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THE 
 
 RETREAT FROM PULASKI 
 TO NASHVILLE, TENN. 
 
 pattle of Jfranfeltn, QTennesisee 
 
 Jgobember 30tfj, 1864 
 
 With Maps, Sketches, Portraits and 
 PJwtog raph ic Views 
 
 By LEVI T. SCOFIELD 
 
 Late Captain and Engineer Officer 23rd Army Corps 
 
 CLEVELAND: 
 
 PRESS OF THE CAXTON CO. 
 
 1909 
 
£47? 
 
 c 'ofiyright, igog, 
 By Levi T. Sco field 
 
THE RETREAT FROM PULASKI TO NASHVILLE, TENN. 7 
 
 Mat. Gen. U. S. Grant, 
 Com. U. S. Army. 
 
 Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman, 
 Com. Military Div. of the Mississippi. 
 
 WHILE the weary but hardy veterans of Sherman's army were en- 
 joying a short but sorely needed breathing spell on the wooded 
 hills of Cherokee County. Ala., Gen. Hood with his army, equally 
 worn and more destitute of supplies, was content to rest at a fairly safe 
 distance near Florence, on the Tennessee River. 
 
 After he was compelled to abandon the Atlanta stronghold, the in- 
 trepid Southron had determined to destroy our Cracker line, the army 
 name for the railroads over which our supplies were transported, and 
 to prevent this audacious movement there had been a severe strain of 
 constant watching and tedious night marches on the part of our army. 
 
 Sherman, in his quick, nervous way would direct his Corps Com- 
 manders, as they started off in the darkness, to occasionally set a house 
 afire to let him know where they were. 
 
 Hood's wily and energetic cavalry leader. Gen. Forrest, had with his 
 force been almost constantly in their saddles, and this temporary sus- 
 pension gave him the opportunity to rest his jaded steeds and recruit 
 with fresh mounts. ( )n one of these quiet days our great commander 
 stood on the slope in front of his quarters, grimly peering adown the 
 smoky valleys and over the purple ranges that separated him from his 
 impulsive antagonist, and deliberately planned the boldest military move- 
 ment recorded in history, the famous '"March to the Sea." 
 
THE RETREAT FROM PULASKI 
 
 THE ATLANTA CAMPAIGN. 
 
 When on one bright morning of early May Sherman's 100,000 
 marched out on the red-clay hills of northern Georgia to battle against the 
 75,000 that Johnston had held together, it was well known the contest 
 would be mighty and that the oak-shaded hills and cottonfields on the 
 path of war would be bathed with blood. The ablest commander in the 
 Confederate army was opposed to us, and the proof of his military genius 
 was manifested by his masterly retreat upon his stronghold, where for 
 120 consecutive days of fighting, with spirited skirmishes every day and 
 general engagements every week, he entered the fortifications of Atlanta 
 without having lost by capture a single fieldpiece, wagon or even a camp 
 kettle. 
 
 The long Summer had cruelly tested the endurance of both armies, 
 and during the first three months of the campaign, in the frequent as- 
 saults of the blue-uniformed warriors against the strong fieldworks that 
 formed a gridiron across our lines of advance, we lost 20,000 brave men, 
 and in the fourth month the Confederate army, under their new com- 
 mander, lost an equal number in their mad rushes and sallies against our 
 fortified cordon, and this, with the train loads they carried back over the 
 Etowah and Chattahoochee Valleys, together with those buried on the 
 battlefields, swelled their losses to 30,000. 
 
 In the early days of November, 1864, Sherman's army, divided at 
 Gaylesville, the General, taking the Eourteenth, Fifteenth, Seventeenth 
 and Twentieth Corps, numbering over 60,000 men, formed them into 
 two wings and started for the Atlantic coast. 
 
 He left the Fourth and Twenty-third Corps, mustering 26,000 men, 
 to oppose Hood's army of 54,000 men in all branches of service. 
 
 It seemed perhaps natural for Hood to believe that the way was left 
 open for him to lead his army where he pleased, and that he could easily 
 sweep away anything that would confront him in his triumphal march 
 to Nashville, Louisville and Cincinnati. 
 
 But Sherman selected from his able associates the two commanders 
 in whom he had the greatest confidence — Thomas and Schofield ; having 
 full knowledge of the former's wonderful power in organization, and the 
 brains and capacity of the latter for execution. 
 
 As he marched his splendid army down through the mountain val- 
 leys of northern Alabama and Georgia toward Atlanta, he realized that 
 the fighting would be done by those he left behind. But his experience 
 in the Summer campaign gave him full reliance that their work would be 
 well done, and that the two Generals would make no mistakes, but with 
 the forces under them would accomplish as much as might be done by 
 
TO NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE. 
 
 Maj. Gen. George II. Thomas, 
 
 Com. Federal Troops Nashville 
 
 Campaign. 
 
 Maj. Gen. John M. Schofield, 
 Com. 23d A. C, 4th A. C. and Wil- 
 son's Cavalry at Franklin, Term. 
 
 any two leaders in any country or age. The Twenty-third and Fourth 
 Corps, upon whom so much depended, marched in quick order. The 
 former to Resaca and Dalton, where transportation awaited to take them 
 by rail to Nashville, and thence to Pulaski, arriving there the second week 
 in November. 
 
 This movement was ordered by Thomas, the senior officer, but was 
 under the direct command of Schofield. 
 
 The commanding General made his headquarters at Nashville, and 
 remained there to organize a strong force, made up of detachments that 
 had been on duty in the rear, also new regiments that had been recently 
 recruited, and those, together with Gen. A. J. Smith's Corps, which had 
 been ordered from the West, would reinforce the army at the front to 
 an equal or larger number than Hood's, and enable us to face him, or 
 even overcome his army. 
 
 At the same time vigorous efforts were made to remount, equip and 
 place our cavalry on a better footing, with Gen. Wilson in command, 
 who was expected to cope with the same branch of Hood's army, under 
 Forrest, which numbered over 12,000 men. 
 
 Schofield's duty was to watch and retard Hood while this concentra- 
 tion about Nashville was progressing. Hood, however, was not inclined 
 
THE RETREAT FROM PULASKI 
 
TO NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE. 
 
 <^ |! 
 
 
 Lt. Gex. G. T. Beauregard, Gen. Joseph E.Johnston, 
 
 Com. Confederate Forces in Middle Com. Confederate Forces, Atlanta 
 Tennessee. North Carolina campaign. 
 
 to wait for our preparations, and was ordered by Beauregard, who was 
 his superior in command, to push forward from Florence, which he did 
 on the 20th of November, expecting to Hank Schofield at Lawrenceburg 
 and cut off his retreat by rail from Pulaski. Mood's friends, spies and 
 scouts, in and about Nashville, kept him accurately informed as to 
 Thomas's movements, so that he determined upon as rapid an advance 
 as possible; but had roads retarded him so that almost a week had passed 
 before he was able to concentrate his whole force at Columbia. 
 
 In the meantime Caprbn's, Croxton's and Hatch's cavalry were cov- 
 ering his front and on the lookout", and sent word to Schofield, who im- 
 mediately prepared to fall hack to Columbia. 
 
 Gen. Cox's Division of the Twenty-third Corps left its camps and 
 started on the Columbia pike on the 22t\ and marched to Lynville, where 
 it was joined by Wagner's Division, Fourth Corps. 
 
 ( )n the afternoon of the 2^\ we marched to the junction of the Alt. 
 Pleasant and Shelbyville roads. Before daylight of the 24th we were 
 ordered to march to Columbia, and arrived there just after sunrise. As 
 we approached the town the well-kept farms and spacious lawns, with 
 long, straight lanes bordered with trees, leading tip to the handsome man- 
 dons, gave tts the impression of peace and comfort. But how quickly 
 there was to he a change. 
 
THE RETREAT FROM PULASKI 
 
 COLUMBIA TENN 
 
TO NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE. 
 
 
 \ 
 
 Lt. Gen. John B. Hood. 
 Com. Confederate Forces, Nashville 
 
 Campaign. 
 
 Ma j. Gen. Nathan B. Forest, 
 Com. Cavalry of Hood's Army. 
 
 We were met, south of the town, by an officer of Ruger's staff, who 
 informed us that Capron's cavalry were pouring into the town, and that 
 the Confederates were not far behind them. Gen. Cox took in the situa- 
 tion at once, and with the instinct of an engineer, having a full knowledge 
 of the lay of the ground, from the study of maps that were furnished 
 him. decided not to enter the town; hut the head of the column, then 
 coming up, was double-quicked by a diagonal shortcut, at the outskirts 
 of the place, and arrived on the Alt. Pleasant pike just at the critical 
 luck\- moment to meet the tail-end of Capron's fagged-out cavalrymen, 
 closely pursued by Forrest's exultant troopers. A dashing Captain on a 
 splendid black charger with foam-flecked shoulders and a yellow saddle 
 blanket, was in the advance, deliberately shooting our men in the back 
 of their heads with his revolver. He was dropped from his seat by the 
 first infantryman that crossed the road. The plucky tooth ( )hio was 
 in one short minute deployed as skirmishers and advanced rapidly to 
 meet the enemy, but, as usual, when cavalry meet an infantry line, they 
 stopped, falling back on the road and through the fields beyond the range 
 of our skirmish fire. 
 
