarters there "KEEP FIRING !'' 243 244 TAKING REFUGK IN THE CELLAR. was perfect discipline, nobody was disturbed, and they felt earthworks thrown up by the Union soldiers, outside of that they were safest under their own roof. And when at which was a ditch. .Of this part of the line the Confeder last the storm came, it burst upon them so suddenly that ates had got possession, and held it; but so terrible was it was too late to escape. There was only one spot of the fire that again and again the parapet was swept of the safety, the cellar, agd there they all took refuge. Here, heads that rose above it. The trench below was filled with self-imprisoned, they could not see what was going on the dying and the dead. Standing with one foot on the about them, but thej' heard the roar above their heads, for bodies of his fallen comrades, and the other on the bank, he the thunderings and lightnings were incessant. As the rested his gun—a short Enfield rifle that he had been per mass of soldiers surged round the dwelling, some who mitted to carry, as he was so young and small—on the top shrank from the awful fire crowded into the cellar way, of the works. The line had been so thinned out that only when the family retreated behind a partition, but as there a solitary fellow-soldier stood near him, and now he was wasjap means of baiTing the door,the intruders pressed in shot, and fell heavily (he was a large man) against him, there also, and into a third underground refuge, when, as and tumbled over into the mass of dead below. Thus left Mr. Carter himself teUa the tale, he "turned upon them alone, he asked General Strahl, who had stood for a long and cursed them and drove them out!" But even in this while in the trench, and passed up loaded guns to men dark hiding-place, he could look through the grated win posted on the embankment, "What had we better do?" dow, and ask the "Yankee soldiers" how the battle was The answer was "Keep firing!" But Strahl himself was going! soon shot, and while being carried to the rear, was struck After a time the fury of the battle abated, for the first nnrl ingfiiutlv killed. He was succeeded by Colonel shock, which was the most tremendous of all, had spent Stafford, who also was kiUed, and sank in such a position itself in an hour. Then darkness came, so that the oppos that he was braced up by the mass of bodies around him, ing lines were partly hidden from each other. But still so that when the morning came, ho was standing there they fought on, even when they could bpb to fire pnly by stark and cold, as if still ready to give command to the the^flaahing of each other's guna,^ army of the dead! As we came up from the cellar, and went round -the These were ghastly memories to come back after the house, we saw that its southern side, which was exposed to lapse of so many years. How changed the scene now! the Confederate fire, was riddled with shot, as were all the It was the month of March, and already the bpeath of outbuildings having the same exposure. How deadly it Spring was in the air, and the little pear-tree, which proved was shown by the fact that Mr. Carter counted \ had lived through all the storm and tempest of that fear- ff.y-Bp.vpB besides the wounded, in his door-ywd the ^ ful night, though scarred in many places, yet had healed next morning. !its wounds, and was putting forth its leaves fresh and Leading the way across the garden, my fiiend Cun green, ais if it had never heard the sound of baUle. So, ningham stopped under a pear-lvpfi wliic.h recalled the while men die, the life of naturc keeps on, and even draws memory of that fearful night. It was in the line of the nourishment from their blood. Turning to my companion. 246 THE BATTERY IN THE LOCUST GROVE. FINDING A SON AMONG THE AVOUNDED. 247

I said "Do you remember the lines of Byron on a friend But here is an incident which does not need to be told of his youth who perished at Waterloo : with an ej'e to dramatic effect, since nothing can add to its 'And when I stood beneath the fresh green tree, touching character. Mr. Carter, who was now walking at Which living waves where thou didst cease to live, my side, had a brother, Theodoric, who when the war And saw around mo the wide fields revive. broke out was twenty-thr^ years old, ajid though he had And earth come forth with promise of the Spring, I turned from all she brought to those she could not bring' ?" just entered the profession of law, was so carried away by the excitement of the hour that he threw down his From the house, Jlr. Carter and Colonel McEwen led books and enlisted in the ranks as a private (he afterwards the way past the farm buildings and across the back lot, became a quarter-master) in the "Western Confederate that had been the scene of a fierce struggle, to a meadow, Army. His service took him away from Tennessee, andI in which stood at the time of the battle a Incn^, grnve, think his brother told me that he had not been home in where was planted a battery that infiicted a galling fire two years. He was now in Hood's army, and ijerhaj^s, as upon the Confederate lines. It was for the capture of he came over the crest of the hill, he caught sight of the this battery that Hood is said to have issued his order in old dwelling, where his family were troubled with anxious the dramatic style of which Sam Jones makes such use in thoughts of the absent son and brother. In the night, one of his sermons.* word came that he had been wounded, and was some *I quote from the little volume of Letters published three or where on the field, perhaps dead or dying ; and about two four years ago under the title "Blood is Thickeb than Wateb" o'clock the father and son and one of the daughters went (pp. 60, 61): in search of him. Dividing into two parties, the son took "It is said that the Confederate line as it advanced was enfiladed one course, and the f.ither and daughter another, and thus by a battery planted in a grove of the black locust trees so common they went fi'om jjoiut to point, turning the light of their in that region. Seeing his men cut to pieces. General Hood, who lanterns into the faces of tliose scattered thickly over the was watching the battle, sent one of his aids with the following ground. At length the father and daughter found him, order:' Give my compliments to General Clebume,and tell him that mortally wounded, but still breathing, though unconscious. ■I ask at his hands the battery in the locust grove.' The aid disap He had sacrificed his life to his chivah'ous courage. His peared, and quickly returned with the message, ' General Clebume duties did not require him to be on the field, but he volun is dead, sir!' Again the Commander spoke, ' Give my compliments to General Adams, and tell him thatI ask at his hands the battery teered to sei-ve as aid to General T. B. Smith, and was in the locust grove.' Again the message is returned,' General Adams advancing to the charge when, about a hundred arid sev- is dead, sir!' Once more went the unflinching order to a third com wlnding up his hearers to the highest pitch, he gave the word of mander, -with the same result. The moral is e\'ident. The thrice- command somewhat after this fashion; 'As -Adjutant of the Lord of repeated command is meant to illustrate the duty of unquestioning Hosts,I ask at your liands the city of Chicago; tliat you compel it obedience, and, as might be supposed, is used with s'.artling effect to surrender to the Lord Jesus Christ! —an underUiking more diffi on a Conf^erate audience, though the fiery preacher afterward cult than to storm any battery that ever hurled death in the face introduced it in one of his great meetings in Chicago, when, after of a foe." EV.\CUATI.\C THE TOWN. -249 248 THE SOLDIER DTING AT HOME. enty-five yards southwest of his dwelling, and eighty yards About half past ten o'clock Gen. Schofield sent orders in front of the locust grove, he received two fatal wounds to Gen. Cox that at midnight the trooi^s should be with and fell from his horse. Thus it proved that, amid the drawn—an order -which the latter received -with great pain, horrors of that fearful night, when his family were cower as he felt that there was now an opportunity to destroy ing in terror at the roar of the battle aiound them, with Hood's army. The prisoners who had been taken, or wlio an agony intensified by the thought of where he might be, had come in and given themselves uj>, reported that they he was in fact lying on the cold ground, bleeding his life were all cut to pieces ; that regiments and divisions were away, near to the old home, almost within soumLofJihmr left almost without officers ; and that the whole army was voiceE^ yet beyond their xeack.and., their aid. Tenderly utterly demoralized. These reports were confirmed by the Siey lifted him up and carried him to his father's house, heaps of dead that lay all along the line. Seeing and where the next morning one who was an eye-witness tells hearing this. Cox felt that there was an opportunity such me he saw the body of the long-absent son and brother, as seldom occurs in war, to end the campaign with a around which his sisters hung with the utmost tenderness, single - blow, and he implored Gen. Schofield to remain, caressing the almost lifeless form, stroldng the pale cheeks, saying in the ardor of his confidence that he "would and whispering gently amid their tears," Brother's come answer with his head" for the result of the next day. The home!" He had come home indeed, though it was only answer of Schofield was all that could gratify the pride of a to die (he continued to breathe thirty-six hours); but it soldier. He said :" Tell Gen. Cox he has won a glorious is something which is not always given to a soldier, to victory, and I have no doubt we could do as he suggests in draw his last breath under his father's roof, and to be laid sung the piece about half througli, when 1 stepped to the door, and a in his last sleep beside the dust of his kindred.* shell exploded within fifty yards. I immediately returned and said, 'Colonel, if I am any judge, it is just about that time now!,' He * To these peisonal reminiscences of one of my companions,I may immediately sprang to his feet, and ran in the direction of his regi add this, told me by another, Col. McEwen: ment, but before he reached it, or by that time, he was shot through "General Eimball occupied my house as his headquarters, at the lungs, the bullet passing quite through him. Ho was taken back which occurred this strange incident. About four o'clock, after to the rear, and on to Nashville. Eighteen days after I received a the General had left for the field, there lingered a Colonel from message from him through an oflicor, stating the fact of his being Indianapolis in my parlor; he was a lawyer, and a nice man; he shot, and that the piece of music the young ladies were executing asked my daughters to sing and play him a piece of music. They was still ringing in his eats, and had been everj- moment that his hesitated, but I answered for them,'Yes." My daughter asked what ej'cs were open since he left my parlor the evening of the battle. In they should play ? He replied that he had not been in a parlor since April, four months later, after the war was over, he had sufllciently the battle of Oak Hili was fought,.-and that he did not know one recovered to tx-avel, when he came to Franklin, as he stated, expressly piece of music from another, except field music. I then spoke and to get the young ladies to finish the piece of music and relieve his asked the young ladies to sing and play a piece which had recently eais. His wife and more than a dozen oflleers accompanied him. He .jpomfi puti'Just before the Battle, Mother,' telling the Colonel that it found the ladies, and they sang and played the piece through for him was a new piece. At my request, they sat down, and played and In presence of all the officers; and they wept like children." 250 hood's council of war. THE NIGHT MARCH TO NASHVILLE. 251

the morning. But my orders from Gen. Thomas are impera long procession there was none of the pomp and circum tive, and we must move back to Nashville as soon as possi stance of war, nothing of that wliich might be expected ble." So the order was reluctantly issued, and at midnight in an arinj' a few hours after a great victory. But I the troops were ready to move. But at this moment a believe it is WeUington that has said, "Next to a great fire broke out in the town—a building had perhaps been defeat, the saddest thing in the world is a great vic set on fire for the purpose—which cast a light over the tory." As there was no shout of triumph for the living, place so as to expose every movement to the enemy. This there was no mourning for the dead. "Not a dnim caused a delay, but at length the fires sank down in their was heard nor a funeral note." The soldiers were weary ashes, and the wearied soldiers once more strung their and worn : many of them had been wounded ; some had knapsacks on their backa The trains had been already their heads bound up ; others carried their arms in slings ; got across the river, and the broken columns resumed some,leaning on their comrades, dragged themselves slowly their march. along. Sadder than all, as they took their jdaces in the Ignorant of aU this, Hood, who was brooding gloomily ranks, they missed many from their side ; comrades that over the events of the day had called a council of war at but a few hours ago were" full of lusty life," were now midnight, at which the commanders of. the three corps, lying in their new made graves, or unhui-ied on the plain. Cheatham, Stewart, and Lee, reported their several com An army thus stricken, was in no mood for exultation. mands as half destroyed. As he listened to tale after tale "WTiat a contrast was this night mai'ch to that of the night o o of disaster, his temper, soured before, became almost before! Only twenty-four hom-s had passed, but in that savage. Still he bore up with an imconquered mind; time they had lived yeai's 1 Thus blood-.staiued with the and, even while one-fourth of his army were stretched in wounds of battle, yet vicforioii.c, in the gi'ay of morning their blood upon the ground, he declared that he would they found rest in the camps round the city of Nashville. renew the contest the next morning. One thing he had to This withdrawal had been wholly voluntary, yet Hood give him confidence. His heavy artillery, of which he had had the weakness to telegraph to Bichmond,"We attacked felt the want the day before, was now coming up, and he the enemy at Franklin, and drove him from his outer line said he" would open the battle with a hundred guns I" of temporary works into his interior line, which he aban Indeed he could not wait for the break of day, but at three doned during the night, and rapidly retreated to Nash o'clock startled the town with a tremendous roar. Said ville I" as if he had gained a victory. But this pretence CoL McEwen,"1 thought it would take my head off." But deceived no one, for it was impossible to hide from his to his amazement there was no reply, for the Federal army own soldiers the awful carnage of that day. As soon as was across the river, and on its way to Nashville, and only daj-light made it visible, they had before their eyes the heard in the distance these last thunders of impotent rage hoiTors of the battlefield, on which lay six thousand dead and fury. The sound did not hasten their steps an instant, and wounded! Though used to war, they had never seen nor evoke a taunt or a cheer. Still they plodded on such a sight before. There were places where the dead silent as the stars that were shining above them. In that lay one upon another, five deep ; while for some distance rGROUPS OF THE HEAD. 253 252 SCENEH AFl'ER THE BAITLE. the ground wns covered. A Confederate officer tells me the long neck was stretched on the slope, the head on the that the next morning he mounted his horse to ride to the very top of the paiai^et, as if still breathing defiance at front, but as he drew near the horse staited hack, affrightr the foe : ed nt the smell of blood, and at the human figures that "There lay the steed with his nostril all wide. stared at him from the ground,'adth every look of agony But through it ttiore roiled not the hreath of his pride ; And the foam of his gasping lay white on the turf, in their faces ; and he dismounted and endeavored to pick And cold as the spray of the rock-beating surf." his way on^foot, but so thick were the slain that he said, That war-horse would make a figure for a sculptor, almost "I do not think it extravagant to say that for two hun \ as striking as the hon of Thorw.aldsen ; and the State of dred yards from the line of the intrenchments, I could Tennessee ought to have it wi-ought in marble or cast in have walked on the dead, stepping from one body to bronze, as a tj'pe of the courage of her sons on the field of another 1" An it was along this part of the line that the fiirst rush battle. Hardly less striking than this were the groups scattered of the Confederates came, here was the first shock of hat- far and wide over the field: for the dead lay in heaps, tie, and here many of the leaders fell. Clebume, as might torn to pieces by shot and shell, till they had almost lost have been expected, was in the front He was the bravest the semblance of humanity; with the brave creatures that of the brave, and he had been stung to the quick by the angry reproof of Hood for his failure to attack at Spring had carried them into the battle stretched beside them : Hill; and now, with his Irish blood hot within him, he "Rider and horse, friend and foe, in one rod burial blent." mounted his iron-gi'ay stallion, and putting himself at the In the presence of such awful misery, it seems an un head of his men rode straight at the foe, to fall in the worthy intrusion of human pride to dispute the honors sight of both armies, dying as a soldier might wish to of the daj'. It is not an hour to boast when thousands of die," amid the battle's splendor." Knowing that his chiv our fellow-beings are lying on the gi-ound in the agonies alrous daring had made him the idol of the Southern army, of death. The object for which the battle was fought—to I could appreciate the feeling of my companions when Mr. destroy the Union army—^liad utterly failed, and so far it Carter ^stopped us and said," This is the very spot where^ was a Union victory. But if only the glory be considered, Clebume fell!" . But a few rods distant Gen. John Adams there is glory enough for all: for never was there a more was in the very act of springing his horse over the works, splendid display of courage and devotion, than in the when both fell together, he being thro'tt-n over into the Confederates who that day sacrificed their lives in vain. ranks on the other side, while his horse was left liter The army that fought the battle of Franklin, was not ally bestriding the works. "Old Charley" was the very yet quite at the end of its c.ampaign. The last shot had type of a war-horse, and was almost as well known in the not been fired. Only two weeks later—on the fifteenth of army as his master; and the figure of the powerful crea December—it was to have a part in one more battle and ture was very striking in death, as he lay at full length, his one more victorj': when the army of Thomas, doubled in bind legs reaching to the bottom of the outor ditch, while strength by that of Sohofield, j)oiu'ed forth from Nashville, 254 A LATE CENTENNIAL. THE BATTLE-FIELD GROWING GREEN. and swept all the encircling hUls, by which the army of Confederate army, and now appeared leading the troops Hood w£is so completely scattered and destroyed that it of their respective States—not as captives in a triumphal virtually ceased to exist, as a force to be taken into account procession, but as equal partners in One Country : rejoic in any future movement. This was the final blow which ing as fuUy as the North in the immeasurable blessings ended the war in the West, so that General Schofield, with of a restored Union. his command, was transferred to the East, and sent by sea At the head of this great procession rode General to join Sherman in North Carolina ; while Grant held Schofield, the same who had fought the battle which I fast to Lee. All these movements were linked together, have attempted to describe, and who, after a long life of so that a check in one would have been a disaster to all service, has succeeded Grant and Sherman and Sheridan K Schofield had not" held the fort" at Franklin, Thomas as head of the army of the United States. How could one might not have been able to hold it at Nashville, and Hood who had but lately come from the field of Franklin, helj) would have swept through Kentucky to the Ohio ; so that thinking with a shudder of what have been if he had all that was being done in Virginia and in the Carolinas, not planned so wisely and stood so firmly, wliile so many- might have been neutralized by a great defeat in Tennes brave men died for their coimtry, on that decisive day a see. All portions of the country were comprised in that quarter of a century ago! splendid strategy, which, manoeuvi-ing over h.alf the Union In visiting a battlefield after the lapse of a few years, in a vast circle winding round and round, and contracting there is at least this satisfaction, that nature soon obhter- towards a common centre, finally closed in and crushed ates aU traces of the passion and the violence of men. the KebeUion within its mighty folds. The earth drinks up their blood, and the grass grows Those were heroic days that should never be forgotten. green again over their graves. As we walked along the Since then twenty-five years have passed, and a new line of the intrenchments, I found every trace of them had generation has come upon the stage that may forget the been de.stroyed, as the ground has been many times terrible cost at which the Union was restored, exccjjt as it ploughed over. But every Sijring, as it is turned up is recalled by some memorable anniversary'. But a few anew, fresh relics are brought to light. My fi-iends picked months since we looked out of our windows in New York up a handful of bullets, which they turned over to me, to upon the greatest pageant that ever swept through its which I answered that I thought I would take them to streets, the celebration of the completion of a hundred General Schofield with the compliments of his Confederate years from the foundation of the Government. In that friends, who, as they had not had the opijortunity of pre brilliant array the President of the United States was senting them when he visited the town on a certain memo accompanied by all the high ofiScers of State, and repre rable occasion, would make amends for this neglect by sentatives of the army and navy. The enthusiasm for presenting them now. The gallant Major charged me these heads of the nation was divided with that for the especially to say how glad they were tliat they had not Southern Governors, some of whom—like Buckner of Ken been presented on the appointed day! This duty 1 per tucky and Gordon of Georgia—had been Generals in the formed on my ai-rival in Washington. The General re- 256 HEARTS YEARX TO BE KNIT AGAIN. ceived them with a smile, and as he took them in his hand, pointed out the peculiar shape of each ball, which showed whether it had been fired by friend oTfoe] and kept speci mens of each, as interesting and harmless souvenii-s of a great event, not only in his own life, but in American history. General Schofield said that after the war he had a great

desire to see General Hood, and renew the acquaintance CHAPTER XVn. which they had in the old days, when they were four years side by side at West Point. Hood had settled down in VISIT TO THIC HOME OF ANDKEW .TACESOX. New Orleans. Schofield wrote to him several times to Next to the scene of the battle of Franklin, the one come on to the meeting of his old classmates. But he place ill the neighborhood of Nashville which I desired to never came. In his last letter he said ;" To tell the truth, see, was the Hermitage, the home of Andrew Jackson. I have ten children to provide for, which takes all my time When I was a boy, I can just remember his election as the and care." The reason did honor to the soldier's heart. President of the United States. Duiing the two tcims of These were soon to be left without father or mother: for his administration, and for years after, he was the great both died witliin a few days of each other, and the eldest est jiolitical power in the country:'indeed it is doubtful if daughter a few hours after her father. A blow so sudden any man fi-om the time of 'Washington to the opening of and so terrible enlisted great sympathy at the South, where the Civil AVar, filled a larger space in the pubUc eye. He every heart and every home.was open to those who were is a very picturesque figiu-c in American history. Ho was thus doubly orphaned. Nor was it in the South only, but not of the ordinary run of politicians—smooth-tongued in the North also, where more than one were taken into/ and "all things to all men"; but a man original and the closest relations, as if they were of the same blood. unique, a product of natm'e rather than of education. A So is it that an unnatural alienation is sometimes followed child of poverty, he came up in the backwoods, like some by a reaction of feeling, which in its return causes an over prodigious growth of the forest. Without the polish of flow of affection and kindness. Especially when the grave society, he had a natural courage and force of will that has closed over the heroic dead, old strifes give place to put him at the head of the rough communities of the kindly memories, and flowers blossom out of the dust. border, from which the force of circumstances iiushcd him Severed hearts yearn to be knit again, and hands long on till he reached the highest position in national affairs. withdrawn are stretched-out once more; and, though it A man who has acted such a part in his generation, is a may be only in the next generation, new affections spring subject of interest to the student of history, and hence the up, and sweet household ties come in, to bind all together. BATTLES AND SKETCHES

OF THE

ARMY OF TENNESSEE

BY

'y

BROMFIELD L. RIDLEY,

LIEUT.-GEN. A. P. STEWART S STAFF, GENERAL JOSEPH E. JOHNSTON,

THE IDOL OF THE ARMY OF TENNESSEE.

C. S. A,

MISSOURI PRINTING A PUBLISHING CO. MEXICO, MISSOURI. 1906. lYe SATTLES and sketches ARllnr op tennesseE.

Pointer of his staff, the only one of his regular staff with him, with a flag of truce to the Federal commander, demanding the surrender of himself and command. This demand was finallj' acceded to. The number of men and officers surrending was 1,640, whereas General CHAT WITH COL. W. fS. .McLK.MOKM Forrest had by actual number only 420 up and present at the time the surrender took place. Comrades, do you recall the Commander of Starne's Fourth "After the terms of surrender had been agreed upon, Forrest Tennessee cavalry, Colonel William S. McLemoro< Altlioiigli in ordered Biffle's regiment, together with some imaginary' command, to feeble health, Colonel McLemore is as genial as in days of yoi-<>. lie go into camp and feed, wliile Captain jMcLemore was ordered with wears the scars of battle, and bears the prestige of manipulating his Starnes' regiment to act as guard to the prisoners. This regiment numbered 240 men at this time present. The Federal troops were men at times under Forrest and Wheeler, with credit to liimself and the delight of his people. After Colonel .Starnes was killed, near marched at least a mile after they had surrendered to an open field before they were ordered to stack their guns. On reaching tliis field Tullahoma in 1863, Colonel McLemore commanded tiiis gallant regi ment until six months before the surrender, when he commanded they were formed in line, the guns stacked, and they moved off on the, Dibbrell's brigade, and had the honoi- of e.scorting President Davis march to Rome, stopping for the night about ten miles southeast of Rome, where they were guarded, fed and cared for just as the soldiers from Raleigh, N. C., to Washington, Ga., where the In igade surren of Forrest's command. Reaching Rome on the fourth, about 11 dered. o'clock, our troops were received with great demonstration and Tennessee had two cavalry regiments numbered the Fourth. rejoicing by the citizens. They are designated now as Colonel Paul Anderson's Foui th and the "It will be observed from tne foregoing that Forrest and his Starnes-McLemore Fourth. They were both crack regiments. In faithful soldiers were almost constantly in the saddle from the morning 1>>63, upon going to Tullahoma to report to General Stewart as aiile, I of the 24th of April until the 4th of Alay, 1863, but with little sleep spied an ambulance passing the streets, followed by a funeral cortege or rest, and but little to eat. Evervthing taken into consideration, of soldiery, and learned it was the body of J. W. Starnes, who had this, perhaps, is not only one, but the greatest military achievement been shot at the head of his command in a hot skirmish a few miles ever accomplished in the annals of war. and it was this campaign that out. gave to General Forrest the true appellation of 'the wizard of the After the war IMcLemorc was elected circuit judge of the Ninth saddle'". Tennessee circuit, and in honor of his worth to his countrymen .served fourteen years. When he left the bench he came from Franklin to Murfreesboro, iind as one of the law lirm of McLemore & Richardson has been in full pi-actice. The old war worn Colonel iieing now recovered from a slight stroke of pai-alysis, I concluded to tlraw him out on the achievements of his old i-cgiment. Says he: 'T can't tell you where we went in four years, nor can the rec ords of the rebellion tell of half of our skirmishes aiul battles. "W'e ever paid fondtril)ute to a heroine at Thompson's Station, whose name and deed should be foremost recordetl. I refer to iMi.ss Alice Thomp son. She was seventeen at the time of the battle there. .March 4.1863. VanDorn and Forrest fought Colbiirn's-Indiana l)rigaile and captured it. Miss Alice was at the residence of Lieutenant Banks. The Third Arkansas, advancing through the yard, lost their Colonel (Earle) and color bearer, and the regiment was thrown into di.soriler. Mi.ss .Vlice Thompson rushed out, raised the flag and led the regiment to victory. The enemy lauded her action. Our commands who know of it desire her deserved prominence in hi-story. (jMajor Aiken, of Spring Hill. 178 liATII.KS AM) SKKTCIIKS AUMV OF TF.NNKSSF.F.. niAT WITH cot., w. s. mci.f.morf.. 170 sends her picture.) Siie ileserees record idoii"' witii Kniiiiii Sanson lion. Straight turned to his stall' and said, "(ientlemen. wi'are gone and otiier heroines. up.' Forrest, vou know, had scattered his troops, not knowing where "I have anotiier incident wortli ladatinc- timt look place at Sacra Streight woidd strilte. t\'hen we got upon ."^tnuglit's hetds a Hag of mento, Ky. It wa.s tiie only time I e\er sa\y a hand-to-liand contest truce was sent to him hv some of Forrest's escort, demanding a sur with sahers. Ihli Teiu'w of my ree'imenl. was kdied hyasaher tiirust render. 'idle rejily was: "I will not surreudei" unless you have more while he was warding' oil' otlu;)' hlows. I recollect in connection with the Streic'ht raid that there u'ere hut two regiments up when .Strcij^'ht surrendereil. 'J'hese. with parts of Fori-est"s escort and lerrell's r"' K;-. . -v*

V

C . • •; vi 1

« ■

' /V;7;7/; ••f'lf.V/.v * • i MISS At.U K TIIOMI'.SON. AT TIIF, H.Vrri.F. OF TII( )M I'.SO.N .STATION. men than I.' In an interview that followed, as Forrest'soflicers came up for instructions, he disposed of their commands so as to leave an impression of great force. I tell you. this capture of .seventeen hundred men by live hundred men of us was one of the shrewtlcst tricks of the war. and was played to success.

cut. I'AUI- ANDF.liSCI.M ITII TF.NNH.sskF. CAVAI.UV. '"On the advance from Chickamauga. the ilav after we routed

(■ S. A. them, my command reached the foot of Lookout .Mountain, the farth est point to the left. and. but for orders.I believe now we could have artillery, were the only troops in .seventy miles of us. The two ■pu.sficd them into the river. At Richmond. Ky.. a hundred men of ree'iments wore Hiille's and ours. The Ihllle's Fourth cavalry rcifi- my regiment captured four hundred, including llie Fedei'al Ceneral ment was known as hoth the Ninth and Nineteenth. The.so, with the Man.son and staff, on the Tate's creek pike. I witnessed the .scene of escort and artilleiy. numhered in all ^ahout live hundred elfectives. John Trotwood .Moore's jioCm on Fmma ."■^anson.'' Colonel .Sti'eic'ht captured a soldier of my command (William llavnes) Judge McLemore's wife was" the sistei" of the late Professor and asked him how many trooi).s Fori-est had. llayiurs kmowinc- Wharton, who, togethei- with the gallant Captain' Isaac Newton Hrown F'ori'O.st's e-ame of hlutf. rei)lied. "Roddy's hricatle, .Hiille's. .McLe- ran tlm famous Arkan.sas ram through a Federal ll'eet at \'icksburg. more's, Huford, Hell, Hyon. and others.' Upon Ilayhes' representa- one of the boldest naval e.xploits on record. 181 180 battles ANi> SKETCHES AR3IY Of TENXESSEL. THE FLIGHT OF THE CITIZEN AITR THE DIFFICULTV.

Headquarters Army of Tennessee, true, genuine nobleness and courage whicli he so eminently possessed. Tullahoma, Tenn., March 31, 1863. At the commencement of the present war lie occupied a very high position General Orders 1 in the Army of tiie United States, which he had won for iiimseif by his No. 68. \ . ., 1 own valor and military skill unaided by any influence of pi)werful The general commanding announces with pride and gratincation friends. Upon the dismemberment of the Federal Union he was among to the troops of his command two brilliant and successful affairs, the first to resign his position and espouse the cause of his native recently achieved by the forces of the cavalry of Major-General Van state, Mississippi, by whose authority he was placed in command of Dorn. On the 5th instant, Major-General Van Dorn made a gallant the forces, second only to Jefferson Davis. I'robably more interest charge upon a large force of the enemy at Thompson's Station. has gathered around him than any other general officer on this conti He utterly routed them, killing and wounding a large number,captur nent, for amidst the glory,that his deeds had won for himself a storm ing 1,221 prisoners, including seventy-three commissioned officers, of obloquy burst upon him at one time, and his friends trembled for and many arms. his safety'; but with his wonted calmness steadily and bravely, he met On the 25th Brigadier-General Forrest, with troops of his com his relentless enemies and hurled every charge triumphantly and mand daringly assailed the enemj' at Brentwood, who could not with proudly back upon them, making for himself a complete and magnifi stand the vigor and energy of the attack, and surrendered. The cent vindication. It .stands upon record, it is enrolled in the archives results of his successful expedition were the capture of YoO privates of the nation. Upon the battlefiehl he was the jiersonification of cour and thirty-five commissioned officers, with all their arms, accoutre age and chivalry. No knight of the olden time ever advanced to the ments, ammunition, and sixteen wagons and teams. The troops here contest more eagerly, and after the fury of the conflet had passed away captured the remainder of the brigade so successfully attacked by none were ever more generous and humane to the sufferers than he. Major-General Van Dorn on the 5th instant. As a commander he was warmly lieloved and highly respected; as a The skillful manner in which these Generals achieved their suc gentleman his social qualities were of the rarest order: for goodness cess exhibits clearly the judgment and gallantry which animated them, of heart he had no equal. His deeds hai e rendereil his name worthy and tlie discipline and good conduct of the brave troops of their to be enrolled by the side of the pioudest in the Uajiital of the Con- commands. Such signal examples of duty the general commanding federac3'; as it is, and long will be, .sacredly and proudly cherished in takes pleasure in commending. They are worthy of imitation by the hearts of the command. all commands, and deserve the applause and gratitude of their com By command of rades in arms and their countr}\ Brigadier-General AV. II. Jackson. By command of / Geo. Mooioian, General Bragg. Captain, and Assistant Adjutant-General. George W. Brent, Assistant Adjutant-General. THE FLIGHT OF THE CITIZEN AFTER THE DIFFICUI.TV.

THE DEATH OF MAJOR-GENERAL VAN DORN. The death of (Jeneral Abm Dorn at Spring Hill. Tennessee, in May, 1863, was brought about in a private difficulty with Dr. George Headquarters First Cavalry Corps, B. Feters, an influential citizen of the town. The place was about Spring Hill, Tenn., May 7, 1868. two miles from the enemies lines ami up to within a short ilistance General Orders,| General Van Dorn had estaWished a continual chain line of pickets. No. 3. r So soon as the shooting took place. Dr. Peters mounted thehor.sc that It becomes the sad duty of the Brigadier-General commanding to he had ridden to the (Chears'House) headquarters of General \an announce to this corps the death of its late beloved and gallant Dorn and rapidy moved in the direction of the enemy. .-Vs the.se iiickets commander, Major-General Earl Van Dorn. He departed tliis were reached, "A passport to go at will'' previously given Dr. Peters life at 1 p. m. today. The sorrow with which his death is an by General Van Dorn, was presented, until the guard lines were nounced will be deeply felt by the country and by this cprps,for to it cleared and he was safely landed in the Federal lines. Of the causes his loss is an irreparable one. His career has been eventful. An which led to this, we have not sufficient information to detail. The educated soldier, he has served with distinction in the armies of his incident was a notable one in the Army of Tennessee and created country for nearly a quarter of a century with varied success, at timra quite a flutter in army circles. The South at a critical time in Con shrouded and enveloped in the gloom of defeat, at other times his federate history, lost an experienced and valiant commander, whose career made resplendent with the most glorious victories, but in the place it was thought, could be hardly supplied, yet. from out of the midst of all he has presented the same calm, intrepid front. Self- gloom of misfortune, the star of General N. B. Forrest rose more sustaining, self-reliant, he bared his breast to every shock with the clearlj'^ and shone with more resplendent beauty and grandeur, in our Western sk}-, as a worthy successor. WILLIAM ORTON WILLIAMS AND LIEUT. PETER—SPIES. 189

Headquarters Department of the Cumberland, Murfreesboro, June 8, 1863, 12:00 p. m. Colonel J. P. Baird, Franklin: WILLIAM ORTON WILLIAMS AND LIEUTENANT PETER- The two men are no doubt spies. Call a drum-liead court martial SPIES. tonigiit, ami if tliov are found to bo spies, hang them l)efoi-e morning, without fail. No such men have l)een accredited from these head Franklin,. Tenn., June 8, 1863. quarters. Brigadier-General Garfield, Chief of Staff: ,1. A. Garfield, Is there any such inspector general as Lawrence Orton, colonel Brigadier-General and Chief of Staff. U. S. Army, and assistant, Major Dunlop? If so, please describe their personal appearance, and answer immediately.. Franklin, June 8, 1863. J. P. JBaird, General Garfield, Chief of Staff: Colonel, Commanding Post. I have just sent vou an explanation of my first dispatch when I received vour dispatch. AVhen your dispatch "came, they owned up Headquarters Department of the Cumberland, as being a rebel colonel and lieutenant in the rebel army. Colonel Orton, June 8, 1863, 10:15 p. m. b}' name, but in fact AVilliams, first on General Scott's staff', of Second Colonel J. P. Baird, Franklin: cavalry, regular army. Their ruse was nearly succ.ssful on me, as I There are no such men as Inspector General Lawrence Orton, did not know the handwriting of mv commanding officer, and am colonel U. S. Army, and assistant,.Major Dunlop, in this army, nor much indebted to Colonel Watkins Si.xth Kentucky cavahw for their in any army, so far as we know. Whj'^ do you ask ? detention, and Lieutenant Wharton, of Granger's "staff for the detec J. A. Garfield, tion of torsevy of papers. As these men don't den^- their guilt, Brigadier-General and Chief of Staff. what shall ido with them? My bile is stirred and some hanging would do me good. Franklin, June 8, 1863,11:30 p. m. I communicate with 3-011, because I could get an answer so much Brigadier-General Garfield: sooner than by signal, but I will keep General Granger posted. I will Two men came in camp about dark, dressed in our uniform, with telegraph you again in a short time, as we are trying to find out, and liorses and equipment to correspond, saying that they were Colonel believe there is an attack contemplated in the morning. If Watson Orton,inspector-general, and Major Dunlop, assistant, having an order gets anything out of Orton, I will let you know. from Adjutant-General Townsend and your order to inspect all posts, I am. General, 3-our obedient servant, but their conduct was so singular that we have arrested them, and J. P. Baird, they insisted that it was important to go to Nashville tonight. The Colonel, Commanding. one representing himself as Colonel Orton (W. Orton Williams) is probably a regular officer of old arm}^, but Colonel Watkins, com Headquarters Department of the Cumberland, manding cavalry here, in whom I have the utmost confidence,, is" of Murfreesboro, June 12, 1863. opinion that they are spies, who have either forged or captured their Brigadier-General Lorenzo Thomas, Adjutant-General U. S. Army: orders. Thej' can give no consistent account of their conduct. General: I have the honor to forward herewith the record of the I want you to answer immediately my last dispatch. It takes so proceedings held at Franklin, Tenne.s.see, in the cases of the two Con long to get an answer form General Gordon Granger, at Triune, by federate officers taken as spies at that place on the 9th instant; also signal, that I telegraphed General R. S. Granger, at Nashville for the forged orders and other papers found on their persons. I trans information. I also signalled General Gordon Granger. If these mit also copies of the telegraphic correspondence between Colonel men are spies, it seems to me that it is important that i should know Baird and myself in reference to the matter. it, because Forrest must be awaiting their progress. I am, sir very respectfully, your obedient servant, I am. General, 3'our obedient servant, W.S. Rosecrans, J. P. Baird, Major-General, Commanding. Colonel, Commanding Post. (Inclosure.) "Record of the Military Commission." Headquarters Post, _ , ^ ^ . Franklin June 9, 1863. Before a Court of Commission assembled by virtue of the following order: 191 190 BATTLES AND SKETCHES ARMY OF TENNESSEE. WILLIAM ORTON WILLIAMS AND LIEUT. I'ETER—SPIE.S.