 Gen. Cox's Division was soon in position, and before noon Gen. 
 Stanley arrived with the Fourth Corps, approaching Columbia by a 
 parallel road, and with the addition of Strickland's Brigade of Ruger's 
 Division, Twenty-third Corps, reinforcements of cavalry and a Regular 
 
14 THE RETREAT FROM PULASKI 
 
 battery which joined us here, we were in better shape as to numbers than 
 we were at Pulaski. Our stay at first in this position was rather monot- 
 onous, with only cavalry in our front, but an occasional skirmish added 
 to the interest. When Hood's infantry arrived, and his batteries were 
 placed in position, there was more excitement, with artillery practice; 
 but they evidently did not like the looks of our position, for they made 
 no demonstrations leading to an assault, but kept our cavalry on the 
 flanks uneasy, as though they contemplated flanking us out of our posi- 
 tions. 
 
 Schofield was anxious to preserve the railroad and wagonroad bridges 
 that spanned Duck River, which he could only do by remaining on the 
 town side; but he knew, too, that this would not be important if Hood 
 should cross the river at some other point and get between him and 
 Nashville; so, at the end of two days, after dark. Cox's Division was 
 crossed over to the north side of the river, and works were thrown up 
 to protect the bridge crossings. Two days later the balance of our troops, 
 with artillery and trains, were brought over, and to prevent the enemy 
 from using the bridges they were destroyed; but that did not prevent 
 some of the venturesome from crossing in the darkness of the night, and 
 our pickets had considerable trouble from the enemy's skirmishers. This 
 annoyance was so great that Gen. Cox determined to drive them into 
 the river, and sent word to his Inspecting ( )fficer that one of the regi- 
 ments of the First Brigade should charge them with the bayonet, and 
 demonstrate right there whether or not those iron candlesticks they 
 were carrying around with them could be turned to any other use as 
 implements of war. The attempt failed, because their men were too 
 well protected by the skirmishers and artillery on the opposite bank, their 
 covered batteries pouring in a rapid plunging fire as soon as our line 
 formed for the charge. The men were ready and eager to go, and had 
 started a yell which invariably accompanied a double-quick advance, but 
 the staff officer ordered them back under cover when he saw the attempt 
 would result in too great a loss for the advantage to be gained. 
 
 On the morning of the 29th we learned that Hood was crossing 
 some of his troops a few miles above Columbia, at Huey's Mill. 
 
 Gen. Stanley moved in the forenoon with a part of the Fourth Corps 
 to guard the wagon trains then on the way to Spring Hill, and reached 
 that place at noon. They were just in time, and Wagner's Division 
 deployed at double-quick. Bradley on the right. Lane next, and Opdycke 
 on the left, and pushed forward through the eastern suburbs of the town 
 against Forrest's cavalry, which command had been repulsed by Wilson 
 at Alt. Carmel, five miles east of the Franklin pike, and had turned over 
 
TO NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE. 
 
 Major Wilbur F. Goodspeed, 
 Asst. Chief of Artillery 4th A. C. 
 
 Capt. Alex. Marshall. 
 Com. Battery 4th A. C. 
 
 Lt. Col. Harry S. Pickands, 
 Com. 103d (). V. 1. at Spring Hi 
 
 Capt. Charles E. Sargeant, 
 Co. E.. 103d O. V. I. 
 
THE RETREAT FROM PULASKI 
 
 £tfNS£jK 
 
 ■8" I 
 
 
TO XASH VILLI-.. TENNESSEE. 
 
 Maj. Gen. David S. Stanley, 
 Cum. 4th A. C. 
 
 to Spring Hill by the Murfrees- 
 boro road to obstruct our trains. 
 The)' were driven back to the woods 
 by our infantry, and moved under 
 cover to Thompson's Station, two 
 or three miles toward Franklin. 
 When Gen. Schofield arrived at 
 Spring Mill with Ruger's Division. 
 soon after dark, he learned from 
 Stanley that some of the enemy 
 were across the road at Thomp- 
 son's Station, and he pushed on 
 with a brigade of Ruger's com- 
 mand, leading the troops in per- 
 son, gallantly charging, and drove 
 them from their position. 
 
 Leaving Ruger there, be returned 
 to Spring Mill, arriving there just 
 as Cox at midnight reached the 
 place in the lead of the Twenty- 
 third Corps. A small body of the 
 enemy readied the pike between Spring Mill and Columbia, but were 
 easily driven back by the wagon guard and artillery. 
 
 Col. Lyman Bridges, Chief of Artillery of the 4th Corps, bad charge 
 of and posted the batteries on the left of the pike, and Maj. W. F. Good- 
 speed, Assistant Chief of Artillery, bad charge of the batteries on the 
 right, which were bandied so admirably against the assaulting lines of 
 Cheatham's Corps. There was some slight skirmishing until the middle 
 
 of the afternoon, when the bead of M I's infantry column arrived. 
 
 with Cheatham's Corps of nine brigades in the lead. Mood was aware 
 from the artillery firing that Schofield was still 
 at Columbia with a portion of bis command, and 
 he ordered Cheatham to march in line against 
 anything he should meet and drive them across 
 the pike. Cheatham did push forward, and with 
 solid force struck the right of our line, crowd- 
 ing Bradley's Brigade back in confusion almost 
 to the pike; Bradley being wounded in the as- 
 sault. The loss was about 250 men. The other 
 two brigades were not much engaged. This at- 
 tack was followed up vigorously until they struck Brig - ^*' y 
 a slight line of fortifications occupied by a single Com. Brig. Wagner's 
 
 ,, - . - " ° 4th A. C. Wounded 
 
 battery and a small regiment of infantry, the Spring mil Term 
 
 /^x 
 
IS 
 
 THE RETREAT FROM PULASKI 
 
 
 Maj. Gen. Thomas T. Wood. 
 Com. Div. 4th A. C. 
 
 ig. Gen. Nathan Kimball. 
 Com. Division 4U1 A. C. 
 
 battery was commanded by the valiant Alec Marshall, who was absolutely 
 fearless in short-range work, and the regiment by Col. Harry Pickands, 
 as ftill of mettle as any one that ever commanded men. The men of 
 this regiment were what were left of the 103d ( )hio. They had been 
 so cut up and reduced in numbers (hiring the Atlanta cam- 
 paign that they were detailed as Gen. Schofield's headquarters 
 guard, and were the first troops to reach Spring Hill, arriving 
 there with the train between 10 and 11 o'clock in the morning. Gen. Ful- 
 lerton, of Stanley's staff, saw them there when he arrived, and ordered 
 them in line to support the battery. As Stanley's report does not mention 
 their presence, even, it would seem proper to here note the part they took 
 in the engagement. Bradley's men as they fell back rushed by them on 
 either side, but they remained to support the battery. The officers had 
 broken open boxes of ammunition and built a little parapet of cartridges 
 in front of the men, from which they loaded; and a rapid, withering fire 
 was poured into the advancing lines, doing terrible execution at this short 
 range. The guns also were handled by Lieut. Bills with wonderful 
 rapidity. This furious, driving storm of lead and iron had never been 
 surpassed, and rarely equalled, by the same quality and number of arms. 
 Cheatham's troops, encountering at this point such fierce opposition, and 
 believing they had struck our main line of fortifications, halted, fell back, 
 and commenced building a line of earthworks. Of course, it is not prob- 
 
TO NASHVILLE. TENNESSEE. 
 
 able, nor is it claimed, that a small regiment of infantry, no matter with 
 how much bravery they fought, could, under the same circumstances, hold 
 in check a line that a well-tried and splendid brigade had retreated from ; 
 but the situation here was such that the rebel General commanding was 
 deceived as to the force confronted. At the same time, the little band 
 is entitled to the credit of staying where it was put. If the men of the 
 103d ( )hio had fallen back with the brigade, Cleburne would have crossed 
 the pike. Brown would have followed him. we would have lost possession 
 of the road, our army would have been cut in two and the result might 
 have been different. 
 
 The officers <>\ the [03d ( )hio tried to check the fleeing troops, and 
 taunted their officers with the bad example they were showing their men. 
 Capt. Charley Sargeant grabbed one officer who was tearing past him, 
 who shouted "For God's sake, don't stop me! I'm a Chaplain!" Addi- 
 tional troops coming up, the rebels pushed out some to feel Wagner's 
 left flank, but made no further attempt to carry our position. 
 
 The officers commanding the regiment and battery were old friends. 
 and had not met for years, but during the fight there hail not been time 
 for even a nod or a handshake; but when the engagement was over, 
 .Marshall came forward to the infantry line, which was only a few yards 
 in advance, and greeted his friend in a modest manner, with the remark: 
 "Well, this was a warm reception!" 
 
 An eye-witness said that he had noticed the artillery officer in action, 
 and he was holding his men and handling the guns with the fury of a 
 demon, and while he stood talking with the Colonel his face was still 
 hushed, the big veins were bulging on his temples, and perspiration and 
 smoke had streaked his face, but in other ways he appeared as serene and 
 smiling as though nothing had happened. 
 
 Col. Pickands showed a hearty pride in the action of his men, with 
 whom he mingled from beginning to end, steadying and encouraging 
 them, and the last one would have died for their Colonel, for they fairly 
 worshiped him. Their duty having been well done during this emergency, 
 they were led back to their train. 
 
 Darkness was now approaching, and Stewart's Corps of four divi- 
 sions arrived, and together with Cheatham's command went into bivouac 
 for the nio-ht. 
 
THE RETREAT FROM PULASKI 
 
TO NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE. 
 
 THAT TRYING NIGHT MARCH. 
 
 About this time Gen. Cox's Division, which had been under a heavy 
 artillery fire all day from Hood's guns stationed in and near Columbia, 
 started for Spring Hill, leaving Wood and Kimball, who had been or- 
 dered to follow soon after. This night march was a very rapid one, and. 
 with the exception of a halt at Rutherford Creek to help out some 
 artillery and teams that were there clogged, the distance to Spring Hill, 
 about i _' miles, was made at the rate of four miles an hour. The rear- 
 guards were ordered positively to use the bayonet on fence-corner strag- 
 glers, and the orders were in several instances obeyed. When the ( General 
 and staff reached Spring Hill we were stopped on the road by Col. 
 George Northrup, of a Kentucky regiment of infantry. He cautioned us. 
 Hist," with finger to his lips, not to speak above a whisper, and pointed 
 to the camp-fires on the rolling slopes within sight of the road. 
 