Headquarters Post of Franklin, Eagleville and run into rebel pickets, and' had his orderly shot, and June 9, 3:00 a. m. lost his coat containing his inonev: that he wanted some nione^- and a A Court of Commission is hereby called, in pursuance of orders pass to Nashville; that, when arrested by Colonel AVatkins, Sixth from Maior-General Kosecrans, to try Colonel Williams and Lieuten Kentucky cavalry, after examination they admitted that they were in ant Peter, of rebel forces, on charge of being spies, the court to sit the Rebel army, and that his (the coloner.s) true name was Lawrence immediately, at headquarters of the post. Orton AVillianis; that he had been in the Second regular cavalry, Army Detail of Court: Colonel Jordon, Ninth Pennsylvania cavalry. of the United States, once on General Scott's staff in Alexico.and was President; Lieutenant-Colonel Van Vleck, Seventy-eighth Illinois now a colonel in the Rebel army, and Lieutenant Peter was his infantry; Lieutenant-Colonel Hoblitzel, Fifth Kentucky cavalry; adjutant; that he came in our lines knowing his fate, if taken, but Captain Crawford, Eighty-fifth Indiana infantry, and Lieutenant asking mercy for his adjutant."' Wharton, Judge-Advocate. The court having matui-ely considered the ca.se. after having all B}' order of the evidence, together with the statements of the prisoners, do find J. P. Baird, them, viz.: Colonel Lawrence Orton Williams and Lieutenant AValter Colonel Commanding Post. (i. Peter, officers of the Confederate army, guilty of the charges of The Court and judge-advocate having been duly sworn according being spies found within the lines of the United States .-Vrmy at to military law, the prisoners were arraigned upon the following Franklin, Tenn., on the 8th day of ,Iune, 1863. charges: Tiioma.s j. Joudox. CHARGES and SPECIFICATIONS AGAINST COLONEL LAWRENCE ORTON, ALIAS Colonel Ninth Penn.sylvania Cavalry. WILLIAMS, AND LIEUTENANT WALTER G. PETER, OFFICERS IN REBEL President of the Commission. FORCES. charges:—BEING SPIES. Henry C. Wiiahton. Specifications:—In this, the said Colonel Lawrence Orton, alias Lieutenant of Ungineers, Jiulge-.\dvocate. Williams, and Lieutenant Walter G. Peter, oflScers in the so called Confederate States of America, did, on the 8th da^' of June, 1863, come inside the lines of the Army of the United States, at Franklin, (Indorsement No. 1.) Tennessee, wearing the uniform of Federal officers, with a pass pur- The finding is approved, and. In" order of .Major-General Rose Eorting to be signed by Major-General Rosecrans, Commanding crans, the prisoners will be executed imnuHliately by hanging by the 'epartment of the Cumberland, and represented to Colonek J. P. neck till they are dead. Band, commanding post of Franklin, that they were in the service of Captain Ale.xaniler, ])rovost-marshal, will carry the sentence into the United States, all this for the purpose of getting information of execution. the strength of the United States forces and convejung it to the J. P. Baird, enemy of the United States now in arms against the United States Colonel, Commauiling Post. Government. E. C. Davis, Captain Company G,Eighty-fifth Indiana Infantry. (Indorsement No. 2.) Some evidence having heen heard in support of the charges and Headquarters Post. specifications, the prisoners made the following statement: Franklin, Tenn.. June 9, 1863. "That they came inside of the lines of the United States Army, Captain J, H. Alexander, Seventh Kentucky regimemt, cavalry, at Franklin, Tenn., about dark on the 8th day of June, 1863, wearing provost-marshal of Franklin, Tenne.ssee, by virtue of the above pro the uniform they then had on their persons, which was that of Federtd ceedings and order, carried the sentence into execution by hanging officers; that they went to the headquarters of Colonel J. P. Baird, said prisoners by the neck until they were tlead. commanding forces at Franklin, and represented to him that they were Colonel Orton, inspector, just sent from Washington City to J. 11. Alexander, overlook the inspection of the several departments of the West, and Captain and Provost-Marshal. Major Dunlop, his assistant, and exhibited to him an order from The above report was made out b}' the provost-marshal, and Adjutant-General Townsend assigning him to that duty, an order returned to me as the report of his proceedings in executing the from Major-General Rosecrans, countersigned by Brigadier-General sentence of the court, and I order the same to be attached to the Garfield, chief of staff, asking him to inspect his outposts, and a pass record of said Court. through all lines from General Rosecrans; that he told Colonel Baird J. P. Baird, he had missed the road from Murfreesboro to this point, got too near Colonel, Commanding Post. m BATTLES AND SKETCHES ARMY OF TENNESSEE. ORDER IDENTIFYING WILLIAM ORTON WILLIAMS. 193

APPENDIX. (Indorsements.) Headquarters Department of the Cumberland, War Department, Adjutant-General's Office, Murfreesboro, May 30, 1863. Washington, Maj' 25, 1863. All guards and outposts will immediatel}' pass without dela}' Special Orders,| Colonel Orton and his assistant. Major Dunlop. No. 140. ) By command of Major-General Rosecrans. * * * * « * J. A. Garfield, IV. Colonel Lawrence W. Orton, cavalry United,$tates Army, Volunteer Chief of Staff and Assistant Adjutant-General, and acting special inspector-general, is hereby relieved from duty along the "Line of the Potomac." He will immediate^ proceed to the West, and minutely inspect the Department of the Ohio and the Headquarters United States Forces, Department of the Cumberland, in accordance with special instructions Nashville, Tenn., June 5. 1863. Nos. 140-162 and 185, furnished him from this office and that of the All officers in command of troops belonging to these forces will paymaster-general. give every assistance in their power to Colonel L. W. Orton, special V. Major George Dunlop, assistant quartermaster, is hereby inspector-general, under direct orders from the Secretary of War. relieved from duty in this city. He will report immediately tp Col By command of General Morgan. onel Orton for duty. John Pratt, By order of the Secretary of War. Assistant Adjutant-General. E. D. Townsend, Assistant Adjutant-General. (the following order identifies WILLIAM ORTON WILLIAMS.) Colonel Lawrence W. Orton, U. S. A., Special Inspector-General. Headquarters Second Brigade Martin's Cavalrj-^ Division, Unionville, Tenn., April 30, 1863, 6:00 a. m. War Department, Adjutant-General's Office, Lieutenant-General Folk's Chief of Staff, C. S. A.: Washington, May 25, 1868. I have the honor to report all quiet along my lines this morning. Special Orders, ) I would respectfully ask that the order to report every six hours be No. 140. j modified, as there is no place between here and Shelbyville where a « « * * courier station can be kept up, for want of forage. Should any move V. Major George Dunlop, assistant-quartermaster, is hereby ment of the enemy take place, I will report every two hours, or even relieved from duty in this city. He will report immediately to Colonel at shorter intervals. Orton, special inspector-general, for duty. I think that the enemy will send out to-morrow morning a heavj' By order of tne Secretary of War. foraging party from Triune toward College Grove. Such I infer E. D. Townsend, from the large number of wagons concentrating about the former Assistant Adjutant-General. place. Major George Dunlop, Brigadier-General (Major-General) Scofield commanded the expe Assistant Quartermaster, on Special Duty. dition we drove back yesterday. It consisted of about 500 men and some artillery. The latter was not brought into action, but fell Headquarters Department of the Cumberland, back almost immediately to Triune. Murfreesboro, Tenn., May 30, 1863. If the lieutenant-general commanding will send me two regiments Colonel L. W. Orton, Cavalry, Special Inspector-General: of infantrj"^, with two day's rations, to report here as soon as possible, Colonel: The major-general commanding desires me to Say to I will be able to concentrate my command on the (upper) pike, and, you that he desires that, if you can spare the time at present, that leaving the infantry to guard this road, where the enemy will come you will inspect his oncosts before drawing up your report for the to forage, I can get into his rear and capture his wagons. M}' line of War Department at W^hington City. All commanding officers of vedettes is too long to concentrate my command for an offensive move outposts will aid you in the matter to the best of their ability. The ment, as it will leave one or other of the pikes with a weak guard. general desires me to give his respects to you. The enemy will bring, as he generally does, about one regiment of I remain, very respectfully, your obedient servant, infantry with his cavalry, and, perhaps, a section of the artilleiy. J. A. Garfield, I remain, very respectfully, your obedient servant, I Brigadier-General of Volunteers, Chief of Staff Lawrence W. Qrton, and Assistant Adjutant-General. Colonel Commanding Second Brigade, Martin's Division of Cavalry. WHO WAS WILLIA.M ORTON WILLl.AMSit 195

General Cheatham in all field movements with troops, and this move ment with StrahTs one brigade out on the Murfreesboro pike was the only one made while at Shelbyville. Hence, the whole of Colonel Prosser's statement and conclusion is a romance without a single fact to base it upon. WHO WAS WILLIAM OllTON WILLIAMS^ There was no military or personal intercour.se between General Cheatham and Colonel Williams. Colonel Williams had not been AN INTERESTING LETTER FROM MAJOR JOSEl'H VAULX, GENERAL CHEATH- with the armv since I joined it in 1S<)2. The only time I ev^er saw AM'S STAFF. him was when i was sick at Cidumbus. Miss., after the battle of Shiloh. He belonged to the '"regular army" of the C. S. by virtue of coming Nashville, April 2, ISOO. from the regular army of the U. 8.. and how he was employed from Governor James D. Porter, that time in 1S62 until June, 180:', 1 do not know. He was (so My Dear Sir; reputed) very full of c.xaggcrated, personal and military conceit, and I have before me the article in "The United States Service^ Mag had been an aide to General Winfield Scott. In his bearing antl dress azine" giving an account of the capture and execution of Colonel he was at all times ultra military, spectacular and erratic. ^ No doubt Orton Willianis and Lieutenant Peter of the C. S. Army by the Fed you remember the small offense for which he ran a .soldier through eral forces at Franklin, Tenn., on the 8th of June, 1SG3; in which with his .sword at Columbus, Ivy. 1 have frequently heard repeated article is a statement from Colonel W. F. Prosser of his conclusions the la.st sentence of the written statement he made with reference to why Colonel Williams and Lieutenant Peter came within the Federal the killing of this soldier for n-fiising to salute him the second time lines at Franklin with counterfeit orders from the War Dejiartment he passed him in his morning visit in ilic stable; it will give some idea (U. S.) and General Rosecrans, etc. Colonel Prosser here asserts that of the mairs mental and moral org.-mization. He concluded his state on the night tf the 8th of June General Cheatham had marched with ment of the killing thus: "For his ignorance, 1 pitied him; for his bis corps frori) Shelbj ville and had it encamped within less_ than six insolence, I forgave him; for his insubordination, I slew him". He miles of Franklin; If there is any foundation for this asccrtion at all. was away from the Army t)f renne.ssee- after that occurrence till in the General Cheatham and his troops got to that point by riding on Col spring of 1803 he turned up, by reason of some inffueuce at Richmond, onel Prosser's night-mare. No less a power could have placed Gen witha cavalry colonel s coniniission, accompanied by Lieutenant Petei" eral Cheatham with his corps (?) at that point at that time than some (regular C. S. A.) with orders to re|)ort to General Bragg for assign supernatural one, and the most likely one would have been a/ night-. ment to a comiiiand. .\t that time there were being organized .some mare. The Colonel is far wide of the facts in his "demonstrated con new cavalry regiments at Columbia by General Van Dorn. These clusion" for these reasons: At that time General Cheatham was regiments were formed by consolidating the battalions which had commanding a division, and Lieiitenant-General Polk was in command previously been independent organizations. General Bragg sent Col of the corps. onel Wiliiams with his adjutant, Peter, to General Van Dorn with Therefore Cheatham had no corps under his command. Next, orders to be assignetl to one of these regiments. In compliance. Cheatham did not have his division near Franklin—neither was he General Van Dorn issued the order assigning him to a Tennessee reg there. Cheatham as far as I know, and as far as I can learn from iment, in which was Major Richard McCanii's splendid old battalion. members of his command moved out from Shelbyville but once while Colonal Williams went out to the camp to take command, when he we occupied that place. Then he went with one brigade on the Mur- was informed that no officer or soldier of the regiment would obey freesboro road to support the small cavalry outpost on that road his orders. The officers believed they had a right to have one of their against an anticipated reconnaissance of Federal cavalry. (At this own number appointed to the command, and neither Tennesseen or time a large part of the regular cavalry force had been sent elsewhere). volunteer officers nor men w(»uld serve under the overbearing man who The movement was devoid of notable incident; the brigade was posted had killed the soldier at Columbus. The regimental ami company on a ridge in the rear of the cavalry posts and the next day moved officers rei)orte^t) SKETCHES ARMY OE TENNESSEE. through the Confederate pickets secretly. The genera! belief about the man was that he was out of balance, erratic, full of conceit, personal vanity and distorted views of his military importance and dignity. To sum up—he was not entirely sane In this mood, after being repudiated by soldiers and generals, he .set out to do something sensational. Whether some brilliant and daring ex|)loit to return to McLEMORE'S COVE, SEPTEMBER, 10-11, 1S63. Van Dorn's camp, or whether he intended to ^o through the United States on a survey, or whether, as was pul)lisned in some Northern REPORT OF MAJOR-GENERAL THO.M.iS C. HINUMAN, C. S. AR.MY, COMMAND papers at that time, he desired to pa.ss on through the ariiiy, reach his ING DIVISION. friends at home and get money to go out of the country, possii)ly to England or Canada. I read that he made such a statement before his Atlanta, Ga., October 22, 1863. execution. I never heard at any time in our army a single man Lieutenant-Colonel George William Brent, express the opinion that Williams' actions in this matter was known Assistant Adjutant General: to any officer in authority over him, nor could anj one imagine any Colonel: The report of my operations in McLemore's Cove on special service he could have been to the Confederate army by visiting September 10 and 11 is forwanied herewith. Many calumnies have been circulated against me in connection with that affair. It has been either Franklin or Nashville, for he was a stranger to that section of the country and its inhabitants, and we had many capable and jiroven my habit heretofore to disregard such misrepresentations, but in this men well acquainted with both who could have been far more efficient country silence is taken for a confe.ssion of misconduct, and an officer's in such a service than Williams. 1 think Williams was well on his reputation suffers accordingly. I therefore ask leave to publish the way from Franklin to Nashville when the Commandant of Franklin report at this time. As no injury to the service can result, I indulge had him captured—if so he was not going towards the point Colonel the hope that this request will de granted without delay. Prosser dreamed Cheatham to be with a part of his "2500 men" who I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant, possibly (?) was to brush through Franklin and gobble up Nashville, T. C. Hindman, with Rosecrans placed between a fire in front and a fire in rear from Major-General. the balance of Bragg's army. All this was not quite so. Simply for the reason that Colonel Prosser's night-mare was not capaiile of Atlanta, Ga., October 25, 1863. transporting all these forces into the positions he assigned them;to say Colonel: Between 1 and 2 o'clock on the morning of September nothing about how General Bragg would have liked his plan. 10, I moved with Anderson's, Deas' and .Vlanigault's brigades from No, there was no cause for the Colonel's surmise and its demon Lee and Gordon's Mills to Dr. Anderson's house, on LaFavette road, stration in fact," 'Tis baseless as the fabric of a dream". Williams' and thence through Wortham's Gap, of Pigeon Mountain, toward character and quality was appreciated by the army at large in the Davis'cross-roads, in McLemore's (\)ve. matter of killing the soldier and in the statement by which heattempted The instructions given me by the chief of staff at army headquar to justify himself. Neither the army nor its generals wanted him; his ters were to unite at Davis' with Cleburne's division, of Gill's corps, commission and orders were procured by some influences at Rich and attack a force of the enemy (thought to be 4,000 or 5,000 strong) mond; he was chagrined, and reckle.ss—he was not a sound man, and "at the foot of Lookout Mountain .at Stephen's Gap." I w.as .advised there is no accounting for the freaks such an one will take. lam sure that General Hill was to open communication with me before I should no Confederate authority was responsible for ;or cognizant of his reach Davi.s'. intentions in that affair. It was his own misfortune to which was Shortly after sunri.se, hearing nothing from General Hill, I added the greater one involving Lieutenant Peter's death with his own. ordered a halt at Morgan's four or live Tidies from Davis'; threw out Yours truly, pickets and sent scouting parties toward Davis'and Lookout Moun tain. Ihis was in consequence of information received from citizens Joseph Yaxilx. and from cavalry detachments, of which I assumed command, that a Federal division was at Davis' and another at Stephen's Gap; and also that Dug and Catlett's Gaps, of Pigeon Mountain, through one of which Hill's troops must march to join me, were, and had been for several days, so heavily blocked as to be impassflble. This inteili- 558 BATTLES AND SKETCHES AUMT OP TENNESSEE. Lieutenant-General Hardee as usual, is entitled to my wannest thanks and highest commendation for his gallant and judicious con duct during the whole of the trying scenes through which we passed. Maior-General Cleburne, whose command defeated the enemy in every assault on the 25th and who eventually charged and routed HEROIC DEATH OF SAMUEL D.VVIS. him on that day, capturing several stand of colors and several hun dred prisoners and who afterwards brought up our rear with great Joshua Brown, now of New York City, who belonged to the success, again charging and routing the pursuing column at Ring- Second Kentucky cavalry of the Confederate Army, and was a fellow gold on the 27th, is commended to the special notice of the Gov- scout with Samuel Davis, tells the thrilling and awful story ot srnment. .. .. r- his fate: ,, Brigadier-Generals Gist and Bate, commanding divisions; Gum As you have requested it, I will give you my personal recollec ming Walthall, and Polk, commanding brigades, were distinguished tions of the capture, imprisonment and execution of Samuel Davis, for coolness, gallantry and successful conduct throughout the en one of the greatest and noblest patriots who ever died for his coun- gagements and in the rear guard on the retreat. ^ trv. Other patriots have died—Nathan Hale of the Revolution, and To my staff, personal and general, my thanks are especially due Captain W. Orton Williams and Lieutenant Peters who were hanged for their gallant and zealous efforts under fire to rally the broken at Franklin by the Federals. They knew that death was inevitable troops and restore order and for their laborious services in conducting and died like brave soldiers. But Davis had continuance of life and successfully the many and arduous duties of the retreat. liberty offered him, a full pardon and a pass through the lines if he Our losses arc not yet ascertained, but in killed and wounded it would only reveal where he got the information and the papers that is known to have been very small. In prisoners and stragglers I fear were found upon his ]x;r.soii and in his saddle seat, but he knew that it is much larger. The chief of artillery reports the loss of forty the man who gave them to hini was at that moment in jail with him. pieces. That man was Colonel Shaw, chief of General Bragg's scouts, who I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, had charge of the secret service of the Army of Tennessee. Braxton Bragg, General Bragg had sent us a few men who knew the county, into General Commanding. Middle Tennessee to get all the information possible concerning the General S. Cooper, movements of the Federal army; to find out if it was moving from Adjutant and Inspector-General, C. S. Army, Richmond. Nashville and Corinth to re-enforce Chattanooga. We were to re Dalton, December 3, 1863. port to Colonel Shaw or Captain Coleman, who commanded Cole- (Received at Meridian, 3rd.) man's scouts. We were to go south to Decatur and send our reports General Joseph E. Johnston:—^The enemy pursued us to Ring- by a courier line to General Bragg at Missionary Ridge. When we gold where we punished him very severely. He then retreated, de received our orders we were told that the duty was very dangerous stroying all behind him, and will not press us again immediately. We and that they did not expect but few of us to return; that we would are in good condition, with plenty of artillery. I am supeiseded in probably be captured or killed and we were cautioned against expos command at my own request by Hardee. The future is pregnant with ing ourselves unnecessarily. great events but I believe our destiny is safe with prompt and After we had been in Tennessee about ten days we watched the united action. Sixteenth Army Corps commanded by General Dodge, move up from Braxton Bragg. Corinth to Pulaski. We agreed that we would leave for the South on Friday, the 19th of November, 1863. .\ number had been cajv tured and several kiled. We were to start that night each man for himself; each of us had his own information but I did not write it down or make any memorandum of it for fear of being captured. I had counted almost every regiment and all the artillery in the Six teenth corps and had found out that they were moving on Chatta nooga. Late in the afternoon we started out and ran into the Sev enth Kansas cavalry, known as the "Kansas Jay Hawkers," and when 260 BATTI.ES AND SKETCHES ARMY OF TENNESSEE. HEROIC DEATH OF SA^IUEL DAVI.S. 261

we were told what regiment had captured us, we thought our time General Bragg with dispatches. I do not think the Federals mean had come. We were taken to Pulaski about fifteen miles away, and to stay; they are not repairing the main points on the road. I un put into jail where several other prisoners had been sent, among derstand part of Sherman's forces have reached Shelbyville. I think whom was Sam Davis. I talked with him over our prospects of im a part of some other than Dodge's division came to Lynnville from prisonment and escape which were very gloomy. Davis said they the direction of Fayetteville. I hope to be able to post you soon. I had searched him that day and found some papers upon him and that sent Billy Moore over in that country and am sorry to say he was

mm i m SAMUEL DAVIS. he had been taken to General Dodge's headquarters. They had also found in his saddle seat maps and descriptions of the fortifications at Nashville and other points and an exact report of the Federal mi army in Tennessee. They found in his boot this letter with other papers, which were intended for General Bragg: "Giles County, Tenn., Thursday Morning, Nov. i8, 1863. Colonel A. McKinstry, Provost Marshal-General, the Army of THE .SHOE SA.M I)A^■lS \V(H:!-: WHEN HE WAS Tennessee, Chattanooga. ARIiAlCNED AS A Sl'V. Dear Sir:—I send you seven Nashville and three Louisville captured. One of my men has just returned from there. The general papers and one Cincinnati, with dates to the 17th—in all eleven. I impression of the citizens is that they will move forward some way. also send for General Bragg, three wash-balls of soap, three tooth Their wagon trains have leturned from Nashville. Davis tells me thaf brushes and two blank books. I could not get a larger size diary the line is in order to Summerville. I send this by one of my men to for him. I will send a pair of shoes and slippers, some more soap, that place. The dispatches sent you on the 9th with papers of the gloves and socks soon. 7th, reached Decatur on the loth at 9 P- m. Citizens were reading "The Yankees are still camped on the line of the Tennessee & the papers the next morning after breakfast. I do not think the Mayor Alabama Railroad. (He evidently meant Nashville & Decatur) will do to forward them with reports. I am with high regard, General Dodge's headquarters are at Pulaski; his main force is E. COLEMAN, camped from that place to Lynnville; some at Elk river, and two Captain Commanding Scouts." regiments at Athens. General Dodge has issued an order to the peo ple in those countries on the road to report all stock, grain and for Here is his pass: age to him and he says he will pay or give vouchers for it. Upon "Headquarters General Rragg's Scouts, Middle Tennessee, Sept. refusal to report he will take it without pay. They are now taking 25th, 1863. Samuel Davis has permission to pass on scouting duty all they can find. Dodge says he knows the people are all Southern anywhere in Middle Tennessee or south of the Tennessee river as he and does not ask them to swear to a lie. All the spare forces around may think proper. By order of General Bragg; E. Coleman, Cap Nashville and vicinity are being sent to McMinnville. Six batteries tain Commanding Company of Scouts." and twelve parrott guns were sent forward on the 14th, 15th, and The next morning Davis was again taken to General Dodge's i6th. It is understood that there is hot work in front somewhere. headquarters, and this is what took place between them which Gen Telegrams suppressed. eral Dodge told me recently. "Davis has returned; Gregg has gone below. Everything is "I took him into my private office," said General Dodge,, "and I beginning to work better. I send Roberts with things for you and told him that it was a very serious charge brought against him; that he was a spy and from what I found upon his person he had accurate HEROIC DEATH OF SAML'EL DAVIS. 263 262 BATTLES AND SKETCHES AVMY OF TENNESSEE. Proceedings of a ^lilitarv Commission which ■co^^e^cd at Pu- information in regard to my army and I must know where he obtained laski, Tennessee, by virtue of the following general order: ^ it. I told him that he was a young man and did not seem to realize Headquarters Left Wing i6th .A.. C., Pulaski, Tennessee, Novem the danger he was in. Up to that time he had said nothing but then ber 20, 1863. General Orders No. 72.—A Military Commission is he replied in the most respectful and dignified manner: hereby'appointed to meet at Pulaski, Tennessee, on the 23rd inst., or "'General Dodge, I know the danger of my situation, and 1 am willing to take the consequences.' as soon thereafter as practicable for the trial of Samuel Davis and

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MKS. LEWIS DAVIS, THE MOTHER OF SA.M DAVIS. "I asked him then to give me the name of the person from whom he got the information; that I knew it must be some one near head LEWIS DAVIS, FATHER OF SAM DAVIS. quarters or who had the confidence of the officers of my staff, and repeated that I must know the source from which it came. I in ■ such other persons as may be brought before it. t-- , sisted that he should tell me but he firmly declined to do so. I told Details for the Commission; i, Colonel Madison. Miller, Eigh him that I would have to call a court-martial and have him tried for teenth Missouri infantry volunteers; 2, Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas W. his life and from the proofs we had they would be compelled to con Gains, Fiftieth Missouri infantry volunteers; 3, Major^ Lathrop, demn him; that there was no chance for him unless he gave the Thirty-ninth Iowa infantry volunteers, judge advocate. The com source of his information. He replied: mission will sit without regard to hours. By order of Brigadier- "'I know that I will have to die but I will not tell where I got General G. M. Dodge; J. W. Barnes, Lieutenant and Acting Adju the information and there is-no power on earth that can make nie tant-General. tell. You are doing your duty as a soldier and I am doing mine. If Report of Commission. I have to die I will do so feeling that I am doing my duty to God "The Commission do therefore sentence him, the said Samuel and my country.' Davis of Coleman's scouts in the service of the so-called Confederate " I plead with and urged him with all the power I possessed States, to be hanged by the neck until dead at such time and place as to give me ■ some chance to save his life, for I discovered that the commanding general shall direct, two-thirds of the Commission he was a most admirable young fellow with the highest character concurring in the sentence. and strictest integrity. He then said: 'It is useless to talk to me. I "Finding the sentence of the Commission approved. The sen do not intend to do it. You can court-martial me or do anything else tence will be carried into effect on Friday, November 27th, 1863, be you like but I will not betray the trust imposed in me.' tween the hours of 10 a. m. and 2 p. m. "He thanked me for the interest I had taken in him and I sent "Brigadier-General T. W. Sweeney commanding the Second

the sentence of the court-martial. He was surprised at the severe "The boys will have to fight the battles without me." .-\rmstrong punishment—expecting to be shot not thinking they would hang said: "I regret very much having to do tliis: I feel that I would almost him—but he showed no fear and resigned himself to his fate as only rather die myself than to do wluit I have to do." Davis rejilied: brave men can. That night he wrote the following letter to his "I do not think hard of you ; you arc doing your duty." Gen mother: eral Dodge still had hopes that Davis would recant when he saw that "Pulaski, Giles County, Tenn., Nov. 26, 1863. death was staring him in the face and that he would reveal the name "Dear Mother:—Oh, how painful it is to write to you! I have got to die tomorrow morning—to be hanged by the Federals *13 Mother, do not grieve for me. I must bid you goodby forevermore. Mother, I do not fear to die. Give my love to all. Your son, 'Samuel Davis. "Mother, tell the children all to be good. I wish 1 could see jou all once more but I never will any more. "Mother and father, do not forget me. Think of me when I am dead but do not grieve for me. It will not do any good. Father, you can send after my remains, if you want to do so. They will be at Pulaski, Tenn. I will leave some things too, .with tlie hotel-keeper for you. Pulaski is in Giles county, Tenn., south of Columbia. S. D." After his sentence he was put into a cell in the jail and we did not see anything of him until on Thursday morning, the dav before the execution. We were ordered to get ready, as we were going to be removed to the court house in the public square, about one hun dred feet from the jail. Davis was handcuffed and was brought in just as we were eating breakfast. I eave hhn a niece of niea"t that had been cooking and he, being handcuffed, was compelled to eat it with both hands. He thanked me and we all bade him goodbye and were sent to the court house and the guard was doubled around the jail. The next morning, Friday, November 27th, at 10 o'clock, we heard the drums and a regiment of infantry marching down to the jail. .:A wagon with a coffin in it was driven up, and the Provost Marshal went into the jail and brought Davis out. He got into the wagon and stood up and looked around at the court house and seeing us at the windows, bowed to uS' his last farewell. He was dressed in a dark brown overcoat with a cape to it which had been a blue Fed eral coat, such as many of us had captured and then dyed brown. 1 JOSH HKOWX. not^ this, because it has been stated that he was dressed in citizens' clothes. I do not remember exactly but I think he had on a gray of the traitor in his camp. He sent Captain Chickasaw of his staff to jacket underneath. He then sat down upon his coffin and the regi- Davis. He rapidly apj^roached the scaffold, jumped from his horse ^ent moved off to the suburbs of the town where the gallows was and went directK to Davis and asked if it would not he better for -him to speak the name of the one from whom he received the contents Upon reaching the gallows, he got out of the wagon and took his of the document found upon him, adding: "It is not"-too late vet." seat on a bench under a tree^ He asked Captain Armstrong how long .-Vnd^then in his last extremity. Davis turned upon him and said: he had to live. He replied, "Fifteen minutes." He then asked Cap- "If I had a thousand lives I would lose them'all here before 1 tain Armstrong the news. He told him of the battle of Missionary would betray my friends or the confidence of my informer. " Ridge, and that our army had been defeated. He expressed much He then requested him to thank Cjcneral Dodge for liis efforts regret, and said: to save him but to repeat that he could not accept the terms. Turning to the chaplain, he gave him a few keep-sakes to .send to his mother. 266 BATTLES AND SKETCHES AR5IT OF TENNESSEE. He then said to the Provost Marshal, "I am ready," ascended the scaf fold and stepped upon the trap. . ,, , Thus passed away one of the sublimest and noblest characters known in history, and in future ages will be pointed to as an act worthy AT SAM DAVIS- GRAVE. of emulation. , • t In a private letter with the sketch. Comrade Brown writes; 1 Murfreesboro, Tenn., Mav 24th. 1896 (Special to the Nashville Ameri can by E. D. Hancock, Attorney-at-Law). The patriotic outpouring this afternoon of Confederate veterans and their families to spread fragrant flowers over the grave of Samuel Davis was a touching tribute to one of the highest of human virtues and emphasized the fact that there lives an admiration m the Southern hearts for that exalted sentiment that '\-\ man s word should be his bond." Long before the train from Nashville brought the members of Cheatham Bivouas to the beautiful old ante-bellum home where voting Davis imbibed his high sense of honor, citizens from the neigh borhood—many of whom knew the daring young scout when a.strip V ling—and hundreds from Murfreesboro had gathered beneath the thick shade of the tall oaks that proudly stand sentinel over the boy hood playground of the hero, whose deed of bravery and fidelitv finds few counterparts in the world's yoluminous scroll of heroes. While awaiting for the arrival of the Nashville contingent, the Ameri can correspondent examined the spot where young Davis sleeps, and reflected upon the atmospliere in which he grew to young manhood, to discover if there were not forces at work u]ion his youthful mind to develope the character .so vividly and with such melancholy heroism, exhibited to the world on that fateful day at Pulaski. His paternal home is like many an old Southern house, a large two-storied frame building with broad verandas on the sides and a typ ical front porch with masive columns. To the west flows the blue waters of Stewart's creek.which a mile or so further down empties into Stone's river. The history of the village of old Jefferson is pregnant with events associated with the lives of men who afterwards at tained national prominence in war and affairs of state. No doubt young Davis, when a bov, heard the deeds and actions of those re counted at the village stores and then determined that life to him OKNEKAL DODGE, AVHO EXECUTED SAM DAVIS. should not move in the narrow circle of rural quietude and inaction. When a mere boy he was .sent to Nashville to be educated, but before wish to say further that General Dodge has been very kind and given he had turned his nineteenth year, he enlisted in Captain Dock Led- me.every assistance in getting the reports from the War Department better's company. First Tennessee regiment, and from that time to and he hopes they will build .a monument to him and place it in the his cruel death his history is too well known to need repetition here. Capitol Square at Nashville. I think it ought to be of bronze, repre Davis was not an uninformed, careless country boy, he was a youth senting Davis as a Confederate soldier. of ambition, intelligence, honor and unflinching integrity, kind and The twenty large and six small buttons that he had cut from his gentle as a woman, but brave as a lion when aroused. The formative coat for his mother have been preserved. period of his life, like tliat of the immortal bard who chased the Mr. Brown, who formerly lived in Nashville, is widely known. nimble deer in the forbidden forest of Warwickshire was nitched in Thousands will ever feel grateful to him for putting on record this vivid tribute to as noble a man as ever gave up his life for any cause. AT SA.M I)A^■1S (JUAVK. •jriO

a veritable wall of historical associations and was shaped and im pressed by a long line of events closely connected with extraor dinary personages. No wonder then, he faced deatii withont a tremor, when his honor must be sacrificed to let the current of life flow on. The spot where he is buried is some fifty yards tii the rear of the house and the grave is marked by a shaft of white mariilc about twelve feet high resting on a granite pedestal. It is inclosed witii an iron fence, and a lovely plat of blue grass brings the bright gleam of the marble and brown tinge of the iron inclosurc into bold relief. The shaft is plain and unostentatious in design and a casual observer in passing by would never dream that underneath its base was sleeping the immortal dust of the hero whose name future generations will use as a symbol for the grandest and noblest of human \ irtucs. A modest inscription briefly tells his name, age and reads as follows: In Memory of Samuel Davis, A Member of the First Tennessee Regiment of Volunteers, Born October 6th, 1842, Dieii Xqvember 2/th, 1863. Age 21 Years. 1 Month and 21 Days." "He laid dozen his life for his country. A truer soldier, a furer patriot, a braver man nezrr lizrd. zeho suffered death on the gibbet T. rather than betray his friends and his country." It seems a pretty place for his remains resting safe bcvond the reach of Federal cruelty under the smile of a Southern sun, almost at the doorstep of his boyhood home, where friends after a lapse of

r* over thirty years, with hundreds of comrades, seem to gather spon- < taneousl}' today and make amends for their long neglect. Soon after the train halted at Smyrna the crowd alighted and the members of the Cheatham Bivouac fell into line and to the rattling « clatter of kettle drum marched to the Davis homestcatl. a The ladies and citizens followed in carriages and as the soldiers leading the way with tremulous steps trudged up the blue grass hill— the lawn in front of the residence. The youths of today sa\v a remnant of the pride, pomp and circumstance of glorious war, and no doubt felt the peculiar tremor that rises with" the "ear-piercing fife and spirit-stirring drum." All assembled around the speaker's stand- chairs and benches having been plentifully supplied—but proving totally inadequate for the immense crowd that numbered at least a thousand and throbbed with Southern bcautv and gallantry. The exercises opened with prayer by the Rev. R. Lin Cave of Nashville. Miss Omaugh .-Xrmstrong sang a beautful song with the tenderest pathos of her enviable voice, and Rev. Dr. Barbee was then introduced by Sumner A. Cunningham, who suggested that memorial service, and whose untiring and intelligent efforts through his ex cellent magazine, the Confederate Veteran, have done much to brin