 We could plainly see that the soldiers standing and moving about 
 the flaring lights were Johnnies, and in the quiet of the night could hear 
 their voices. An officer was left to repeat the caution to the advancing 
 a lumn. 
 
 Farther along on the road we found Gen. Stanley at his headquarters 
 in the dooryard of a mansion, and from whom we learned the whole 
 situation. While mingling with the staff officers, we found them quietly 
 commenting on the loss of one of their number, who, accompanied by 
 an Orderly, had keen sent with orders to the line, and then pushing out 
 on a quiet reconnoissance, was captured by the rebel pickets; the ( >rderly, 
 fortunately escaping, reported the circumstances. 
 
 "fhe promixity of the two armies was such that it seems incredible 
 there were not frequent clashes during the night, or even a general attack- 
 to break our line on the night march. 
 
 Gen. Schofield, arriving at this time from Thompson's Station, or- 
 dered an immediate march to Franklin, and Gen. Cox's Division to lead 
 the advance. Keeping up the long, stead)- stride of four miles an hour, 
 in the clear starlight, without meeting a soul on the road, we reached 
 Winstead Hills about 3 o'clock in the morning. 
 
 'fhe General and staff then pushed on rapidly to Franklin, awoke 
 Col. Carter, and made headquarters at his little brick cottage, the last 
 house in the southern suburbs of the town, on the Columbia pike. 
 
 In the absence of the Inspecting Officer, who was with the rear- 
 guard, the writer was instructed to place the troops in position ; and while 
 sitting out in front of the house, waiting for the head of column to 
 arrive, everything was as still as the grave, and there was time to ponder 
 on what the following day would firing forth. 
 
 I did not realize, and very few, perhaps, anticipated, the dreadful 
 and bloody outcome; but. rather, looked for another dank movement. 
 
22 
 
 THE RETREAT FROM PULASKI 
 
 n'«fMrV/;,.;:' ; : ' ''-■ :. 
 
 FIELD WORKS 
 
TO NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE. 
 
THE RETREAT FROM PULASKI 
 
 Maj. Gen. Jacob D. Cox, 
 Com. 23d A. C. and Two Divi- 
 sions of 4th A. C. in Battle of 
 Franklin, Tenn. 
 
 next, and Riley last, all facing 
 temporarily unwell, and had requeste 
 lieve him of personal command of hi 
 
 as at Columbia. Presently the tramp 
 of horses in the distance and the rattle 
 of tin cups against bayonet clasps fore- 
 told the coming of the troops. First the 
 brigade officers, mounted, appeared, and 
 they were led oft" to the right of the road, 
 where a hasty inspection of the ground 
 was made in the darkness ; then the 
 weary men came marching by the left 
 flank. The night tram]) had been wear- 
 ing to those on foot, for they had been 
 ] tressed to unusual speed, and their anx- 
 iety about the train, that was strung 
 along by their side, kept them peering 
 out into the dim distance, lest Forrest's 
 cavalry might strike them at any point, 
 although evet\- regiment had a company 
 deployed in the fields to our right. The 
 Third Division of the Twenty-third 
 Corps was led into position on the east 
 side of the pike — Stiles, commanding 
 Henderson's Brigade, first. Casement 
 ing the south. Col. Henderson was 
 Col. Stiles, of the 63d Ind., to re- 
 jrigade ; but he remained with the 
 
 their mornim 
 
 W<»4 
 
 brigade during the engagement, and watched every movement with as 
 much solicitude as though he were giving the orders direct to the regi- 
 mental commanders. Gen. Cox was placed in command of the two divi- 
 sions, his own and. Ruger's, and was instructed — as soon as the troops 
 could get a short breathing spell, a few winks of sleep, ai 
 coffee — to strongly intrench themselves. 
 
 It was deemed expedient by Gen. Schofield 
 to make our stand on the south side of the town 
 and river, so that the trains could mass in the 
 streets and open spaces in the village, while a 
 wagonroad bridge was being built and planks laid 
 on the sleepers of the railroad bridge for their 
 transfer across. Gen. Schofield had the previous 
 day sent an urgent request to Thomas to ship by 
 rail a pontoon bridge to Franklin for the Harpeth 
 crossing, and expected to find it there, but in this 
 was disappointed. It had instead been sent by 
 the wagonroad, in charge of Maj. Jenny, of the 
 Engineer Corps, and did not arrive in time to 
 be of service. 
 
TO NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE. 
 
26 
 
 THE RETREAT FROM PULASKI 
 
 Col. Jos 
 Com. Bradley's 1! 
 
 In this embarrassing situation 
 there was nothing to do but con- 
 struct the bridges with the meager 
 facilities at hand ; so, with his En- 
 gineer Battalion and details of 
 troops, the work was performed, 
 requiring his constant personal at- 
 tention. He remained in this posi- 
 tion up to the time of the engage- 
 ment, so as to better superintend 
 the crossing, and at the same time 
 be near the railroad and telegraph 
 station; while from Fort Granger, 
 on the bluff east of the railroad 
 and near the river, he had perfect 
 command during the battle of the 
 entire field, and to direct the fire 
 of the artillery stationed there 
 with him. During the forenoon 
 the troops, in close order, kept 
 ;ide of the road and wagon trains 
 
 pouring in, the infantry 
 and artillery to their left. 
 
 The march was not so rapid as during the night, for they were con- 
 tinually harassed by Forrest's cavalry attaching in weak points on the 
 road. Wood's Division of the Fourth Corps passed through the town 
 and formed in position on the north of the Harpeth ; Kimball's Division 
 of the same corps was ordered to report to Gen. Cox, and was placed by 
 him on the right of the Twenty-third Corps, with its right fiank resting 
 on the Harpeth River. Two brigades of Wagner's Division, Fourth Corps 
 (Lane's and Conrad's), were countermarched, and placed something over 
 ioo rods in our front, across the 
 Columbia pike, to watch the approach 
 of the enemy, and to their right and 
 front, on a little knoll, a section of v 
 
 Marshall's Battery, supported bv an ^JtM^^^^l^s^^ 
 infantry regiment. 
 
 ( (pdycke's Brigade, of the same 
 
 division, which had been acting as 
 
 rear-guard from Spring LI ill, passed 
 
 through our line, and was ordered by 
 
 Gen. Cox to take up position in re- -*£^{5 
 
 serve behind Carter's Hill. The two .t^^'^J^" 
 
 regiments of Reillv's Brigade that The Drummer Boy killed while trying 
 
 to block a gun. 
 
TO NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE. 
 
THE RETREAT FROM PULASKI 
 
 i 
 
 Gen. George I >. Wagner, 
 Com. Div. 4th A. C. 
 
 Col. Emerson ( )pdycke, 
 Com. Brig. Wagner's Div. 4th A. C. 
 
 were left back in the skirmish line at Duck River arrived, and formed the 
 second line behind the main works. The batteries of the Fourth Corps 
 were placed in our main line. They were ordered to report to Gen. Cox. 
 to take the places of the Twenty-third Corps artillery that had been 
 posted on the north side of the river, as it was the first on the ground, 
 and it was the intention, at that hour, to have all the artillery pass over 
 as it arrived. By the middle of the afternoon our trains were nearly all 
 across the river, and it was intended the troops should follow after dark, 
 and accompanying them during the night toward Nashville. But it 
 seemed that Gen. Schofield's plans were to be somewhat interfered with. 
 to the extent that the continuation of our march was some hours later. 
 For when Gen. Hood's sleepy army awoke at Spring Hill, and he 
 found, how skillfull}' (Jen. Schofield had marched his command past him 
 during the night, and an examination by daylight showed him how easily 
 he could have cut us in two at any time during the night or headed us 
 off entirely the previous afternoon, had he known our exact situation, he 
 was so chagrined that he cursed everybody, high and low ; censured 
 Cheatham and Cleburne, and the entire forces that were present, for not 
 taking possession of the road; and made his whole army understand that 
 it must make up for that blunder at once, and that 110 time was to be 
 lost in overtaking and destroying our army wherever found. So he 
 pushed on in pursuit, their cavalry occasionally attacking our trains and 
 burning a wagon or two. until they came up with our rear-guard about 
 noon at \\ instead Hills. These two splendid fighting Generals, Cheatham 
 
TO NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE. 
 
THE RETREAT FROM PULASKI 
 
 Lt. Gen. Alexander P. Stewart, 
 Com. Corps Hood's Army. 
 
 Mat. Gen. Benjamin l*. Lheatham. 
 Com. Corps Hood's Army. 
 
 and Cleburne, felt keenly the morning's reprimand, which they considered 
 undeserved, and as they rode together at the head of their commands 
 they discussed it with bitter resentment, and determined at the first op- 
 portunity to make the fight of their lives, and disprove the unjust charges 
 of their commander. Stewart's Corps moved on to the right, toward 
 Lewisburg pike, turning Opdycke's flank, when he fell slowly back to 
 the town. 
 
 ( ien. Cheatham with his corps moved by the Columbia pike, and 
 formed in line north of Winstead Hills. From our position the oncers 
 and horses could be plainly seen on this range of hills, a little more than 
 two miles away, as though studying our position. 
 