'O stars, that now his brothers are, ground of Andrew Jackson, Thomas Benton, Felix Grundy, General O sun, his sire, in truth and light. Coffee and the Buchanans. The mother of the last-named moulded Go tell the listening worlds afar the bullets for the protection of the old fort. Their instillations de Of him who died for truth and right; scended from sire to son. In this day the country teachers, under For martyrs of all martyrs he whose tutorage he was brought up, proved the faith that was taught Who died to save an enemy.' him. Captain Samuel Freeman, commanding a battery in Forrest's John Trotwood Moose." cavalry, killed in battle; Major Rufus McClain, a tried soldier, now a Captain B. L. Ridley of Murfreesboro followed in a feeling lawyer in Lebanon; Mr. George Bell, Mr. Alfred Sharpe, and Mr. strain. He was a playmate of Davis, and a schoolmate also. He said: John Lintner, who as a private soldier in the Twentieth Tennessee, "We are with you, our friends of Nashville as neighbors and boy and amongst us today, were as true to their colors as the needle to hood companions of Sam Davis, not to partake of a common grief, the pole—all in the struggle for which Sam Davis died. To add to but to join you in showing reverence over his course and to point to his literary pursuit, he became a student of the University of Nash him with pride as a Southern soldier who died the death of honor ville, from which Generals E. Kirby Smith and Bushrod Johnson after in the arms of glory. There may have been soldiers who would have wards became famous. done as he did, yet we know that under the most trying circumstances "The incident touching Sam Davis' death is so thrilling, that he sealed his faith with his blood and offered up his life on the altar while on a visit to St. Paul, Minn., last May, I told it to my poet friend, of duty rather than betray his friends and country. The respect that A. S. Morton, auditor of the Northern Pacific railroad. It affected we show his memory today is the outpouring of a sentiment that ac him so that he gave me a poem touching it. It was published in the tuates every Southern heart. The coming ages will place his char Veteran of last June and will tell of his martyrdom better than I acter forward as a typical Confederate soldier and as an American— it will enlist the admiration of the world. I knew him as a schoolmate, DAVIS WAS TOO BRAVE TO DIE. as a friend and neighbor, as a soldier, and as is written on his tomb stone, I emphasize the epitaph in which I performed a humble part "A fitful gleam of dying light. under the guidance of his father and brother,'A truer soldier, a purer The herald of a gloomy night patriot, a braver man never lived. He suffered death on the gibbet Illumed the thrilling scene— rather than betray his friends and country.' A silent group of men-at-arms, The Cheatham Bivouac of Nashville, through Mr. Cunningham, A guard inured to war's alarms, in inaugurating this step and in having the Palmer Bivouac of Mur A captive scout between. freesboro and Captain Ledbetter's company of the First Tennessee (of which Davis was originally a member), and also in inviting the "Your life I give," the leader said, old neighborhood to join in. with them, deserve the thanks of the South "For traitor's name, to honor dead. for this beautiful tribute to his memory. All of us in recollection of Who gave you this design?" what he did, cover his grave with sweet flowers and cherish in our A flush o'erspread the captive's cheek; hearts his noble death. He is sleeping on the old homestead grounds "My life is yours, your vengeance wreak. with mother and father and relatives, near the lovely Stewart's creek But honor still is mine. waters, into which he often plunged, and on which, with his neigh- bprs, he shot the wild duck and took from the waters trout an.d sun "A soldier I, this dress of gray perch. Its rolling current seems to slowly murmur a lullaby over his Proclaims the truth of that I say: grave and the ripples chime . in with a chanting requiem over his This life I hate to yield. blessed memory. The old woodlands, the scene of his happy hunting But you have asked too great a price; days, are near, and around us I see gray hairs on those who were his Dishonor ne'er was the device companions and friends. Emblazoned on my shield." "Our pride is dashed with sorrow over his tragic end, yet we lift our hats and sing our songs in praises to Heaven over the grandeur, "He chooses death, your orders, men," the glory, the sublimity attending it. In this old neighborhood he The captor grimly said, and then was baptized in the spirit of patriotism which made him bare his breast The fateful noose was brought. and nerve his arm against the invaders of his home. When Old Jef "Again I offer, soldier, free. ferson was once the county site of Rutherford, this was the stamping Your life if but you name to me The traitor you have bought." 2Y4 BATTtES AND SKETCHES ARMY OF TENNESSEE. "The loop of death was 'round his throat; The captive smiled, nor seemed to note The moments' fleeting speed. "I scorn to buy the life you take At price of faith," 'twas thus he spake, another hero whose honor ,WAS WITHOU T PRICE. "It were a coward's deed." Mrs. T. K. Brantly, formerly Miss Mary Swindle, of Little Rock, "With curling lips and flashing eye. Ark., was intimately acquainted uith the young hero martyr, David His knightly head uplifted high. O. Dodd and was escorted by him to an informal danang party on As tho' 'twould death defy. the evening preceding his capture. She also saw him being carried to He spoke the noblest words e'er penned— his execution, the cortege passing her father's house. At the request "Before these lips betray a friend, of Dr. S. S. Stewart, of Little Rock, she dictated the following sketcli. . I tell you I will die." "David O. Dodd, son of Andrew and Lydia Owen Dodd, was bom in Texas, but reared in Little Rock, Ark., and educated m St. "From flashing eye the tears now start— John's Masonic College in Little Rock. At the time of his execution Those tears for mother's broken heart. he was not yet eighteen years old and rather small for his age, but He tears his buttons loose: was an unusually handsome and manly, though extremely modest, "I pray you these my mother bear." little fellow. In September, 1863, the Federal troops, about thirty A moment spared for silent prayer. thousand strong, under General Steel, occupied Little Rock, all the He dangles at the noose. male citizens capable of serving in the army withorawing under Gen eral Fagah to the vicinity of Camden and leaving the city occupied "That fatal noose is glorified. (mly by the old men, women and children. Among the refugees were For thro' its port the deified. all the members of David O. Dodd's family, he and his father jmning Heroic soul did fly. General Fagan, his mother and sisters going farther South. David His proudest epitaph, the vain was sent back into Little Rock on some private business for his fam Remorse of him who judged the slain: ily and with instructions to find out what he could about the Yan "Too brave, too brave to die." kees, their location, etc., and remained here several weeks. Having possessed himself with information concerning the enemy's strength General George Maney was then called for and responded in w and movements, he started South again, and safely passed all the eloquent manner. Miss Omagh Armstrong then sang "In the Chris pickets, but was overtaken by a party of Federals, scouts perhaps, tian's Home in Glory" and "In the Sweet Bye-and-Bye. Dr. Win who searched him and found secreted on his person documents in chester of Nashville delivered the benediction and the crowd went to telegraphic code, maps of the fortifications, etc. He was imprisoned the grave, where great masses of flowers literally hid it from view. fiut was offered his liberty if he would disclose the name of the parties The floral designs were elaborate and beautiful and the reverent from whom he had received his messages. This he steadfastly refused spreading of them over the sacred spot was a fitting climax to the day's to do, declaring that he had assumed a man's duties and would abide event. tlie consequences. Every possible effort in his behalf was made by the citizens of Little Rock, but in vain, and on January 8, 1864, he was executed. He asked that he might be shot to death, but this request was refused, and he was hanged on one of the trees of the campus of St John's College, where he had gone to school. The execution took place in the presence of a full regiment of Federal soldiers,one of whom fainted dead away at the sight, and another, in speaking of it after wards to my father, wept and declared that he would have refused to be present had he known that a mere boy and not a man was to be hanged. The remains were taken with the rope still about his neck •ICS BATTLKS AND SKETCHES AKMY OF TENNESSEE.

Chorus Pull for tiie shore. Sailor, pull for the shore! Heed not the rolling wave, but bend to the oar. HOOD'S CAMPAIGN IN TENNPISSEE, Safe in the life boat. Sailor, cling to self no more, I.eave ^he poor old stranded wreck, and pull for the shore," Mrs. W. D. Gale daughter of General and Bishop Leonidas Polk These songs are living monuments to the memory of '61-6^ and and wife of Colonel W, D, Gale Asisistant Adjutant-Geneiral of to the Evangelist P, P, Bliss, who lost his life in the famous Ash- Stewart s Corps p>ermits mte to copy the following: tabula, Ohio, wreck in the '70s, Headquarters Stewart's Corps, near Tupolo, Jan, 14th, 1865, I wrote you a short account of our battles in Middle Tennessee and our flight from the State. I now give you some of the particu lars in detail. After three weeks' preparation at Florence, we finally crossed the Tennessee on the 20th of November and moved forward toward Mt. Pleasant, General Thomas at that time had his army at Pulaski, When we got to Mt, Pleasant he had fallen back to Colum bia. We got to Columbia on the 26th, and invested it. On the night of the 27th it was evacuated. On the 28th, this and Cheatham's corps began one of the finest moves of the war—in conception worthy of Stonewall Jackson, and in execution feeble and disgraceful—to cross Duck river above Columbia, and by a forced march over bad roads and through the woods and fields to strike the pike at Spring Hill, and cut Schofield off from Nashville or strike him in the flank. The move was made and all was a success up to the time of striking the enemy. We struck the pike at Spring Hill just as the retreating enemy were moving by, completely surprising them. But strange to say, we remained all night in sound of the voices of the men as they re treated in the greatest haste, and not a blow was struck, though or ders were sent by General Hood several times to attack at once. One time Governor Harris himself carried the order to General John B, Hood, General Lee was left in Columbia to cross and attack in the rear. He failed to come up also, and thus Tennessee was lost. General Stewart was ready and anxious to lead his corps to the attack, but was not ordered, as the other was in front. The next morning we pushed forward in pursuit of the flying column, the road strewn everywhere with the wreck of a flying army. Wagons, just set on fire and abandoned, were saved from destruction. When we got near Franklin we found the enemy in line across the road two miles from town. Preparations were made to turn the position by a flank movement, when the force fell back to their entrenchments near the town. Preparations were made at once to assault the town. Franklin is in a bend of the Harpeth, and the enemy's line was a circle, each wing resting upon the river. It was one of the strongest places in the world to defend. Our men went boldly up in the face of 20,000 muskets and at least 70 pieces of artillery, many of the bands 410 BATTI.es and sketches ABMY of TENNESSEE. HOOD .S CAMPAIGN IN TkNNES.SEE. 411 playing our favorite pieces. The enemy was easily driven from scattered and broken ranks I went with General Stewart to General the front line and sought safetv behind the inner line, where his Hood's headquarters. He had determined to renew the attack in artillery was. Our line moved forward and closed around the enemy the morning. The plan was that all our artillery—loo pieces—which —Loring on the right. P'rench next, then Walthall, then Cleburne, had been brought up, was to open on them at daylight, and at 9 then llrown. then Mate. Jolinston's division the only one of Lee's the whole army was to assault the works. You may well think it corps that was up—was held in reserve, and afterward w.t.<^ put m was a bitter prospect for our poor fellows. We rode up to a part of the enemy's line which was ^till held, to place Strahl's brigade in position, when I was struck by the stillness in the enemy's works, and asked the officer nearest me if the enemy had not gone. He said they had, as some of his men had been down and found no one there. Further examination convinced me of the fact, and I rode back to our camp fire, and just as day was dawning I dismounted, wet, weary, hungry and disheartened, telling General Stewart that Scho- field was gone. .-\ half hour's rest, not sleep, on the wet ground and I got up. drank a cup of coffee and went to my daily work I rode over the field early in the day. before the details which I had ordered, m had began to bury the dead. It was awful! The ditch at the en emy's line—on the righ.t and left of the pike—was literally f.lled with dead bodies, lying across each other, in all unseemly deformity of violent death. General Adams rode his horse upon the breast-works

CEN I.. .lOllN B. hood. and both horse and rider fell there. Cleburne was thirty yards in front of his division when he fell, shot through the heart. But I where Mate and Brown were. The fight was furious, and the carn am tired of the sickening details and you all must be. too. You can age awful beyond anything I ever saw. Our men were mowed down see our dreadful loss from published accounts. by what we called an enfila'le and rever.se fire, i. e. in the side and rear, I have now one more scene to paint, one more story to tell you, in addition to tliat in front. The enemy fought with great despera and I am done. I wish I had a pen to do justice to the subject, for in tion. Our men were llushed with hope, pride and ambition as they all the annals of the war, filled as it is with the great and noble deeds fought for Tennessee. They felt that the eyes of our men and women of great and noble men and women, none c.xceed and few equal in true all over our countrv. as well as Tennessee, Were upon them, and the merit, the noble sympathy of Mrs. John McGavock (Miss Winder). Yankee .Army which they had followed so long was before them. When day dawned we found ourselves near her house—in h.er lawn Wave. Munich 1 all thy banners wave, —which was in the rear of our line. The house is one of the large old fashioned country houses of the better class in Tennessee, two .■\nd charge with all thy chivalry! stories high, with many rooms and every arrangement for comfort. The chivalrv of the South did charge as bravely as they charged This was taken as a hospital, and the wounded in hundreds were .'\gincourt or Cressv. and Marathon and Thermopylae were not more brought to it during the battle, and all the night after. Every room gt^andlv fought than Franklin. Charge after charge was made. As was filled, every bed had two poor bleeding fellows, every spare space fast as one division was shattered aifd recoiled, another bravely went niche and corner under the stairs, in the hall, everywhere—^but one forward into the very jaws of death, and came back broken arid room for her own family. And when the noble old house could bloodv. again rallying' quickly with their heroic officers, and again hold no more, the yard was appropriated until the wounded and dead went forward to do what seemed impossible—or die. Such men as filled that, and all were not yet provided for. Our doctors were de Coring. Walthall. .\dams, Cockrill. Gates. Featherstone, Shelby, Rey ficient in bandages, and she began by giving her old linen, then her nolds. Cleburne. Strahl. Gist, and others, should live in prose and towels and napkins, then her sheets anrl table cloths, then her hus poetrv as long as the story of the war is written or read. No pen band's shirts and her own und-er-garments. During all this time the can (io iustice to the gallantrv of the men. Walthall had two horses surgeons plied their dreadful work amid the sighs and moans and shot dead under him." The field was covered with the wounded and death-rattle. Yet amid it all. this noble woman, the very impersona the dead. The enemy's line had been crossed in one or two places, tion of Divine sympathy and tender pity, was activf and constantly but no man who went over was ever known to return. Many hundreds at work. During all the night neither she nor any one of her house lay all night in the ditch separated from the enemy by the thickness hold slept, but dispensed tea and coffee and such stimulants as she of the embankment. * * * While the officers were collecting the 41-2 nATTr.KS AND SKKTCIIKS AI!MY OF TENXESSKE. hOODVS CAMI'AIGX IX ¥ENXE,SS?:fi. m

liaci, and that too. with her own hand.'^. UnafFrightcd by the sight of view along the high ridge just back of Mr. Lawrence's and in front blood, iinawcd by iiorrid wounds, unblanched by ghastlv death she of Mr, Acklin's. walked- from room to room, from man to man, here very skirts stained There was a force under Rousseau holding Murfresshcro which in blood, the incarnation of pity and mercy. Is it strange that all General Hood was anxious to capture. He detached- the most of who were there praise her and call her blessed? About nine in the Forrest's cavalry and Bate's division to that work, but they failed. morning she sent for us—General and Staff—and gave us a nice, Bate was then ordered back, leaving Forrest, Here we remained warm breakfast, and a warntcr welcome. The brother of one of my watching each other and- intrenched as hard as we could until the clerks (McReady) was very badly wounded, and then in her house. fnorning of the 15th of December, On that morning about 9 o'clock T bespoke her kind attention, which she gave till he died. it was reported to me that the enemy were advancing iii lieavv force Many years ago I was in the same house and in the same room, on the Hillslwro Pike and in front of General Loring. Generals on a visit. f)n one side of the fire sat the father of Mrs. Mc- French and Walthall had their troops in bivouac along the east side Gavock, then an old man. Tie seemed particularly glad to see me, of the Hillsboro Pike read-y to move. I informed General Stewart, an,d told me he was a soldier in the war of 1812, and was at the battle who mounted and rode to that point, leaving me to keep my office of New Grleans. When on his way back the troo])s m.aiched bv open and send dispatches, I had a signal station and sent dispatches the ])lantatinn of my grandfather Green, helow Natchez, and his regi to Generals Hood, Lee and Cheatham, and received others. In a ment was entertained by him and furnished with milk in great quan short time the firing began and grew heavier as the enemy advanced. tities. He sixike of the gratitude of the men. There were beeves It was soon perceived that his main attack would be here, as his killed also, and a great treat giveii them. Is it not strange that after whole army appeared, to be .in our, front. , AG;* ,jT^ fifty years a descendant of that generous man should receive hospi stormed and took redoubt 5, Our forces bang entirely too small to tality on a bloody field of battle from a descendant of the tired and keep them back. The re-inforcements sent to us did not arrive in hungry soldier? time, Walthall's troops stationed along the pike in front of these works, were then driven in and the ene;ny were in the rear of General Not a drum wr s lieard. not a f--neral note. Loring, which, of course, compelled him to fall back, as did the whole .•\s his corpse to th.e ramparts we hurried: of our line, until dark. I remained in my office until the Yankees Not a soldier fired a farewell shot advanced to within three hundred- yards. I then mounted and made O'er the graves of the heroes we buried. my escape through the back yard, with my clerks, and jo'ned Gen The generals were ircried at .\shwood cemeter\-. eral Stewart in front of Mr. Planter's, where General Sears lost his life very near me. * * * As our men fell back before the advanc CONKEDEItATE I)I.SA.