 From this elevation the beautiful panorama, embracing the rolling 
 intervening country and the town of Franklin nestling in the Valley of 
 the Harpeth, was plainly in the vision of Hood's officers, showing also 
 the disposition of our troops and the earthworks encircling the town. 
 Bate's Division inarched over to Carter's Creek pike and formed behind 
 the Bostwick house. Stewart's Corps moved over to the McGavock 
 house, where the first skirmish firing was heard in the grove; it was by 
 Reilly's men, who had gone there for logs to put on the earthworks. 
 
 Firing was now 7 commenced over on the right where Bate was form- 
 ing, and the guns stationed on the pike poured in volley after volley with 
 great rapidity. ( ien. Cox rode over to Henderson's Brigade, which was 
 on higher ground, and from a parapet, with his fieldglass, watched the 
 advancing lines until they ran over Wagner's men. 
 
TO NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE. 
 
 g -0 
 
 O TO 
 
THE RETREAT FROM PULASKI 
 
 Lt. Gen. Stephen D. Lee 
 Com. Corps, Hood's Arm} 
 
 Ma j. Gen. William I!. Bates, 
 Com. Division Cheatham's Corps 
 
 He then mounted his horse and pushed for the center, steadying the 
 line and directing the men to withhold their fire until the advanced lines 
 were inside of the works. The suspense was now growing, for we knew 
 there was to he a battle. The men were heated from the exertion of 
 strengthening the works, hut they laid down their shovels and picks, and 
 took up their guns with a firm grip, anil stood there with hated breath 
 and blazing eyes, frowning over the works at the advancing foe and 
 awaiting the order to commence tiring; for they were fairly burning to 
 avenge the deaths of their brave comrades that were left on the bloody 
 battlefields of northern Georgia, and this was their first good chance for 
 wiping out many an old score; and, oh! what a real comfort it was to 
 know 7 that we who, during the hot Summer campaign, had stood the 
 crash of so many fierce assaults against their solid fortifications, were 
 now on the right side of the works, and in such a splendid position, with 
 a gentle slope away from us and not even a mullein-stalk to obstruct our 
 fire for a good third of a mile. 
 
 Before the break in the advanced lines. Gen. Cox's Engineer Officer, 
 the writer, was standing on the parapet of the tooth Ohio, the first one 
 on the left of the Columbia pike, urging the men to strengthen the works, 
 and talking with Gen. Wagner at the time. The General was reclining 
 on his elbow, his feet hanging over the works, with a staff or crutch in 
 his hand ; he had fallen with his horse and was lame. They remarked 
 that the musketry firing was becoming more rapid, also that the section 
 
TO NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE. 
 
 Brig. Gen. Orlando M. Poe, 
 Chief Engineer, Military Division 
 the Mississippi. 
 
 Capt. Levi T. Scofield, 
 of Engineer Officer, 23d A. C, 
 
 J. D. Cox's Staff. 
 
 Gen. 
 
 of artillery was doing some lively work. By and by a staff officer rode 
 fast from one of the brigades and reported to Wagner, excitedly, "The 
 enemy are forming in heavy columns ; we can see them distinctly in the 
 open timber and all along our front." 
 
 Wagner said firmly: "Stand there and fight them." 
 
 Then turning to the Engineer Officer, he said, "And that stubbed, 
 curly-headed Dutchman will fight them, too." Meaning one of his brigade 
 commanders. 
 
 "But, General," the Engineer said, "the orders are not to stand, 
 except against cavalry and skirmishers, but to fall back behind the main 
 line if a general engagement is threatened." 
 
 In a short time another officer of Stanley's staff rode in from the 
 right in great haste and told him the rebels were advancing in heavy 
 force. He received the same order. The officer added: "But Hood's 
 entire army is coming." Then Wagner struck the ground with his stick. 
 "Never mind; fight them." Hut even after this, they had time to come 
 back in good order if they had been so directed. 
 
 Soon we heard the rebel yell and heavy firing. Marshall's men with 
 the two guns had fixed prolonge and fired as they fell back on the pike 
 
34 THE RETREAT FROM PULASKI 
 
 to the advanced ride pits, leaving their dead, but bringing in their 
 wounded. The horses then brought the guns in on an easy trot. As 
 they turned in around the short apron earthwork covering the gap across 
 the pike, Alec Clinton, one of the gunners, jumped off the limber, his 
 face black with powder smoke, and said, with a grim smile, 
 "( )ld hell is let loose, and coming out there." 
 
 The firing now was continuous, and under the rising smoke we could 
 see a commotion in our advanced brigades ; officers were hurrying from 
 point to point to hold the men to their work. A few horsemen were in 
 sight, some mounting and others dismounting, but only an occasional 
 dropping back. Soon we noticed the right of Stewards command wrap- 
 ping around Conrad's left, and then our men rose up and the break 
 
 commenced. The right of Cheat- 
 ham's corps was sweeping over the 
 little rise of ground on which the 
 *HZ= low earthworks were built, in what 
 appeared a solid human wave. 
 -'* : ** :i And such a racket! Their shout- 
 
 Marshall's battery tiring at fixed } ng see med to show such confidence 
 
 in ' olonge - as men would have who had been 
 
 led to believe that the line they were assaulting was a weak one. 
 The firing had slackened and the smoke cleared, so that we could plainly 
 see the splendid advance. 
 
 It was a grand sight! Such as would make a lifelong impression 
 on the mind of any man who could see such a resistless, well-conducted 
 charge. For the moment we were spellbound with admiration, although 
 they were our hated foes ; and we knew that in a few brief moments, 
 as soon as they reached firing distance, all of that orderly grandeur would 
 be changed to bleeding, writhing confusion, and that thousands of those 
 valorous men of the South, with their chivalric officers, would pour out 
 their life's blood on the fair fields in front of us. As forerunners well 
 in advance could be seen a line of wild rabbits, bounding along for a few 
 leaps, and then they would stop and look back and listen, but scamper 
 off again, as though convinced that this was the most impenetrable line 
 of beaters-in that had ever given them chase ; and quails by the thousands 
 in covies here and there would rise and settle, and rise again to the warm 
 sunlight that called them back ; but, no, they were frightened by the 
 unusual turmoil, and back they came and this repeated until finally they 
 rose high in the air and whirred off to the gray skylight of the north. 
 
 The day had been bright and warm, reminding us of the Northern 
 Indian Summer; the afternoon sun, like a ball of fire, was settling in all 
 its southern splendor in a molten sea of bronze, over the distant hills ; 
 and in the hazy, golden light, and with their yellowish-brown uniforms, 
 
TO NASHVILLE. TENNESSEE. 
 
 those in the front ranks seemed to be magnified in size ; one could almost 
 imagine them to be phantoms sweeping along in the air. ( )n they came, 
 and in the center their lines seemed to be many dee]) and unbroken, their 
 red-and-white tattered Mags, with the emblem of St. Andrew's cross, 
 as numerous as though every company bore them, flaring brilliantly in 
 the sun's rays, with conspicuous mounted groups of general and staff 
 officers in their midst, and a battery or two in splendid line charging along 
 between the divisions. Scattered along in front of them were our men 
 bent almost to the ground, with their heads turned to see if the enemy 
 were gaining on them. It was every man for himself and the devil take 
 the last man over the works ; but here and there brave fellows would 
 hesitate as if they would like to face and fight them. 
 
 ( >n the right of Walthall's and the left of Loring's Divisions there 
 were occasional breaks made by our infantry and the terrific volleys from 
 the batteries on the opposite bank of the river; also, from Marshall's 
 and Canby's Battery M, 4th U. S. Art., who poured canister into the 
 enemy that were swarming through the railroad cut ; but officers on 
 horseback and afoot were at every gap, trying to close them up, so that. 
 on the left, Stewart's living sea, with raging surf, in wave following 
 wave, broke and fell, and plunged onward over the sloping beach in our 
 front. 
 
 Those who have stood 011 the Cliff road at Newport and watched 
 the masses of brown seaweed from the gulf stream carried by the white- 
 capped waves over the bright green water of the beach will have a fair 
 idea of the appearance of those lines that charged forward and receded 
 011 that fateful daw Still the great seething mass came rolling on to our 
 center. Although the smoke was spreading, we could see them plainly, 
 but could not open with our artillery and infantry fire until our men 
 were safely over. It was a situation that required the greatest braverv 
 for the men to stand there firmly, and to hold their fire until the enemy 
 were within 100 yards of our intrenchments. But those stern-faced 
 veterans from the Middle West, in regiments that were short, though 
 compact, touched elbows and grappled grimly their trusty Enfields, ready 
 to pour in their first volley as soon as the Fourth Corps men uncovered 
 their front. 
 
 ( )h, what a mistake the brave Wagner made! Through the gap, at 
 last, and over the works our men came, with Cleburne and Brown hot 
 after them. Wagner by this time was on his horse riding backward and 
 facing the disorganized brigades, trying as hard as ever a man did to 
 rally them. With terrible oaths he called them cowards, and shook his 
 broken stick at them; but back they went to the town, and nothing could 
 stop them. The writer was also mounted and assisted Wagner until, in 
 front of the Carter Mouse, he was so unfortunate as to be dismounted, 
 
THE RETREAT FROM PULASKI 
 
TO NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE. 37 
 
 receiving a slight wound in the leg from the same shot that killed his 
 horse. Just then a young Sergeant, all made up of true mettle, and with 
 flashing eye, turned and brought his gun down on the ground and said: 
 "Hold on, hoys; I don't go back another step." About 20 stopped with 
 him. 1 patted him on the back and led him with his men into our reserve 
 line; perhaps others stopped, but the great mass went through the town 
 and across the river. Wagner was a great fighter; it is said that bullets 
 rattled out of his clothes for a month after the battle of Stone's River, 
 and his division was as good as any other, but they had been pressed too 
 closely, and for some reason thought the whole line would break. Their 
 
 officers tried hard to check them, 
 
 but their organization was brok- 
 
 .''.."■sT^Ta ..~:'*?Wp\!il£''/''\'' : - «a - \ .. i-'n in their scramble back frmu 
 
 . r"j,wT\ ' "^' A y(£WjjfWk / (^'Wed* the tr " nt - It xvas not the fault 
 fVii-'rf^ f^Jty 'y$. by' of the men - nor their officers, 
 
 O+M^Y'fjzr^iC'*' P- V ' but <>f theil * rash Genera b and it 
 
 'till fc£" '___ ^ILpJib _^? W as the only fault in his long, 
 
 splendid career; but it lost him 
 Gen. Wagner trying to rally the two brigades his command. I'oor Wagner is 
 
 in their routs to the rear. , , , • , • TT 
 
 now dead; his soul is m Heaven 
 
 with the heroes, and let us exercise our full measure of charity in forgiv- 
 ing this one error, and cherish the memory of his personal valor and 
 dauntless courage on the hard-fought battlefields of the West. 
 
 If our men, in this part of the line, with every fiber strained to al- 
 most breaking tension, could have had time to fire two or three volleys, 
 they would have regained the nerve they had lost during this awful sus- 
 pense, and held the line without a waver. But Cheatham's whole corps 
 was right on top of those few regiments before they could fire a shot, 
 and some of them were forced back a short distance from the line on 
 either side of the pike. Xow was the great opportunity for the brave 
 Cols. Rousseau and White and the battery commander, Charley Scoville. 
 The two former were in command of Reilly's second line and had been 
 cautioned by Gen. Cox, before riding over to Henderson's Hrigade. to 
 look out for a break at this point, and when it did come they were ready. 
 These troops were made up of those daring, earnest men from the moun- 
 tains of East Tennessee and Kentuckians from the northeastern part of 
 the State, where they were so thoroughly loyal that they kept on shooting 
 rebels after the war was over. They did not wait for an order, but sprang 
 over the low rifle-pits like tigers, and with a shrill shout that was heard 
 even above the rebel yell, and a heroism rarely equalled by men, went 
 pell-mell into the mass of Confederates that had taken our line and did 
 not know what to do with it. At the same time Charley Scoville cracked 
 his blacksnake whip around the ears of his artillerymen, and drove them 
 
THE RETREAT FROM PULASKI 
 
 back to the guns. At it they went with pick-axes and shovels, slashing 
 all around them with the forocity of demons. 
 
 For a few minutes there was a fierce hand-to-hand combat, and. it 
 was right in those few minutes that the fate of one or the other of the 
 armies was to be decided. For a little time it looked decidedly against 
 us. but the desperate determination of our men. who were rallying to 
 regain the line, had its effect, and a change began to show itself. 
 
 A moment before Gen. Cox had sent Lieut. Tracy, one of his Aids, 
 to order up Opdycke's Brigade, but they were already filing up the pike, 
 left in front, with their chivalric chief on foot by their side. Gen. Cox 
 led them diagonally across the pike, so as to uncover the buildings in 
 Carter's yard, preparatory to charging the broken line in Strickland's 
 front. They were pointed directly toward the place Rousseau and White 
 were engaged, and the Confederates took it for a heavy reinforcement 
 of that part of the line. One by one they seemed shaken, feeling that 
 they were to be overpowered ; and, not wishing to place themselves again 
 in our front, they threw down their arms and rushed to our rear, prison- 
 ers without a guard. 
 
 When Opdycke's men faced to the front to charge the line, it was a 
 more serious undertaking, as a larger number of men had broken over 
 the works at this point, and had obtained a firmer footing. But there 
 was nothing too alarming for ( )pdvcke's bravery, and he urged his men 
 forward, placing himself where he could prevent stragglers from drop- 
 ping out. He broke his revolver over men's heads, and then seized a 
 gun, and whoever looked back within his reach was jobbed under the 
 blouse. So he rushed them on, and forced Brown's men from the out- 
 buildings in Carter's yard. Strickland's men rallying, counter-charged 
 and joined him and soon the ground was in our possession again, and a 
 second line established. 
 
 Gen. Cox remained mounted during the entire engagament, so as to 
 carefully watch the whole line; and while the confusion was greatest, 
 during the break, he was in the midst, display- 
 ing heroic bravery, with hopeful look and 
 sword poised above. The men saw his con- 
 spicuous figure, rallied around him, and he 
 waved them back to the line. His sublime 
 courage was an inspiration, and the weakest 
 man in his command could not withstand its 
 ISKiV ^n\fW]WS J influence. If ever an example of personal 
 -Jm^kff/lmlzr L bravery turned a tide of battle, surely at this 
 point Gen. Cox's quiet but superb magnetism 
 impelled every man who caught his eye to 
 redoubled effort in wresting victory from de- 
 Gen. Cox rallying his troops, feat. Gen. Stanley was also there, showing 
 
TO NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE. 
 
 Capt. A. P. Baldwin. 
 
 Com. Battery 4th A. C. 
 
 great gallantry in encouraging 
 the troops, but was wounded be- 
 fore he had been on the field 10 
 minutes ; his horse was shot un- 
 der him and Gen. Cox dis- 
 mounted his staff officer, Tracey, 
 who was riding his heavy clay- 
 bank horse, turning it over to 
 Stanley who rode to the rear. 
 
 Every charge ordered by 
 Hood, or any of his Generals, 
 after this first dreadful ava- 
 lanche crumbled and broke, was 
 foolhardy and reckless. After 
 our line was re-established it was 
 as steady as a granite wall ; it 
 was next to impossible to break 
 it, and the enemy could only get 
 over our parapet as prisoners or 
 by being killed in the attempt. 
 The brave soldiers of the South 
 felt it, too, for their after charges, although started with a veil, were 
 >ilent as they reached our furious sheets of flame, and as they were forced 
 in their heads were bent, their hats pulled down, and their arms shielding 
 from sight the almost certain death that awaited them. 
 
 It was the writer's pleasure, a few years since, while on a pilgrimage 
 to the old battlefields, to meet at Nashville the late Gen. Cheatham, a very 
 comfortable man to approach, with a make-up about equally divided be- 
 tween a well-to-do Southern farmer and a Prussian Field-Marshal, hav- 
 ing a ruddy, full face and snow-white mustache. lie greeted me most 
 cordially, clasping me in his arms, and said: "Well, I heard you were 
 here, and I've been looking all over for you. Welcome to Tennessee: 
 any man who was in the 
 battle of Franklin, no mat- 
 ter which side, is my 
 friend." Then we had a 
 good chat about old times. 
 Referring to the two brig- 
 ades out in front : "Ah." 
 he said, "if it hadn't been 
 for the mistake your side 
 made there, you would 
 have killed every man in 
 our armv, and God knows 
 
 ^_ C ^ul" l,:^*m?* _=*Os^S 
 
 Artillerymen tilling their stockings with 
 bullets. 
 
THE RETREAT FROM PULASKI 
 
 you killed enough of them." It is undoubtedly a fact that if the 
 brigades had been called in at the right time, no part of our line would 
 have been broken; and if all our brigades had heeded the precaution 
 to place head-logs on our works, and abatised our front, as Casement's 
 did, the loss all along the lines would have been as light as his, which 
 was comparatively insignificant. The officers of Casement's Brigade had 
 their men take timbers from the cotton-gin house at the right of the 
 line, also cut trees from the grove, and carried the logs in to be placed on 
 the top of the parapet. They rested on cross-ties hollowed out to receive 
 them, leaving a three-inch space through which to fire. 
 
 Henderson's Brigade, on our extreme left, reached to the railroad 
 track, and the works were built in the grounds of a large mansion, which 
 were bordered by a splendid osage-orange hedge. 
 
 The line was located about 50 feet from this hedge, so that by cut- 
 ting off the trees about four feet above the ground it left an impenetrable 
 obstruction, and at the same time open enough through which to fire. 
 The tops were scattered along in front of Casement's Brigade, making 
 one of the most deceptive rows of abatis ever formed ; it was light, but 
 an occasional crotched stick held it in place. 
 
 Walthall's men stopped when it was reached; they were bewildered; 
 they couldn't get over it ; they undertook to pull it away, but the sharp 
 thorns pierced their hands, and they gave that up ; then right in the 
 smoke of our guns they faced to the right, and filed through a gap made 
 by a wild charging horse. All this time death was pouring into them 
 sheets of flame and lead from the three-inch gap under the head-logs. 
 One company of the 65th Bid. had repeating Spencer rifles, and at that 
 short range their execution must have been terrible. 
 
 Capt. Baldwin's battery was stationed at this point (15 on map), 
 where the dead were piled up like snowdrifts in Winter time, and here 
 it was that the obstructions caused them to mass so many deep. 
 
 Gen. Adams' horse killed on the 
 breast-works. 
 
TO NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE. 
 
 Brig. Gen. John Adams. 
 Killed at Battle of Franklin. 
 
 ■*>« r r» 
 
 Maj. Gen. Edward C. Walthall, 
 Com. Division Stewart's Corps. 
 
 The brave Captain quickly took advantage of the situation, and to 
 mow down this dense forest of humanity he loaded his guns to the 
 muzzles with triple rounds of canister and dummies made with stockings 
 which the gunners took from their feet, and filled with bullets from the 
 infantry ammunition boxes. To use the Captain's words, "At every 
 discharge of my gun there were two distinct sounds — first the explosion, 
 and then the bones." What fearful carnage, where, at short range, such 
 loads of iron and lead were driven through the living wall of men, that 
 the crunching of the bones could be distinguished ! It was the same 
 battery that was saved while marching out of Spring Hill by the coolness 
 of one of the non-commissioned officers. ( )rders had been given to try 
 to push through on the Franklin pike, with instructions to abandon and 
 destroy the guns, and to save themselves and horses by breaking off into 
 the fields on the left, if attacked and hard-pressed. 
 