I most heroic example and self sacrifice," and what was true of the o officers was true of the men. o General Cox's 'report, made directly after the battle al.so says; "On reaching the osage hedge in front of Stile's left, they first en deavored to force their way through it. The tough an 1 thorny shrub foiled them, and they attempted to file around the hedge by 4 flank and under terrible withering fire from Stile's and Casement's brigades and the batteries on the flank. 3 In front of Stile's right and Casement's left, the obstructions being fewer, the enemy advanced rapidly and in fine order up to the breast-works and made desperate efforts to carry them. Their officers showed the most heroic e.xample and self sacrifice, riding up ■ GE>}ERAt Stewart's TRiBtfrE 1*0 GE3^fiRAL John aHams 4iV to our lines in advance of their men, cheering them on. One gen eral officer (Adams) was shot down upon the parapet itself, his horse falling dead across the breast-works." General Adams' tragic death at Franklin is described in the interesting letters of two Federal officers, written some years ago. fie survived only a few minutes, his horse being killed instantly

V-

CAPT. THOMAS GIBSON, A. A. G. ON STAtF OFBRIG.-GEN'L. JOHN ADAMS, ARMY OF TENNESSEE. while astride the works, making it one of the most strildng pictures of heroism ever seen. The brigade entered the fight about 4 o'clock from nie rear and east of Colonel McGarock's house. General Adams was self-possessed, vigilantly watching and directing the movements of ^ about ten paces in front of his line of battle, and thus led his troops for about half a mile. Captain Thomas Gibson, his cousin and a member of his staff, who was with him, says that he was calm and self-possessed, vigilantly directing and watching the movements of of his men. When about fifty yards from the enemy's works he rode rapidly from near the right of his brigade to near the left, then directed his course toward the enemy, and fell on their works pierced with nine bullets. He was wounded severely in his right Mm near the shoulder early in the fight, anfd was urged to leave the field, but said: "No; I am going to see nay men through. TTie brigade suffered terribly, having over four hundred and fifty lolled and wounded, many field and line officers being of the num ber. After Adams' death General Robert Lowry commanded the brigade—afterward governor of Mississippi. L.ieutenant-Colonel Edward Adams Baker, of the Sixty-fifth Indiana infantry, in the great battle of Franklin, Tenn«see had an experience with General John Adams, of the Confederate Army, which induced him, years after the war, to publish a desire 418 lUTTI.KS AKD SKKTCllKS AUMY Ot' TENN'KSSKK. General Stewart's tribute to general John adamS 410

for knowledge of his family. Having secured the address of Mrs. a single instance of such desperate and undaunted valor can be pro Adams in St. Louis, he wrote from Webb City, Missouri, October duced. 25th, 1891: In one of these charges, more desperate than any that fol Mrs.. General Adams, St. Louis. Dear Madam: I am in receipt of your very kind letter of the lowed, General Adams rode up to our wq/rks and cheering hSs men, made an attempt to leap his horse over them. The horse fell 21 St instant, and hasten to reply. * * * j have often since the great battle of Franklin asked myself the question, who was General dead upon the top of the embankment and the General was caught

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THE CARTER HOUSE, BATTLE OF FRANKLIN.

TIIK KAMUL'S OIN IIOL'SK IX FliAXKI.IN. under him, pierced with bullets. As soon as the charge was re pulsed our men sprang upon the works and lifted the horse, while Adams? Has he a wife and children? And if so, how much would others dragged the General from under him. He was perfectly they give to know just how he died and all the facts as I know conscious, and knew his fate. He asked for water, as all dying men them ? * * * do in battle, as the life blood drips from the body. One of my The battle of Franklin was one of the most desperate contests men gave him a canteen of water, while another brought an arm of the war. I was in comman;!' of the skirmish line of Cox's divi load of cotton from an old gin near by and made him a pillow. sion. General Adams' and General Brown's brigades, of the Con The General gallantly thanked them, and, in answer to our expres federate Army, were massed in front of our division. We had dur sions of sorrow at his sad fate, he said: "It is the fate of a soldier ing the forenoon thrown up breast-works of earth, some ten feet to die for his country," and expired. thick and five feet high, behind which our men stood protected; while the enemy came up in an open field and charged upon us. Robert Baker, one of my men, took the saddle from the dead They had no protection, and were mowed down like grass before horse and threw it in General Casement's ambulance, who e.xpressed the scythe. This will explain to you how desperate was the under it to his home in Ohio. Some three years ago I received a letter taking to dislodge our army from behind this impenetrable breast from General Casement, in which he wrote me that he had the sad work and the sublime heroism of the men who undertook the peril dle labeled and carefully laid away as a trophy of war. I write a ous task and almost succeeded. letter to-day to the General, asking him to send the saddle to me, The Confederates canie on with bayonets fixed and moving that I may forward it to you. at a steady walk. My skirmishers, who were stationed some hun- I am also glad to know that -you recovered the General's watch, dired yards in front of our breast-works, were brushed out of the chain and ring, and will say that if your sons—who, you inform way and rapidly fell back to the main line. By this time the me, are connected with the Missouri Pacific Railway—should have enemy was within a few paces and received a terrific volley from our business on this branch of the road, I would be glad to have them guns. They fell by thousands, and their decimated ranks tell back call at my office. Mr. Wilder, the agent here, knows me, and would to reform and come again. In this way nine separate and distinct no doubt bring them. I hope that my imperfect description may be charges were made, each time men falling in every direction and of some interest to you. each time being repulsed. I doubt that if in the history of the world CEXEKAI. STKAIIE COMMANDED GENERAL STEWAKT's RRIGADE. 421 4-20 BATTt.KS AND SKKTCltKS AKJIY Ot TEXXKSSKH.

GENERAL O. F. STRAIIL COMNIAXDED GENERAL STEWART'S OLD BRIGADE. r.EXEKAI. CASEMENT WHITES TO MI!S. CEXEUAI. ADAMS. (By S. A. Cunningham. Editor Confederate Veteran.) Painesville, O., Xovember 23, 1891. Mrs. Georfiia McD. .Xdatiis. Otho French Strahl, a native of Ohio, had removed to the Sotith Dear Madam: Major Baker, of Webb City, Mo., informs me and was practicing law at Dyersburg, Tenn., when the war of '6i-'65 that vou have exprc.<;.-5ed a desire to obtain the saddle used by Gen eral .-\dams at Braiiklin. Tennessee, in bis last and fatal ride on the unhappv day that caused so many hearts to bleed on both sides cf the line. It was my fortune to stand in our line within a foot of where the General succeeded in sjettinp: his horse's forelegs over the line. The poor beast died there, and was in that position when we returned over the .same field more than a month after the battle. The .saddle was taken oft the horse and presented to me mm before the charge was fairly repidsed; that is why I have kept it all m these years. It is the only troiihy I have of the great war, and I am onlv too happy to return it to you. It ha.s never been used since the General used it. It has hung in our attic. The stirrups were m of wood, and I fear that my boys in their pony days niust have taken them, for I cannot find them. 1 am very sorry for it. General Adams fell from his horse from the position in which Mm the horse died, just over the line of the works, which were part breast-works and" part ditch.. .\s soon as the charge was repulsed I had him brought <>11 our side of the works, and did what we could to make him comfortable, lie was perfectly calm and uncomplain- intr He begged me to send him to the Confederate line, assuring me that the'men that wouhl lake him there would return safe. I told him that we were going to tall hack as soon it safelv. and that he would soon he in pos.session of his, friends. It was "a busv time with me. (.Xir line was broken from near its COL. S. A. CCNNINOIIAM, center up to where I stoo.l in it. and in restoring it and repulsing KDITOK CONFEDKKATK VETEKAX. other charges 1 w.-.s too busv to again see the t.eneral until after began. He enlisted promptly in the Confederate .Army, was soon his gallant life htnl p-assed away. T ha.l his ring and watch taken promoted to the command of his regiment, the Fourth Tennessee care of ; his pistol I gave to one of the Colonels of my brigade, and infantry, and then to Brigadier-General, holding that position when do not know wlitit bectime of it. killed at Franklin, Nov. 30, 1864. • , r .• General Strahl was a model character, and it was saia of him These are brieilv the facts connected with the death of General that in all the war he was never known to use language unsuited to Adams. The' ring and watch were .sent to you through a flag of the presence of ladies...... truce and a receipt taken for them. The editor of the Veteran was a boy soldier in his brigade The saddle will lie expressed to you to-morrow. Would that Fortv-first Tennessee—and was so thrilled with his noble record I had the power to return the gallant rider! There was not a man on that last eventful day and night, when his gallant commander in mv command that witnessed the gallant ride that did "ot ex eave his life for the Confederate cause, that he went on the sacred press'his admiration of the rider and wish that he might have lived pilgrimage, a few years ago, to a Kansas ranch to see a sister, Mrs. long to wear the honors that he so gallantly won. Wishing you and Sigler, and tell her of his last hours. his children much happiness, I am yours truly, There he procured the photograph herin engraved, and he saw J- S. Casemext. a. memorandum and letters from the General's trunk. Mr. Sigler, 4-Ji2 IlATTl.ES AND SKETf'lIES AHMV OK TENNESSKE. GENEItAI, STRAirr. COMMAXDED GENERAL STEWARt's BRIGADE. 423

riltlioiitjh a Xortliwcstcrner. nianifcsU-d unicli inlcrest. and witli James Church, Bolivar, to his dear memory and that of his inspec pride produced the (.lencrars beaiitifid i.Tray uniftinii coat, with its tor, John Alarsh. I need not say how sacred these memories are. collar decorated in wreathed stars. The editor of the \ eteran read the above with moistened eves. In reply t(j a reintirk of surjirise th;n ( lenerti! .Str.ahl should have It is a coincidence like special providence that these two faces, Strahl heeii so ze.'dous to his death for the t onfed.erticy. his sister said that and Marsh, were indelibly impressed upon him in that awful charge hoth of his [jrandinothers were .Southern women. at Franklin—his position being right guide to the brigade, he was The correspondence and further eom;r.ent will he retid with in terest. esjiecially by all who were familiar with the a.wful carnage at rranklin. llishi i]) Chas. Todrl Quintard, who was t'haplain to the First Tennessee inftintry, and has ever been zcakvus in behalf of .South ern people, writes: I am glad to know that you htive a photograph of General .Strahl, and pietnres of the ccjtton gin and' the Ctirter House. I have a table made from the wood of the cotton gin. The d:iy on which the htiltlc of.Frtmklin was fought General Strahl iirescnted me a beautiful mare, named f-ady Polk. His in spector. f.ientenant John Marsh, as he bade me adieu, tlirew his arms about me and gave me ;i ftirewell kiss. .My intercourse with these two nien w.'is of a nuxst sacred chtiraeter. .Marsh Iiad been fearfully wouiuled at the btntle of (..■hicktimanga. 1 had watched i.iver him on the liekl and in the hos])iial. On the 22nd of February I had bainized him in Gilmer Hospital near Marietta; and he was confirmed by Bishop Flliott. of (ieorgia. on the day following. To hoth I had broken that bread which came down from heaven. John -Marsh w;is knit to me by the tendcrest ties of friendship There was in him what Shaftesbury ctills the "most natund heautv in the world." Honesty and moral truth—honesty that was firm and up right. "He would not Hatter Xcptune for his trirlent, or Jove for his power to thunder." General .'^trahl T baptired on the 20th of .April, and I pTesented (JEN L. OTHO F. STRAHL. him for confirmation to the Right Rev. .Stephen billiott. The fol near Strahl in the fatal advance; and was pained at the extreme lowing is from the report of I.hshop Flliott. to his convention in sadness in Strahl's face. He was surprised, too, that his General 1864: went in the battle on foot. Lieutenant Marsh, who formerly be On W'ednesdtiy. .April 20th. services were held in the Methodist longed to the artillery, and with a stiff arm from the battle of Church. Dalton. upon which occasion service was read by Dr. Quin Chickamau,ga—he always wore an artillery jacket—was on his white tard. and baptism administered to General Istrahl. off Tennessee. h.orse in advance of the line of battle up to within about three hundred .After service a class was presented by l.)r. Quintard. anujug whom vards of the breast-works. There wa.s i:i his face an indescribable were four Generals of the .Army itf the Confederate .States These expression—while animated and ratlier ])'.ayful. th.ere was mingled in officers were 1 .ieuien.'mt-(.Iener;il Mardee, 1 Irigtulier-Generals Strahl, its heroic action evi'd'enee that he fell he w:is on the brink of eternity. Shoup and Govan. But he wavered not and rode on and on luitil rider and horse lay- The Bishop ach/s: The day of .FtraliFs death w;is to me a most dead before us. terribly mangled with . bullets. How strange that pathetic one. He evidently felt that the api)ro;iching battle was to these reminiscences come to the writer to be recorded for the entire be his last—with many tender words he bade me farewell I kept Southland so manv vears after th.e event! the mare he gmve me through the war. .Afterwards I sold her and with the proceeds of the sale I erected a memorial window in St. An acount of personal experience in the battje of Frankliii GENERAL STRAHL COMMANDED GENERAL STEWART'S BRIGADE. 425 424 BATTLES AND SKETCHES ARMY OF TENNESSEE. had position on my right, and assisted in the firing. The battle went the rounds of the Southern press a few )'ears ago, in which lasted until not an efficient man was left between us and the Colum the following occurred: bia Pike, some fifty yards to our right, and hardly any behind us I was near General Strahl, who stood in the ditch and handed to hand up guns. Indeed but few of us were then left alive. It seemed .up guns to those posted to fire them. I had passed to him my short as if we had no choice but to surrender or try to get away; and when Enfield (noted in the regiment) about the sixth time. The man I asked General Strahl for counsel, he simply answered, "Keep fir who had been firing, cocked it and was taking deliberate aim, when ing." But just as the man to my right was shot, and fell against me with terrible groans, he, too, was shot. He threw up his hands, falling on his face, and I thought him dead, but in asking the dy ing man, who still lay against my shoulders as he sank forever, how he was wounded, the General, who had not been killed, thinking m) question was to him, raised up saying that he was shot in the ne^, and called for Colonel Stafford to turn over his command. He crawled over the dead, the ditch being three deep, about twenty feet to where Colonel Stafford was. Staff officers arid others started to carry him to the rear, but he received another shot, and directly the third, which killed him instantly. Colonel Stafford was dead in the pile, as the morning light disclosed, with his feet wedged^ in at the bottom, other dead across and under him after he fell, leaving his body half standing as if ready to give command to the dead! By that time but a handful of us were left on that part of the line, and as I was sure that our condition was not known, I ran to the rear to report to General John C. Brown, commanding the division. I met Major Hampton of his staff, who told me that Gen eral Brown was wounded, and that General Strahl was in command. This assured me that those in command did not know the real sit uation, so I went on the hunt for General Cheatham. Ah, the loyalty of faithful comrades in such a struggle! These personal recollections are all that I can give, as the greater part of the battle was fought after nightfall, and once in the midst of it, with but the light of the flashing guns, I could only see what passed directely under my sight. True, the moon was shining; but thetdense smoke and dust so filled the air as to weaken its bene fits,*^ like a heavy fog before the rising sun, only there was no promise of the fog disappearing. Our spirits were, crushed. It was indeed mm the Valley of Heath,

BISHOP CHAS. T. QUINTAUD. he was shot and tumbled down dead into the ditch upon those Idlled before him. When the men so exposed were shot down ,their places were supplied by volunteers until these were exhausted, and it was necessary for General Strahl to call for others. He turned to me, and though I was several feet back from the ditch I rose up im mediately .and walking over the wounded and dead, took Po^tion with one foot upon the pile of bodies of my dead fellows, and the other upon the embankment, and fired guns which the General him self handed up to me until he, too, was shot down.. One other man BATTLES OF ERANKLIX AND NASHVILLE.

swept by a terrible and destructive cross-fire of artillery from the works and from the opposite bank of the narrow stream—the Har- BATTLES OP FRANKLIN AND NASHVILLE. peth. The men, however, pressed forward again and again with dauntless courage, to the ditch around the inner line of the work; Reports of Lieutenant General Alexander P. Stewart, C. S. Army, which they failed to carry, but wher^ many of them remained, sep commanding Army corps, of operations November 29, 1864 to Janu arated from the enemy only by the parapet until the Federal Army ary 20, 1865. withdrew. Headquarters Stewart's Corps, Army of Tenn., A return of casualties has heretofore been made, the number Near Tupelo, Miss., Jan. 20, 1865. reported amounting to something over 2,000 in killed, wounded, Sir: The following brief outlines of the operations of this and missing. Among them were many of our best officers and corps from November 29, 1864, to the close of the campaign is re bravest men. Brigadier-General John Adams was killed, his horse spectfully submitted. It is necessarily an imperfect report, being being found across the inner line of the enemy's works. Brigadier- made at the request of the commanding general, without the aid of General Scott was paralyzed by the explosion near him of a shell. the report of subordinate commanders. Brigadfer-Generals 'Quarles and Cockrell were woulnded severely, On Tuesday, November 29, following Cheatham's corps, we the former subsequently, becoming a prisoner. Major Geneial Walt- crossed Duck river near Columbia and arrived near sunset at Ruther hall had two horses killed and was himself severely bruised. Many ford creek. Crossing it I moved to the right of Cheatham's corps, field and staff and company officers were either killed or severely then in line near the pike from Columbia to Franklin, and about 11 wounded; they deserve special mention; but not yet having received' p. m. bivouacked in rear of his right. reports from divisions, brigades, and regiments, it is not in my The next morning (30th) we moved at daylight, taking the power to give all their names or to do justice to their heroic conduct. advance in pursuit of the retreating enemy. About middaj' we came On FricJay, December 2, we moved to the vicinity of Nashville, in sight of his line forme'di on a commanding ridge some two miles finally taking a position on the left of the army extending across the from Franklin. ■, In compliance with the instructions of the com Granny White (or middle Franklin) pike to a hill near the Hills- manding general. I moved to the right toward Harpcth river and borough pike. "This line was entrenched, was just a mile 'n length, formed to attack the enemy who fell back to an entrenched line around and occupied by Loring's division alone. To protect our left flank, the town. Loring's division was to the right, Walthall's in the center, works were conmmenced on four other hills lying along near to and French's on the left. Ector's brigade, of the last named division, on either side of the Hillsborough pike ,the one fartherest in rear marched from Florence as guard to the pontoon train and had not being some mile and a half distant from the left of the front line. rejoined. Buford's 'division of cavalry covered the space between This latter line, to the left of the Hillsborough pike, was prolonged Loring's right and the river, while another was thrown across to toward Cumberland river by the cavalry, though toward the last the other bank. In the meantime Cheatham's corps was formed for of our stay there Ector's brigade, under Colonel Coleman, was placed attack, and the two corps were to move forward simultaneously. I on picket on the Harding pike, having Chalmer's cavalry on his right had one battery only, the pieces of which were distributed to the and left. three divisions. About 4 p. m. a staff officer from the command On the morning of December 15th information was received ing general brought me the order to advance, and the word forward that the enemy was advancing west of the Hillsboro pike. Gen was rgiven. A body of the enemy's cavalry in front of Loring and eral Walthall, whose troops were in bivouac, excepting the working the division on his right was soon routed, and the cavalry division parties eng'aged on the flank redoubts, was directed to place his men (Buford's) ceased to operate with us. The line moved forward under arms and man the redoubts. General French having received in fine order, the men in high spirits drove the enemy from his outer leave of absence, his division which was small, was attached to line and fiercely assailed the second. The ground over which Lor General Walthall's. Finding the enemy were advancing in force, ing's division advanced was obstructed by a deep railroad cut and an andl that Ector's brigade and the cavalry were forced to retire, all, abatis and hedge of osage orange. With these exceptions the space of Walthall's command not required for the redoubts was placed in front of tho enemy's position on our side wag perfectly open and behind the stone fence along the Hillsborough pike between redoubt numbered 3 and 4 on the accompanying map. "This map exhibits the position of Loring's division in the front line of the five hills crowned with unfinished works, and of Walthall's command, including his own and French's divisions. Each redoubt contained a section or. battery , of artillery, gnd from 100 to 150 infantry. Th? enemy appeared bATTLES OF FRANkLIN AND NASHVlj.tk. 428 BATTLES AND SKETCHES ABMT OF TENNESSEE. 429 in force along the entire line extending around redoubts i, 2, and 3, artillery in them, besides killing and wounding many, and were mak and as far as or beyond 4 and 5. My own line was stretched to its ing for the pike. The two brigades named, making but feeble re utmost tension, but could not reach far enough toward 4 and 5 with sistance, fled, and the enemy crossed the pike, passing Walthall's out leaving the way open to the enemy between Loring's left and left. Loring's line being not yet passed, a battery had beei- ordered Walthall's right. The commanding general who was notified as from it, which, arriving just at this moment, was placed on a com soon as practicable of the approach of the enemy, seet me as re-en- manding hill, and these same brigades' rallied to its support. They