 They were halted by a rebel picket reserve, posted a short distance 
 fnm the road, and the demand came out from the darkness: "What 
 battery is vou-uns?" The commander was about to reply by unlimbering 
 and turning his guns upon them, when the quick thought struck one of 
 his Corporals to say, in a careless voice, "Tenth Alabam. What reegi- 
 ment is you-uns?" "Fourteenth Missipp," was the reply, and, apparently 
 satisfied, the drowsy sentinel settled down in the fence-corner to sleep. 
 They pushed on, and were not again molested until nearly daylight, when 
 they were attacked by Hood's cavalry. "Battery by the left Hank: Fire 
 to the rear," was the Captain's prompt order. A half-dozen rounds of 
 
THE RETREAT FROM PULASKI 
 
 1 2-pound solid shot scattered the cav- 
 alry and saved the trains of two 
 corps. 
 
 After dark, when it was safe to 
 look over the works, it was a ghastly 
 sight to see the mangled dead. All 
 along in front of Casement's line the 
 bodies reminded one of a rail fence 
 toppled over and crossed many deep ; 
 or as if grim death had built a new 
 abatis of thickly-tangled boughs. The 
 ditch at Fort Sanders, Knoxville, 
 just one year before, where the pick 
 of Longstreet's army lay writhing as 
 thick as the sealions on the cliff rocks 
 near the Golden ( -rate was bad 
 enough to look at, but this was hor- 
 rible. 
 
 The groans and moanings were 
 
 pitiable from the poor fellows who 
 
 were so badly wounded that they 
 
 could not move away. 
 
 [The figures that follow refer to positions indicated on the map.] 
 
 (i) Here is where Gen. John Adams plunged through the abatis, 
 
 cleared the ditch, and fell across the crest and headlog ; the rider fell 
 
 outside the line, with from 30 to 40 wounds. He was gently handled, and 
 
 placed upon the ground inside the lines. 
 
 ( 2 ) This is where Jack Casement stood when 
 
 speech. 
 
 When the approaching enemy was nearing 
 
 our line he sprang upon the works and turned 
 
 to his troops, and, with that noted ringing voice 
 
 that every one could hear: "Men, do you see 
 
 those damn rebel ( you all know 
 
 the other three words) coming?" 
 
 Then a shout went up. "Well, I want you 
 
 to stand here like rocks, and whip hell out of 
 
 them." He then faced about and fired his 
 
 revolvers until they were empty, and jumped ,/J 
 
 down with the men. \( 
 
 The oratory may not have been as elegant 
 
 as though studied for the occasion, but Caesar 
 
 Brig. Gen. John S. Casement. 
 Com. 2nd Brig. 3d Div. 23 A. C. 
 
 to his Romans and Hannibal to his Carthagen- 
 ians never made speeches thrilling their ar- 
 
 Gen. Jack Casement holding 
 his men to the line. 
 
TO NASHVILLE. TENNESSEE. 
 
 mies with more effect. It was what they understood and appreciated, and 
 what they did afterwards showed how well it was heeded. Not one man 
 left the line, and it was Col. Jack's example that held them to the firing 
 line. As a commander of men he had no superior, having that magnetic 
 influence which drew from them their full capacity of service. His look 
 and command held them as firmly as the silken sashes that bound together 
 the Greeks at the pass of Thermopylae. 
 
 Just at this time, when the Confederate line was close to our works, 
 and our men were concealed by the head-logs. Jim Coughlan, a Lieutenant 
 of the 24th Kv., and Gen. Cox's favorite Aid, mounted his black horse, 
 and, swinging his cavalry saber over his head, charged back and forth 
 along the whole line, cheering the men. and they all turned and gave him 
 a cheer, for ever}- man knew the gallant officer. He is the one who, on 
 the white horse, led every charge of the Twenty-third and Fourth Corps 
 across the field on the first day at Resaca ; and all through the Atlanta 
 campaign just such brilliant achievements on his part were noticed. It 
 was not his dashing gallantry alone that made him such a favorite, hut 
 his military genius was of the highest order, and he was ever ready and 
 anxious for duty, with no thought of the weather or hour of the night. 
 If there was a spice of danger in it. he was better suited. Often, to avoid 
 the dullness of cam]) life, he has begged to accompany me on topographical 
 trips, when it was necessary to get information about the country ahead 
 of us. 
 
 He was alwavs of the greatest assistance to me. But what risks he 
 would take! It was my custom to approach a log hut or rail pile on the 
 road cautiously and expose as little of myself and horse as possible; but 
 he would gallop on ahead in the middle of the road, singing or whistling 
 with the greatest glee, and there had to be more than two rebel cavalry- 
 men stationed in the road to keep him from charging. When he mounted 
 his horse at Franklin and rode off along the line, with his full figure 
 exposed above the works, the staff officers remarked to each other that 
 he would surely be killed. It was late at night when we found him near 
 the cotton-gin, where the hand-to-hand fighting was the fiercest. We 
 lifted the cape from his pale face, and the stars looked down with us and 
 wept. He was a handsome fellow of 22 years, with intelligent blue eyes, 
 classic features, and a trim brown beard that the contaminating razor had 
 never touched. Me was born in southern Illinois, of Irish parents. 
 Previous to the war he found employment as a school teacher in Ken- 
 tucky, and when his regiment was recruited he was one of the first to offer 
 his services. 
 
 The ride to Nashville was lonely to me, and I expected, after three 
 days and two nights without sleep, when we spread our blankets on the 
 floor of a small house outside the lines, that slumber would come quickly; 
 but it was not so with me. After supper I called my black servant, 
 
THE RETREAT FROM PULASKI 
 
 Scott, to bring me a bucket of water, 
 with which I swashed out my boot, 
 that was plastered thick on the inside 
 with foul mud made from the dust 
 of the pike and blood that trick- 
 led from two wounds that were not 
 at all painful. After making myself 
 as clean and comfortable as possible, 
 I sat on the side of my bed and looked 
 over to the empty half that my good 
 friend Coughlan had occupied, and 
 my only utterance was "Poor Jim." 
 In my broken sleep I rolled over sev- 
 eral times during the night, and the 
 same sorrowful words escaped me. It 
 made me wakeful, and I was broken 
 with grief to think that I could not 
 be with him while he was dying to 
 hear his last request and give him my 
 hand for his death-grip. Before day- 
 light I got up and sat by the window, 
 for the bed was so lonely. The one 
 who had shared the blankets with me 
 for nearly a year was back at the Harpeth River, near the bridge-head, 
 with two feet of earth over him. This brave officer could see only one 
 thing in martial glory, and that was to die in battle. 
 
 His mind had been usually bright and happy, but gloomy spells were 
 coming oftener as the dread disease of epilepsy increased and blighted his 
 future. The nights were more frequent, when, after one of these 
 spasms, I gently rolled him back in bed. 
 
 There was no suffering, and he had no recollection in the morning of 
 what had occurred ; but once in a 
 
 while a depressed feeling would c~} J 
 
 prompt him to ask me if he had 
 been unwell in the night, and I 
 would satisfy him with a cheering 
 word. We who knew him, when 
 we saw him dead, believed that 
 what he most dearly wished had 
 come. Dying like a hero in one 
 
 of the greatest battles of the Gallant Jim Coughlan on his 
 
 world's historv, before his mind last ride. 
 
 First Lt. James Coughlan, 
 
 Aide de Camp Maj. Gen. J. D. Cox's 
 
 Staff. 
 
 Killed at Battle of Franklin. 
 
 Photographed hefore the war time 
 
TO NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE. 
 
THE RETREAT FROM PULASKI 
 
 became clouded and his system broken with bad health, was to him well 
 treasured as his dearest prayer. 
 
 (3) During one of the charges that was made on this part of the 
 line, an incident occurred at Scoville's battery which is worth relating. 
 
 A slight boy of not more than 15 years, with drum on his back, 
 belonging to one of the Missouri regiments, foolishly attempted to force 
 his way through one of the embrasures and thrust a fence rail into the 
 mouth of the cannon, thinking, by his brave act, to stop the use of that 
 gun. It was heavily loaded at the time, and was fired, tearing the poor 
 boy to shreds, so that nothing was ever found of him. 
 
 After our return from Nashville, we again put up at the Carter 
 House, where we found a young man nursing two companions. After 
 breakfast he accompanied me in front of the works, and pointed out 
 where his regiment was buried. There were only three of his company 
 left — two wounded and he alone unhurt. All the other companies suf- 
 fered about the same loss. Their graves were marked with slabs of stave 
 timber and the names painted thereon. 
 
 ( )ur dead were gathered from the field and thrown promiscuously 
 into the ditch and covered en masse with a foot of earth. There is 
 nothing left of the old cotton-gin but the stone foundation piers on which 
 the timbers stood, but near the site is a brick college building, and on 
 the sloping grounds in front of same the ditch where our men are buried 
 is plainly marked by a strip of verdure much brighter in color than the 
 adjoining lawn, and studded with daisies and buttercups of luxurious 
 growth, enriched with the blood of the heroes of both sides, whose spirits 
 were here intertwined and ascended together into bivouac above the skies, 
 reporting to the Great Commander with equal faith in the justice of their 
 
 o ; ; 
 
 This little locust grove, shown on the map, was a sight to see after 
 the battle. The trees stood in a swampy swale, were from two to five 
 inches in diameter, and very close together. They were in front of 
 Opdycke's and Strickland's Brigades, where more charges were made 
 than on any other part of the line. The firing here from both sides was 
 
 terrific. Many of the larger 
 trees were cut entirely off by 
 bullets, all that were standing 
 and all the stumps had each 
 hundreds of bullet marks. 
 Some were cut in shreds from 
 bottom to top, and had the ap- 
 pearance, as much as any- 
 thing, of broken hempstocks. 
 The slopes beyond our whole 
 Confederate soldiers charging with their front resembled fields re- 
 hats pulled over their eyes. cently raked or harrowed. 
 
TO NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE. 
 
 Ma j. Gen. Patric R. Cleburn, 
 
 Com. Div. Cheatham's Corps. 
 
 Killed on Columbia Pike. 
 
 Brig. Gen. S. R. Gist. 
 Killed at Battle of Franklin. 
 
 The Carter cottage, at this point, is the first place visited by Southern 
 tourists. The dwelling, which is of brick, looks on the south end as if it 
 had been marked with smallpox in blue spots, and all the surrounding- 
 outbuilding's have bullet marks in almost every square inch. There were 
 also holes from solid shot or shells from rebel guns. 
 
 Col. Carter, who at the time was a paroled prisoner, his father, with 
 members of the family and neighbors, remained in the cellar during the 
 whole of the fearful carnage. After the battle was over, and our men 
 had left, the sisters and others of the household took lanterns and went 
 out in the rear of their house, hoping to be of some service to the 
 wounded, and among the first was their own dear brother, between the 
 locust grove and the abatis, mortally wounded. 
 
 A large proportion of Cheatham's command were raised in this part 
 of Tennessee, which accounts, to a great extent, without doubt, for their 
 determination and bravery in trying to drive the invaders from their 
 homes. 
 
 (4) This is the spot where Gen. Fat Cleburne, the raw-boned Irish 
 General from Arkansas, one of the greatest fighters in the Confederate 
 army, fell with his iron-gray stallion, in a perfect cyclone of leaden hail. 
 The horse was ico feet from the line, but Cleburne's body was found close 
 to the works in the middle of the pike. 
 
 (5) Gen. Gist was killed here trying to carry Strickland's line; and 
 (6) Gen. Gordon was captured here by the Carter House; (7) Strahl 
 was killed here, and (8) Carter mortallv wounded. 
 
THE RETREAT FROM PULASKI 
 
 Brig. Gen. Otto F. Strahl, 
 Killed at Franklin, Term. 
 
 Brig. Gen. John C. Carter, 
 Wounded at Battle of Franklin. 
 
 What record will compare with that? Brown, the division com- 
 mander, was wounded, three of the brigade commanders killed and the 
 fourth captured. Surely, Cheatham and Cleburne had kept their promise 
 of the early morning that Hood would have no occasion to again find 
 fault with their bravery and determination, and the Generals under them 
 had by their peerless leadership sustained them in their efforts ; but, oh, 
 at what fearful cost! After the battle it was found that in some parts 
 of Brown's line the dead were lying seven deep, and regimental and 
 company officers were found supported stiff and erect against this barri- 
 cade of dead, with their ghastly eyes wide open and their chins dropped 
 down, as though looking in horror and reproach at the enemy who had 
 made such ruthless havoc. 
 
 (9) Gen. Managault fell severely wounded in front of Moore's 
 Brigade. 
 
 The loss of general officers in Stewart's Corps was also large, but not 
 so fatal. 
 
 (10) Gen. Cockrell, brigade commander in French's Division, fell 
 with two severe wounds. 
 
 (11) Gen. Quarles's command of Walthall's Division suffered heav- 
 ily ; he himself was terribly wounded ; his staff officers were all killed, and 
 
TO NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE. 
 
 rig. Gen. Hiram B. Cranberry. 
 Killed at Battle of Franklin. 
 
 Brig. Gen. Arthur M. Manigault. 
 Wounded at Battle of Franklin. 
 
 the regimental field officers were all killed and wounded, so that the rank- 
 ing officer of the brigade who led them off was only a Captain. 
 
 (12) Gen. Scott, brigade commander in Loring's Division, was 
 wounded by a shell during the first charge. 
 
 ( 13 ) Gen. Granberry, of Cleburne's Division, was killed on the pike 
 in one of the desperate charges that were made to carry the center. This 
 terrible loss of general officers is probably the greatest shown in so short 
 a battle. The loss of field and company officers was also surprisingly 
 large. In some of the regiments of French's line there were no commis- 
 sioned officers read)- for duty, all being either killed, wounded or captured. 
 Many of the field and line officers gave themselves up and came over our 
 lines, the most of them reporting to (leu. Cox, and their stories were 
 
 gloom v in the extreme. 
 
 They said the organization of the 
 whole army was broken; that there 
 was hardly a company officer that 
 knew where his men were. 
 
 Some of them were in the battle 
 before Atlanta on the 22c! day of 
 July (the day McPherson was 
 
 Confederate .lead standing erect among killed > ■ This was the SeCOnd fierce 
 the wounded. battle that I food made after he 
 
 
THE RETREAT FROM PULASKI 
 
 superseded Johnston, where the Con- 
 federates assaulted our works and 
 were repulsed. Then their right wing 
 enveloped our left flank and attacked 
 us in the rear, our men springing over 
 the rebel side of the fortifications and 
 meeting their assault, defeating them 
 with great slaughter, and pursuing 
 them with loud shouts, which the en- 
 emy in our front mistook for a suc- 
 cess by the flanking columns, and 
 again attacked us with much fury, 
 only to be terribly cut by the fire of 
 our men for the third time. They 
 thought that was hard fighting, but it 
 was nothing compared to this, and 
 they added: "What is the use in fight- 
 ing any more? Haven't we had 
 enough of it?" 
 
 (14) Right here is where Clarkie 
 died. The men of the 7th ( )hio will 
 need no other name to understand 
 whom T mean, but others will know 
 him better as Mervin Clark, who went out in the very beginning of 
 the war as Orderly-Sergeant of DeYillier's Zouaves. He was the light, 
 delicate boy of 17 who was so brilliant in the bayonet exercise. He was 
 the idol of the old 7th, and soon received a commission for gallantry. 
 It was his example in front of the firing line, with his bright smile and 
 apparent unconcern under heavy firing, that stimulated many an older 
 officer and impelled them to deeds of bravery. He had the lovely char- 
 acter of a gentle girl and the lion heart of a hero combined. After his 
 term of service as Captain of the 7th and muster-out, he returned to his 
 Cleveland home. During a visit to a neighboring town on the lake shore 
 he became engaged to a beautiful 
 young woman, whom he had known 
 since childhood; but parental consent 
 was refused, and in his despondency 
 enlisted in the Regular army. Some 
 of his influential friends secured a 
 commission for him as Lieutenant- 
 Colonel of the 183d Ohio, and he was 
 with it, in command. They were 
 mostly young recruits, with a few vet- 
 erans from old regiments. To a large 
 
 Lt. Col. Mervin Clark, 
 
 Killed while in command of the 
 
 [83d O. V. I. 
 
 g&P' 
 
 Clark killed while 
 his men. 
 
TO NASHVILLE. TENNESSEE. 
 
 proportion, though, this was their first baptism of fire. When the solid 
 lines of Brown's Division rushed against them, one wing broke, and Col. 
 Clark seized the colors from the hearer and rushed to the erest of the 
 works, then turned to his men, holding the flag above his head and 
 begged them to come hack. They did go hack, hut found poor "Clarkie" 
 dead. 
 
 He fell in the arms of Col. Zollinger, of the 123d Ind. It was a 
 great loss to the men. with whom he was so popular, hut under other 
 brave officers they remained in the works until they were relieved with 
 the rest of the line. I lis loss was to me a source of great sorrow, for we 
 
 Ma j. Gen. John C. Brown, 
 Wounded at Battle of Franklin. 
 
 Brig. Gex. Geokge W. Gordon. 
 Captured at Battle of Franklin. 
 
 were schoolmates and he was my boyhood chum. After dinner. Col. 
 Casement called at our headquarters and told us that Clarkie, with his new 
 regiment, was over in back of our house on the line. My first impulse 
 was to rush over and see him, but at that instant was called out on the 
 works in our front. When 1 heard that he was among the killed, I re- 
 gretted that 1 did not steal even a few minutes to go over and greet him 
 before the battle commenced. They captured some of our colors while 
 crowding Wagner's Brigade back from the front, and at the breaking of 
 our line; but we secured a great many more of theirs. 
 
 My recollection now is that 20-odd stands were taken in front of 
 Reilly's Brigade, and that Lieut. Brown, of Reilly's staff, captured eight 
 
THE RETREAT FROM PULASKI 
 
 William M. Wherry, 
 Aide Alaj. Gen. John M. 
 Schofield's Staff. 
 
 Col. Theodore Cox, 
 
 Adjutant General Maj. Gen. J. D. Cox's 
 
 Staff. 
 
 of them, and carried them in person to Washington. About 10:30 o'clock 
 at night a staff officer from headquarters rode over to our line, and told 
 Gen. Cox that Gen. Schofield had received a dispatch from Thomas to 
 immediately fall back on Nashville. Gen. Gox then related to the staff 
 officer the true condition of affairs in our front, and the reports we had 
 received from the prisoners of the terribly cut-up condition of their whole 
 army, stating that, under the circumstances, it would be a mistake to re- 
 treat, and begging him to go back to the General, and see if Thomas 
 could not be prevailed upon to countermand his orders, to send on in the 
 night fresh supplies of ammunition, and, if possible, (yen. A. J. Smith's 
 command. He also sent his Adjutant-General, Col. Theodore Cox, with 
 the message that he would answer with his head for holding the lines; 
 and that we ought to assume the offensive from that point, without delay, 
 and reap the full benefit of the terrible defeat we had already indicted 
 upon Hood's army. 
 