7a

THE OTERTON HG^rE, HEADQUARTERS OF GENER AL J. B. HOOD, UNTIL THE OPENING OF THE BATTLE OF NASHVILLE. again fled, however, on the approach of the enemy abandoning the battery which was captured. By this time the other brigades of Johnson's division had come upi but were unable to check the pro gress of the enemy who had passed the Hillsborough Pike a full half mile, completely turning our flank and gaining the rear of both Walthall and Loring, whose situation was becoming perilous in the extreme. Their positions were maintained to the last possible mo MKS. .TOHN MCGAVOCK. ment, in the hope that the expected succor would arrive and restore the flight on the left. Deeming it absolutely necessary for them, to forcements, first, Manigaulfs and soon after Deas' brigades of fall back, orders were dispatched to that effect, when it was found Johnson's division. Lee's corps, and later the two remaining brigades that Walthall had already ordered his. line to retire not a moment of that division, and I was informed that one or more divisions too soon, and this of itself made it necessary for Loring to with from Cheatham's corps (the extreme right) had been ordered to the draw. The latter was directed also to form along the Granny White left. As the object of the enemy seemed to be to turn our left tianK Pike (which would place him nearly at right angles to his former by carrving the redoubts 4 and 5, Manigaulfs brigadle 011 coming position) to check the anticipated rush of the enemy from his and up was moved in line about parallel to the Hillsborough Pike and Walthall's fronts. This was gallantly and successfully done by this opposite redoubt 4- Major General Johnson arriving soon after- fine division, the corps retiring to a position between Granny White wards was directed to place Deas' brigade on Manigaiilt s right, so and Franklin pikes when night put an end to the conflict. as to connect with Walthall's line. By this time the enemy had car Brigadier-General Sears late in the day lost a leg, and subse- ried redoubts 4 and 5 and had captured many of the men and all the 430 SATTLKS AN'D SKEfCitES AiWlV of TENNESSEI-;. battles of fRANELlN* AiJd N'aShVILLE. 431 queiitly fell into the enemy's hands. All the artillery in the redoubts, of which were killed or wounded, were captured by the enemy. the battery above mentioned and another on Loring's line, the horses In the meantime one or two divisions from Cheatharn's corps had come up on the left where the commanding general was in per son, but being separated from that part of the field I am unable to state what occurred. Also Ector's brigade, commanded by Colonel Coleman, in falling back from its position on the Harding Tike, was thrown over on the left and beyond' my personal observation. The report of Colonel Coleman is, therefore, referred to for account of r' its operations, which I have been told were characterized by the usual intrepidity of this small but firm and reliable body of men. During the night of the iSth, the army was placed in position to receive the attack expected at. an early hour next morning. The map shows the position of this corps, it being in the center. Lee's corps on the right, Cheatham's on the left, extending from the hill occupied by Bate's division, Cheatham's, corps, along the range of hills on the west side of the Granny White pike. The line of this corps extended from the side .of the hill occupied by Bate across the pike, along a stone fence on the east side of the pike. In rear of the I-} line and some half mile or more distant a high ridge lies in a .gen (ft::-:. eral east and west direction, through the gaps of which run the Franklin, Granny White, and other pikes. It was the order of the commanding general that in case of disaster Lee's corps should hold the Franklin pike, this corps retiring by that pike and taking up posi Id tion at or beyond Brentwood, so as to permit Lee to withdraw, while 2E Cheatham was to move out on the Granny White pike. Instructions accordingly were given to subordinate commanders. At an early hour in the morning the enemy approached, placing artillery in position and opening a heavy fire, which continued almost incessantly through the day. They confronted us everywhere with a force double or treble our own. Occasional attacks were made on vari ous parts of our lines and repulsed, through their chief efforts seemed to be directed against our flanks for the purpose of gaining the roads in our rear. Every attack made on the lines occupied by this corps n to the last was repulsed with severe loss to the enemy. In the course of the morning, the commanding general calling on me for a brigade to go to the right flank, Ector's, being in reserve m was dispatched. It was finally sent to the hills in our rear and on the east side of the Granny White pike to drive back the enemy who had passed our left, crossed to the east side of the pike, and held this portion of the ridge. .Later in the day Reynold's (Arkansas) brigade was withdrawn from Walthall's line and sent to the assist ance of Ector's. They were strong enough to check the enemy, but not sufficiently so to drive him back and regain the pass by which this pike crosses the ridge, so that retreat was cut off in that ; direction and greatly endangered even by the Franklin pike, the only • route now left open for the entire army. At one time the enemy m gained the spurs on the west side of the Granny White pike and occupied by Cheatham's men, some of whom, falling back, formed BATTLES of FRANKLIX AXD naShvilLE. 43S BATTLES AXb SKETCllES ARMY Of TEXXEsSeE. sourians, French's division, was ordered by the commancKng general parallel to Bate's line, on the south side of the hill occupied by his to the mouth of Duck river. It rejoined at Brainbridge where w,e division, but a few hundred yards from his line and fronting in the re-crossed the Tennessee river. opposite direction. Accompanying this report are maps of the fields of Franklin The situation then, briefly, was this: The left flank completely and Nashville, as accurate as it is possible to make theni. turned, the enemy crossing to the east side of the Granny White pike I deem it proper to say that after the fall of Atlajita the con in our rear, and holding the ridge on that side and the pass through dition of the army and other considerations rendered it necessary, which this road runs. The ridge was high and steep and extended in my judgment, that an. offensive campaign should be matfe in the beyond the Franklin pike to the east, and was but a short distance enemy's rear and on his line of communications. It is not my. pur in rear of our line. It seemed -as though in case of disaster escape pose, nor does it pertain to me, to explain the reasons which prompted was impossible. There was no reserve force that could be brought the campaign, but simply to express my concurrence in the views up to restore any break that might occur. which determined the operations of the army. About two or three o'clock in the afternoon, the command I am. Colonel, very respectfully, your obedient servant, ing general sent for me, and while in conversation with him an officer - Alex. P. Stewart, of his staff announced that the line had given way. Not being pres Lieutenant-General. ent at the moment this took place, at least where I could witness Col. a. p. Mason, it and not yet being in possession of the official reports of subordin Assistant Adjutant-General. ate commanders, I do not deem it proper to decide where the line first yielded. It would seem, however, that when once broken it Headquarters Army of Tennessee, very soon gave way everywhere, and the whole army made for the Near Smithfield Depot, N. C., April 3, 1865- Franklin pike. In accordance with the orders of the commanding Sir: In my report of the operations of my corps during general before alluddd to, I had dispatched Major Foster of the (;a.ixipaign made by General Hood in Tennessee, I omitted the de engineers, to find a suitable position beyond Brentwood for holding tails of what transpired near Spring Hill during the afternoon this road. and night of the 29th of November, 1864. I respectfully submit the On reaching Brentwood, however, about dark I received orders following statement and ask that it be filed as a part of iny report. to move on to Franklin, and the next morning to move toward Spring On the morning of November 29th General Hood moved with Hill and Columbia. Arriving at the latter place on the morning of Cheatham's corps, and mine and Johnson's division of Lee s corps, the 18th, this corps took position on the north bank of Duck river, (the latter reported to me) Cheatham's corps in advance. We made a forced march to get in rear of the enemy. In the course of the covering' the passage of the entire army, and crossing about day afternoon about 3 o'clock, I reached Rutherford's creek as Cheatham's light of the 20th; so the following week at Tennessee river. Bain- rear division was crossing. I received orders to halt and form on bridge, this corps covered the operations, and was the last^ to cross, the south side of the creek, my right to rest on or near the creek which it did on the moi-ning of December 28th. At Columbia, a so as to move down the creek if necessary. Subsequently I received rear guard composed of several brigades from this and other corps an order to send a division across the creek, and finally, between sun W3S organized and placed under the comniand of Major General set and dark, an order was received to cross the creek, leaving a di Walthall. This force, in connection with the cavalry, covered the vision on the south side. Johnson's division being in rear, was desig retreat from Columbia to Tennessee river. nated to remain. Riding in advance of the column, about dusk, I It is due to the officers and men of this corps that I should found General Hood some half mile from the creek and about as bear testimony of their patient endurance of fatigue and privation, far west of the road on which we were marching and which led their cheerfulness and alacrity in obeying orders, and above all, their to Spring Hill. The commanding general gave me a young man of heroic valor as displayed on many occasions since I have had the the neighborhood as a guide and told me to move on and place my honor to command them, but pre-eminently at Franklin. right across the pike beyond Spring Hill, your left,' lie added, My thanks are due to Major Generals Coring, Watthall, and "extending down this way." This would have placed my line in rear French for their cordial co-operation and skillful management of of Cheatham's, except that my right would have extended beyond his. their respective divisions and to the several members of my staff The guide informed me that at a certain point the road made a sudden who have uniformly shown themselves competent, faithful, and zeai- turn to the left, going into Spring Hill; that from this bend there ous in the discharge of their duties. used to be a road leading across the pike meeting it at the toll-gate I have omitted to state in its proper place that a short time after some mile and a half beyond Spring Hill, toward Franklin. I told our advance to the vicinity of Nashville, Cockrill's brigade of Mis- 434 BATTLKS AND SKKTCUKS AUJIY OF TENK'KSSKH. BATTLES OF FRANKLIN AND NASHVILLE. 435 him if he could find it, tliat was the right road. Arriving at the bend peared in the darkness to be an indistinct path. Within a short dis of the road we passed tlirough a large gateway, taking what ap- tance I found General Forrest's headqtiarters and stopped to ascer tain the position of his pickets covering Cheatham's right and of the enemy. He informed me that his scouts reported the enemy leaving the direct pike—leading from Spring Hill to Franklin and Nasjiville —and taking the one down Carter's creek. While in conversation 7; with him I was informed that a staff officer from General Hood haJ come up and halted the column. It turned out to be a staff (engineer) officer of General Cheatham's, who informed me that General Hood had sent him to place me in position. It striking me as strange that the commanding general should send an officer not of his own staff on this errand, or indeed any one, as he had given directions to me in person, I inquired of the officer if he had seen General Hood since I had. He replied that he had just come from General Hood and that the reason why he was sent was that I was to go in posi H i .• tion on General Brown's right (the right of Cheatham's corps)

0 and he and General Brown had been over the ground by daylight. ■.7(7.7/> ;■ ■; Thinking it possible the commanding general had changed his .

H mind as to what he wished me to do, I concluded it was proper to be - ■ -1 / =•■■ 5i , ■■.v';' • • '/ . ■X ■ •*• : ■ ■: . ■ •;-e- ■ ' • •J governed by the directions of this staff officer, and therefore re turned to the road and moved on toward Spring Hill. Arriving near O the line of Brown's division. General Brown explained his position, O which was oblique to the pike, bis right being farther from it than his left. It was evident that if my command were marched up and formed on his right, it being now a late hour, it would '•equire all >¥/f i SiiiSV.' ■; night to accomplish it, and the line, instead of extending across the pike, would bear away from it. Feeling satisfied there was a mis take, I directed the troops to be bivoucked, while I rode back to find the commanding general to explain my situation, and get further instructions. On arriving at his quarters I inquired of him if he had sent this officer of General Cheatham's staff to place me in position. He replied that he had. I next inquired if he had changed his mind as to what he wished me to do. He replied that he had, "But," said he, "the fact is. General Cheatham has been here and represented that there ought to be somebody on Brown's right." I explained Hi'. 7 ■■ to him that in the uncertainty I was in, I had directed the troops, .V) . i'm' who had been marching rapidly since daylight, and it 'was now 11 ■; p. m. to be placed in bivouac, and had come to report. He re marked, in substance, that it was not material; to let the men rest; .7, .7 ^ •I. • % . and directed me to move before daylight in the morning, taking the' advance toward Franklin. Subsequently General Hood made to me the statement: "I(( wish• you and your people to understand that I ' attach no blame to you for the failure at Spring Hill; on the contrary I know 436 lUlTLKS AND SKETCHKS AUMY OF TENNESSEE. battles of franklin and NASHVILLE. 437 if I had had you there the attack would have been made." At daylight on the following morning we learned that the Federal Very respectfully, general, your obedient servant, Army had left Spring Hill and was being concentrated at Franklin. Alex. P. Stewart, On the march to Franklin, General Hood spoke to me, in the Lieutenant-Gencral. presence of Major Mason, of the failure of General Cheatham to General S. Cooper, make the night attack at Spring Hill, and censured him in severe Adjutant and Inspector General, Richmond, Va. terms for the disobedience of orders. Soon after this, being alone with Major Mason, the. latter remarked that "General Cheatham was addenda. not to blame about the matter last night. I did not send him the order." I asked if he had communicated the fact to General Hood. Chester, S. C., April 9, 1865. He answered that he had not. I replied that it is due to General My Dear General: Before Idaving for Texas I desire to say Cheatham that this explanation should be made. Thereupon Major I am sorrv to know that some of your friends thought that I in Mason joined General Hood and gave him the information. After tended some slight reflection on your conduct at Spring Hill. You wards General Hood said to me that he had done injustice to General did all that I could sav or claim that I would have done under Cheatham, and requested me to inform him that he held him blame .<;imilar circumstances myself. That great opportunity passed with less for the failure at Spring Hill. And, on the day folljwing the davlight. Since I have been informed that your friends felt that ny battle of Franklin, I was informed by General Hood that he had report led to uncertainty as to yourself and troops, I regret that I dia addressed a note to General Cheatham, assuring him that he did not not make myself more clear in my report by going more into de censure or charge him with the failure to make the attack. tail about the staff officer of General Cheatham. I only regret, Gen Very respectfully, eral that I did not have you with your corps in front on that day. IsHAM G. Harris. I feel and have felt, that Tennessee to-day would have been in our Memphis, Tenn., May 20, 1877-

THE SPRING HIIX MYSTERY SOLVED. The following communication, written by Governor (iftenvard Senator) Harris of Tennessee, then acting as aide to General Hwd is a valuable contribution to the history of this campaign. It is copied from Drakes "Annals of the Army of Tennessee, for May, 1877. copv was furnished to General Hood: Gov. James D. Porter. t u Dear Sir: In answer to yours of the 12th instant, I have to sav that on the night that the Army of Tennessee, under command of" General J. B. Hood, halted at Spring Hill on its march from Co lumbia to Nashville, General Hood, his adjutant-general Major Ma son and myself occupied the same room at the residence of Captain Thompson, near the village. Late at night we were aroused by a private soldier, who reported to General Hood that on reaching the camp hear Spring Hill, he found himself within Federal lines, that the troops were in great confusion, a part of them were marching in the direction of Franklin, others had turned toward Columbia, and that the road was blocked with baggage-wagons and gun car- riaces rendering it impossible to move in order in either direction. Upon "the receipt of this report. General Hood directed Major Ma-- son to order General Cheatham to move down the road immediately and attack the enemy. General Hood and mysdf ^ I went to sleep, and I suppose that General Hood d-id the same. noon .S UKTRKAT. 439 after succeeding in an artillery duel with gun boats. This rear guard after they left Columbia, had a battle at Richland creek, near Pu laski, again at Pulaski and south of Pulaski at Sugar creek. HOOD'S RETREAT. "The Yankees followed with three corps of infantry to Pulaski, and their cavalry pushed on to the Tennessee river where Hood's I quote from Dr. McMurray's History of the 20th Tennessee, rear guard finished crossing on the 27th. The 39th North Carolina piving an account of the retreat from Nashville to Tupelo, and Hood's regiment, under Colonel D. Coleman, was the last of Hood's in campaign into Tennessee. fantry to cross. To show the spirit, wit and fun there was in the "When the Confederates retreat from Nashville General Ste Confederate soldier, while half clad, half starved and bare-footed, phen D. Lee brought up the rear and retained command of the rear and fighting three to one on this retreat, near Pulaski, General Hood guard until dark, although wounded in the foot. The next day, and staff were passing, ami' about to crowd an old soldier out of the the 18th of December, the gallant Major General C. L. Stevenson road, he struck up this song, \vl-.ere General Hood could hear it,— took command of Lee's corps, gradually made his way back to Spring Hill and although nearly surrounded by the enemy, held his command "You may talk about your dearest maid. intact, fighting and retreating until he reached Columbia, across And sing of Rosalie, Duck_ river. But the gallant Hood of Texas "General Forrest, who was in command of all the Confederate Played hell in Tennessee." cavalry on this campaign, was at Murfreesboro with a portion of Dr. McMurray ought to have given the first part of that parodv, his cavalry, two brigades of infantry, when the battle of Nash ville was fought; so Hood, when he saw the battle c^f Nashville that the ol-d soldier dwelt on; as follows: was lost, sent a courier at once to General Forrest to abamlon Mur (Tune, "Yellow Rose in Texas.") freesboro and move his command across the country by way of "And now I'm going Southward, Shelbyville and join him at Columbia. Rut Forrest's wagon train For my heart is full of woe, with the sick and wounded was at Triune, only twenty-two miles I'm going back to Georgia from Nashville, on the Nolensville pike. He ordered these to meet To find my 'Uncle Joe." his command at Lillard's Mills, about half way between Columbia You may talk about your dearest maid, .and Shelbyville, on Duck river. Here Forrest crossed over a portion And sing of Rosalie, of his command when the river, which was rising, became past ford But the gallant Hood of Texas ing and he was compelled to push his way - down the north bank Played hell in Tennessee." to Columbia, where he arrived on the evening of the i8th, and next morning crossed his command over the river. "We sum up the Hood campaign in Tennessee as follows: He It was here that General Hood ordered General Forrest to crossed the Tennessee river, coming in, November the 21st at Tus- take charge of the rear guard in connection with Major-General E. cumbia and Florence with an army of about 26,000 of all arms. He C. Walthall of Stewart's corps, who was to organize a division of assaulted Schofield's works at Franklin with 16,000 of his army, and infantry to assist him. The brigades of Reynolds. Ector, and Quarles lost 4,500, then moved on to Nashville with an army of about 21,400. Bate's division of about 1,600 which he sent to Murfreesboro, left were selected from Walthall's own division, Featherston from Lor- ing's division, Mancy and Strahl from Cheatham's old division; and Hood only about 21,000 to invest Thomas who had inside the forts •Smith from Cleburnc's division. These seven brigades it was expected, of Nashville an army of 30,000 and that army soon re-enforced to would make about 3.000 men but they only numbered i,6ci. This 60,000. Before the battle of Nashville General Bate had only three brigades of about 1,500 for he had lost about a hundred at Stewart's little band with Forrest's cavalry was firm and undaunted as Hood's creek and the others at Wilkinson pike, hence two other brigades were rear guard, and did their full duty to the last. sent from Hood's army to Murfreesboro to join Bate, this left Hood's "The army retreated by way of Pulaski, thence to Bainbridge on army to fight the battle of Nashville of December 15th and i6th the Tennessee river, which place they reached on December the 25th with not more than 20,000 infantry, of which in these engagements (Christmas day) and crossed over on pontoon bridges on the 26th, he lost, killed, wounded, missing, 4,462, leaving him with less than 18,000 infantry to get out of Tennessee in the dead of winter, from an army three times their number, well clothed and fed. The cam paign lasted thirty-four days. The army after crossing at Brainbridg'Z 440 BATTLKS AND SKETCIIKS AiniT OF TENXE.SSKE. HOOD .S RETREAT. 441

was moved via Tuscumbia and luka to Tupelo, Miss., where they having lost fifty pieces of artillery, he had fifty-nine pieces left. could rest and re-organize. General Forrest captured and destroyed sixteen block-houses, and "The official returns made January 20, '65, at Tupelo, showed stockades, twenty bridges, four locomotives, a hundred cars, ten an effective strength present of 16,913. After 19 regiments mostly miles of railroad, took 1,600 prisoners, several hundred heads of raised in west Tennessee had been furloughed. Hood re-crossed the horses, mules and cattle. Tennessee river with an army of infantry 18,813 strong. Although "On January 25,, 1865,. at Tupelo, Mississippi, General Hood was relieved of the command of the army of Tennessee and Lieu- tenant-General Richard Taylor, a son of General Zachary Taylor, was assigned to the command and in a few days the corps of Lee, Stewart and Cheatham in the order named, were sent via Mobile, Montgomery, Macon, Augusta, through South Carolina to intercept Sherman, and during the month of January, the Confederate con gress adopted a resolution asking President Davis to appoint Gen M. eral Joseph E. Johnston to the command of the army of Tennessee, to which request, the President did not respond, but General R. E. Lee, after he had been made General in chief of all the forces did on Feb. 22, 1865, appoint General Joseph E. Johnston to the command of the army of Tennessee and all Confederate troops in the states of Florida, Georgia and South Carolina. This appointment re vived the hopes of the army of Tennessee to some extent, but their 3^ experience with Hood at Atlanta, Jonesboro, Franklin and Nash ville, with all their untold horrors and mistakes, had nearly con vinced the rank and file that the cherished hope of their lives, for which they had suffered and borne so much, was unattiinable, but if "Old Joe" said, "Halt boys, and give them battle" it was all right. "Cheatham united with Johnston's army on the 21st at P.entonville, North Carolina and all troops composing the infantry of the army of Tennessee were put in one corps under command of General A. P. Stewart and numbered 8.731 effective men. which said force and some North Carolina troops under Bragg and a force under i Lieutenant-General Hardee, numbering in all 13.000 men. was all m that General Johnston fought the battle of Bentqnville with.

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1;, i «. X GENERAL STEPHEN D. LEE. I ' ^ _ BRIEF OUTLINE AILER STARTING FOR TENNESSEE. 443

wagons, and work oxen were taken, and block houses at Tilton, with some 300 men, captured. These captures were made by French'.s division, Selden's battery of Walthall's division, reducing the block BHIEF OUTLINE AFTER STARTING FOR TENNESSEE. house. We next encountered the enemy at Decatur, Alabama, toward Headquarters Stewart's Corps, Army of Term. the end of October, driving in his pickets and skirmishing for a Sir: The following brief outlines of-the operations of the corps day or two with a loss of some 135 men, but making no serious at from September 29th, 1864, to the close of the campaign is respect tack on his strongly entrenched position. Leaving this place, we fully submitted'. It is necessarily an imperfect report, being made at moved to Tuscumbia, whence after a delay of three weeks, we marched the request of the commanding general without the aid of reports of for Tennessee. subordinate commanders: I deem it proper to say that after the fall of Atlanta, the con Crossing the Chattahoochee at Pumpkintown, September 29, we dition of the army and other considerations rendered it necessary, camped the night of October 2nd within a few miles of Lost Moun in my judgment, that an offensive campaign should be made in the tain. The next morning (Monday, the 3d), in obedience to the enemy's rear and on his line of communications. It is not my pur orders of the commanding general, we marched to strike the rail pose nor does it pertain to me, to explain the reasons which prompted road at Big Shanty, Armstrong's brigade of cavalry joining us at the campaign, but simply to express my concurrence in the views Lost Mountain, and taking post between Big Shanty and Marietta which determined the operations of the army. to cover our work of destroying the railroad. Arriving near Big I am, colonel, very respectfully, your obedient servant, Shanty in the afternoon, Featherston's brigade of Loring's division, Alex P. Ste'wart, we reformed in line, with .skirmishers in front, and moved forward Lieutenant-General. on the village. The small force of the enemy took refuge in the Col. a. p. Mason, depot which was loop-holed. After the exchange of a few shots Assistant Adjutant-General. and a small loss in killed and wounded they surrendered—some IOC or more. Loring's division then moved direct to A.ckworth, where a few hundred prisoners were taken next morning by Adam's brigade. Reynold's brigade of Walthall's division, carried Moore's Station, between Big Shanty and Ackworth, taking some hundred prisoners, and by 3 p. m. of the 4th the railroad was effectually torn up, the ties burned and rails bent for a distance of ten or twelve miles. This work ,the capture of some 600 prisoners and a few killed and wounded, was effected with a loss of not more than 12 or 15, mostly wounded. In compliance with [the ordfers of the commanding general, French's division was started to Allatoona, and with the other two I moved back to Lost Mountain. Reports have already been for warded of the heroic but fruitless attack made by French's division on the enemy's position at Allatoona. Moving with the rest of the army at 11 p. m. October 12, after a march that day of nearly 30 miles,, this corps reached the rail road some m.ile and a half or two miles above Resaca, and immed iately went to work to destroy the road. By night of the 13th the road was effectually destroyed to within a few miles of D.alton, and with it a vast quantity of cross-ties and bridge timbers. A working party of the enemy, consisting of seventy of eighty men, their tools, My Pikst and dxLY S-Mlr-P.

these flasks, fill them for the occasion of the visiting generals to our dinner, then tightly cork up the demijohn and let no one know where you got it."

MY FIRST ANT) ONLY SMILE. I felt complimented at this confidence, and flattered that I was singled out to perform this service because of soberness and tem My scene is Tupelo. Miss.; time, just a few days after, the perance. As I sauntered to the wagon, our teamster, an Irishman, Christmas of 1864; occasion, the first resting place after the battle was besought to get out a heavy box. Says he: "Lieutenant, I of Nashville: position, a set of hungry Confederates who were cheated can't lift the weight of a pin." "Why?" says I, "It is only a box out of Christmas festivities because of that famous Nashville stam containing a demijohn of gin." "Ah! gin," says he, "oh, yes, sir; pede ; headcpiarters. at the house of the Wid-ow Sample, who sug I can lift anything reasonable, you know." So we got out the gin gested that if we wished she would help us and contribute to a big and were filling the flasks; a brother officer who spied me, just forced dinner. me to take a glass. He actually called for two, and was so per The loved ones in Tennessee had given us canned fruits desic suasive together with the teamster, that we all sipped, and smiled, cated vegetables, boxes of oysters, sardines and a nuniber of good and tasted the gin, until old earth seemed to be tenderfooted when old Tennessee hanis. To us. these things were so rare that gun we trod upon her. shots and cannon balls could not make us drop 'em. Even the worn Well, the flasks were carried back; the officers came and this out and wcarv soldier could not get the ambulance that carried that young blood and myself took possession of the guests. My brother luscious cargo. officer got General Hood in one corner of the room, and told him The handsome widow threw in her preserves, jellies, cakes and of more ha'irbreadth escapes and fearless acts, while I had Pierre a couple of big peafowls, and a wonderful preparation began to Toutant Gustave Beauregard in another corner, feeding him. upon get up a big dinner in honor of the Christmas of 1864. food concerning the gallant deeds of Gibson's Louisiana brigade, .Ml the Christmas we had waded through slush and mud via and Fanner's battery, troops from his native State. I don't know Franklin. Pulaski. Rainbridge. Tuscumbia, and luka: the reads were what became of General Stewart and his other guests for a while, so fearful that, although corduroyed, a foot or wheel w(iuld sink as I felt myself upon this occasion a perfect giant in the midst of into the mire and swamp until sheer exhaustion and fitful despair Lilliputians; but when I looked around all eyes seemed to ^ concen had almost overtaken us 1 homes left behind, army foot-sore and trated upon us, especially those of General Stewart, who was look wearv. and b.eartsick at defeat and retreat, what greater diversion ing daggers at the young bloods. couhi we have had than this anticipated dinner? The host of the occasion was General A. P. Stewart, the quiet, It was at that stage when "gentleman tipsy" had me, the elixir correct and fearless soldier of high moral character, whose counsels having had its effect, and when General Stewart's gin was racking were rsepected and whose word was the gospel of his comnrand. my brain and firing my blood. I sat there taking a birds' eye view The handsome widow wanted Generals P>eaurcgard. HockI. Loring of my generals. General Hood I photographed as a big hearted, and Walthall to grace the occasion as guests of Stewart and his impetuous man in peace and a fighter of the knock-down-and-drag- staff. . . . out style in war, a West Pointer of scientific and strategic excellence, It is no use to disguise the fact that in those demoralizing tirn.-S planned pretty well, but something wanting in the execution; Gen it was not considered shocking to smile in moderation itpion a demi eral Beauregard, a polite little Frenchman who could make a fort john or partake of the hospitality of a soldier s tent, in the shape of or plan a redoubt, who did not look to me like the hero of Manassas a "jigger." The most delicate sensibility was soon hardened to this. and Drury's Bluff, nor that he was cut out to command a battle; The teetotaler was looked upon as a bird of rare plumage and a General Loring, a good hearted, inipulsive man, yet defective in cool straight-jacket who knew not some of the pleasures of life. calculation. The old soldier had lost an arm in Mexico, wounded near Atlanta, of Cheat Mountain fame in this war; General Walt- I belonged to that class of young bloods, and my General know hall, who bore the coronet of commanding successfully the reatreat ing this, took me aside to impart a secret, not to be found out by other from Nashville, and General Stewart, the unobtrusive, stern West members of the staff. Says he: "While I was in Tennessee a friend Pointer, as the head of my military family. My partiality placed him gave me a demijohn of gin; it is in my headquarters wagon, take "a shining star" in the galaxy. No newspaper sought to sound his praise, and many a chivalric deed done by his coinmand, claimed by others without notice, yet, when he shivered his lance, with the 446 HATTLKS ANb SKETCHES AKMV OP TENNESSEE.

enemy, the army always felt that a Lannes was at the helm, and a Richmond in the field. Dinner about this time came on as a sequel to the revelries, in the emptying of flasks, .and broaching of demijohns; all got seats at the table but the two young bloods. While the room was vacated, THE LAST NIGHT OF SIXTY-FOUR. said young bloods concluded to examine the contents and find some It is not well to live too much in the past; yet it is not proper niore of the elixir to fan "the dying embers of the smile." Reader, to forget it. A lady said to me: "What our times now especially would you believe it, instead of flasks of gin, we found something else, need is to read and ponder more on the incidents of the individual "not pine top," nor "Confederate pop skull," nor "Jeff Davis bust and family history as portrayed in personal reminiscences. In this head," but great heavens! peach brandy twelve years old, just as way the people are understood in their spirit, peculiarities, and char mellow and ropy as sugared candy. I "smole a smile," and the other acteristics. If the soldier of the sixties would, occasio'ially give young blood "smole a smile," and for a time we both felt "as happy 'Young America' some episodic fact connected vyith, his career, 4 as in twenty seas, if all their sands we^re pearls, the water nectar and would please as well as interest others, and be the delectation of the the rocks pure gold." generation now seeking for entertainment." After the generals got through though, we stealthily retired from I like thrilling incidents and startling adventures.' .Ihe most the room, when our hilarity suddenly changed from glory to des attractive are those told around the camp fire. Let me tell you of my pair. Horrors! we had mixed our drinks. The nausea was fearful. ride on the famous retreat from Nashville to Tupelo, the last night My young friend went out doors and in giving vent to his feelings of 1864. Many a soldier boy may recall: something of more inter you coud hear him groan a hundred yards. I hallooed out, "Fire and est, but it made its impress upon me as a novel experience. fall back, old boy!" In a short time I followed him, and in express From Bainbridge, on the Tennessee, via Tuscumbia and Bar ing my emotions, the emphasis was greater than his. A messenger ton's Station, our skeleton army plodded its weary way frcm Nash came or

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Nothing to warm the inner man coidd be had. and ther- was no moon to light us on the journey. Instead of pleasant things to cheer our weary wav, our night was filled with woes and horrors—of some one whose horse was in a mud hole or whose hands and feet were freezing; something was going wrong continualh. To add to the horror, the Bear creek country was low and marshv, and said to be infested with animals such as bear and panther. . u . The order, to get to Barton's Station by day, had to be obeyed. .•\long the route we would find an abandoned wagon or caisson temporarilv left in mud and mire, run across a dead horse or some ."-rj?- »■ thing that' always kept us on the lookout. After going eight or ten miles, there was just ahead of us the most horrible scream, a fright-, ful shriek, a shrill, piercing noise, more fearful than that of a wild cat or leopard. The sound seemed- to be meeting us. so we formed into fours, and. drawing our navies, prepared for action. When the thine saw us Tt ran across the road and sidled around with the most fri ALLATOONA. chance we'd strike a burning log, where the soldiers in the day had 450 HATTI.K.S AM) SKKTCIIKS AKJIA' OF TIONNKSSKK. THK I,AST MCHT OK SIXTV-FOUK. 451

Stopped to warm, and but for that we would have been frost bitten, to put my horses and men in the only remaining box car at the sta bitten. tion, and return to luka. Well, about daybreak we crossed the Big Bear creek a short Thus was spent the last night of 1864. I recall it as an incident distance from the station. Now came my time, on reaching the de in my soldier life, more trying to me than the encounters of cavalry stined point, to select one of my couriers to hie on toward Tus- and infantry battles in a service of three years. cumbia to see General Jackson. I asked who would volunteer. The

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MAI' Or TllK ItATlI.t; OK KK'A N l\ l.I N. poor fellows, their horses worn out and weary, selected the plan of allowing them to draw straws—the man getting the longest to go. This being satisfactory, one courier started, but returned m less ' than an hour reporting that he had met tieneral Jackson at the head of his cavalrv command coming that way: that General Hood's information as to the enemy having crossed at Bainijridge was in correct. I wired General Stewart from th.e station, and got a reply Contribtttofs

T. Patton Adams was elected mayor of Columbia, South Carolina, for a four-year term beginning July 1, 1986. Born there in 1943, he attended Washington and Lee University and the University of South Carolina School of Law. He later served in Vietnam where he was awarded the Bronze Star. Mayor Adams' great-great uncle. General John Adams, C.S.A., was killed at the Battle of Franklin.

James A.. Britt, was born to Mary Nichols Britt and James A. Britt, Sr. October 15, 1907. He is a graduate of Battle Ground Academy and Falls Business College. Jim is a great-great grandson of Fountain Branch Carter. He and his wife Lucille currently reside on McCrory Lane in Nashville.

Cletus Keefer Sickler is a native of Hockley County, Texas and has lived in / the Grassland Community since 1983. She is a freelance writer and writes for The Tennessean. Her great-great grandfather William L. Carter served in the Civil War with "Co B 18th Texas Cavalry, Granbury's Brigade, Cleburne's Division" for four years "excepting for the time he was laid up in the hospital from wounds received in battle."