 Gen. Schofield's reply was : "Tell Gen. Cox he has won a glorious 
 victory, and I have no doubt we could do as he suggests in the morning. 
 But my orders from Gen. Thomas are imperative, and we must move 
 back to Nashville as soon as possible." 
 
 Orders were then given to leave a strong skirmish line in the works 
 in charge of Maj. Dow, Cox's Inspector, and withdraw the troops to 
 the other side of the river. About the time the movement was started. 
 
TO NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE. 
 
 Brig. Gen. Frank M. Cockerell. 
 Wounded at Battle of Franklin. 
 
 Brig. Gen. William A. Quarles, 
 Wounded at Battle of Franklin. 
 
 a house was set on fire in the town, the light of which would expose our 
 withdrawal, and the fire had to be extinguished before we actually started ; 
 in due time, though, everything, including troops, trains, wounded, and 
 prisoners, also the skirmish line, were safely crossed. The planks were 
 removed from the bridges, and we again took up our retreat to Nashville. 
 
 A few years after the war it was my pleasure to ride in the cars 
 from Columbus, Ohio, to Baltimore, in company with Gen. S. 1). Lee, 
 one of Hood's Corps Commanders in the Tennessee campaign. After 
 introducing ourselves, he being from Mississippi and I from ( )hio, our 
 conversation soon drifted into war matters, and when he found that I 
 had a pretty fair idea of the battlefield of Franklin, we were warm 
 friends, and in a friendly way we fought over that battle all the way to 
 Baltimore. I le told me what shape they were in that night. At 12 o'clock 
 they were not aware of our retreat, and Mood had called a council of 
 war. He first asked Stewart what he had to report. That ( ieneral replied 
 that his corps was all cut to pieces; that there was no organization 
 left except with the artillery; that his losses had been very heavy, that he 
 would not be able to make an active move in the morning. 
 
 Cheatham was then called upon, and his report was even more 
 despondent and gloomy. Then looking fiercely at Lee, Hood said: "Are 
 you. too, going back on me? - ' He replied : "( ieneral, two of my divisions 
 are badly cut up, but ! have one division left that has not been engaged. 
 
THE RETREAT FROM PULASKI 
 
TO NASHVILLE. TENNESSEE. 
 
THE RETREAT FROM PULASKI 
 
 and, if you say so, in the morning I will take them and charge with the 
 bayonet." Hood saw, of course, that there was no use in attempting 
 offensive operations again, but decided right there at daylight they would 
 mass their artillery and hurl shot and shell at our works and the town 
 during the entire day, and make as bold a show as possible preparatory 
 to getting out of the bad situation into which his foolhardy intrepidity had 
 led him. There is no doubt that when in the early morning he discovered 
 our troops were withdrawn, there never lived a man more surprised. He 
 fully expected that we would take advantage of his crippled condition, 
 and move out to crush him; knowing full-well that he could only fall 
 back to the hills and rely upon his artillery and cavalry to hold us in 
 check, while he withdrew his shattered army back across Duck River. 
 
 In fact, instead of at once pursuing, he remained there, not knowing 
 what to do, and it was not until the 3d of December that he moved up 
 to Nashville and established his lines. Even this timid movement was 
 doubtless intended only to cover his retreat, and give him a chance to fix 
 up the railroad and bridges, so as to get his transportation safely back on 
 the south side of the river. How well he succeeded in this was demon- 
 strated from the fact that notwithstanding our rapid pursuit, no wagons 
 or equipment were captured on the road from Xashville to Columbia 
 after we passed through the camps south of the town. After so many 
 facts had been learned, there is no doubt that Gen. Cox was right when 
 he first advised against the retreat from Franklin. Although the result 
 at Xashville has been considered glorious, still, if the "Old Rock of 
 Chickamauga" could for once have been turned, and sent the 9,000 of 
 Smith's command, who were at Xashville on the 30th of November, 
 by forced march to Franklin, and the balance with Steadman's troops as 
 soon as they could have been forwarded, the result at Franklin would have 
 been far more glorious. We would have had the enemy in the open field 
 instead of behind intrenchments, and we would have found them that 
 morning in the most thoroughly demoralized state in which an army could 
 be placed. We would, to say the least, have saved the losses of the first 
 day of the battle of Xashville, and would have captured very much more 
 in the way of prisoners, artillery, and trains. It would have given us the 
 opportunity to bury our dead as soldiers, and not have them thrown in 
 the ditches as carrion and covered with only a foot of earth. Perhaps 
 the most important advantage, though, to our side would have been the 
 fact that their army would be so deficient in leaders, so many of their 
 best Generals, field officers and commanders in the line having been killed 
 and disabled; and there would not have been time for the reorganization 
 that was accomplished in the next fortnight at Xashville. Besides they 
 would have been burdened with their thousands of wounded and the 
 absence in the line of the able-bodied men who would have to accompany 
 them to the rear would still farther weaken their effective force. It re- 
 
TO NASHVILLE, TENNESSEI 
 
THE RETREAT FROM PULASKI 
 
 ill i^l 
 
TO NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE. 
 
 quired a full day to get the seriously wounded in field hospitals and those 
 who were able to travel loaded in wagons for the rear. 
 
 Among the prisoners that we captured there were a large number 
 that were slightly wounded and able to accompany ns to Nashville. 
 
 Just before starting on our midnight march north of the river I 
 alighted from my reserve horse to give him a rest, for he was slightly 
 wounded, and visited with a group of prisoners and guards that had been 
 halted on the road by a hillside, where overhanging roots and boughs 
 concealed them sufficiently, so that they had made small fires, and were 
 preparing coffee. The big-hearted guards were sharing liberally from 
 their haversacks with the prisoners. 
 
 It was an impressive incident to witness such comradeship and 
 listen to their jokes. In the red flickering light and blue smoke, with a 
 dark background, it was a picturesque sight that would have delighted 
 a Salvator to study. Some of the prisoners were grimy, had long hair 
 and black stubbed beards with blood-stained bandages over scalp wounds, 
 and arm slings of yellow and red bandannas. 
 
 All were ragged and dirty, mostly in butternut homespun, and nearly 
 all wore black or gray slouch hats, several marked with bullet holes. 
 Some of the older ones were silent and thoughtful, but the younger men 
 were cheerful and apparently enjoying their captive life. 
 
 They were congratulating themselves that their guns and accouter- 
 ments, which had been tossed into army wagons, would be no longer a 
 burden to them; and there was an evident feeling of relaxation after the 
 fearful ordeal that had so thoroughly tried their splendid courage. 
 
 It was plainly noticeable in the faces of nearly all of them that they 
 had lost heart in their cause; but there were exceptions, for some were 
 still defiant and full of fight, as shown by their bold and dogged expres- 
 sions. 
 
 The battle of Franklin was without doubt the most decisive engage- 
 ment of the campaign, and perhaps tended more than any other towards 
 terminating general hostilities in the West; for on this bloody field the 
 strongest army of the Confederacy in this section of the country was so 
 thoroughly cut-up and weakened that it was no longer feared in offensive 
 operations. 
 
 The heroic stand made by the Twenty-third Corps and Opdycke's 
 Brigade of the Fourth Corps, with the magnificent valor displayed by the 
 sturdy veterans of these organizations, was the cause of their downfall. 
 After the completion of the campaign at Nashville and the subsequent 
 rout of the Confederates, it was decided that Gen. Schofield's army was 
 no longer needed in the West, and it was transferred to and became a 
 part of the grand army in the East. The Fourth and Sixteenth Corps, 
 under the able leadership of (Jen. Thome's, were considered strong enough 
 to wipe out the last vestiges of the rebellion in the West. 
 
60 
 
 THE RETREAT FROM PULASKI 
 
TO NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE. 
 
THE RETREAT FROM PULASKI 
 
 'mfa-* 
 
 Maj. Gen. Andrew J. Smith, 
 Com. 16th A. C. 
 
 Maj. Gen. James B. McPherson. 
 
 Com. Army of Tennessee, Atlanta 
 
 Campaign. 
 
 It would seem proper, perhaps, before terminating this story of the 
 retreat, to give some account of what happened subsequently at Nash- 
 ville. But this paper has already been drawn out too long, and as our 
 first two weeks' besiegement was of a very monotonous character, be- 
 leagured by an army that we know was crippled to death, almost by 
 defeat, it would hardly be interesting to you to hear a description of our 
 chafing and uneasiness — particularly the last week, which would appear 
 as slipshod to you as it did to us. 
 
 The authorities at Washington were very uneasy because of our 
 inactivity, and Gen. Logan had been sent by Halleck with an order to 
 relieve Thomas and place Schofield in command. He was detained at 
 Louisville by the same ice storm that had for several days made it im- 
 possible for us to move. Nothing occurred until the last two days of our 
 stay at Nashville, the 15th and 16th of December. 
 
 The sun coming out bright and warm, melted the ice, and our army 
 started early. The first day's maneuvers, however, were confined to skir- 
 mishing and crowding back the advanced lines to their main works, which 
 were accomplished with light losses. Gen. Steedman, with his colored 
 troops, moved out vigorously, and were cheered by the whole army for 
 their admirable discipline and soldierly appearance. Gen. Schofield with 
 his Whiplash Corps, the Twenty-third (this name was given us on the 
 Atlanta campaign, because we were always cracking around the flanks), 
 
TO NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE. 
 
 63 
 
 Maj. Genl. Darius X. Cox 
 Com. 2nd Div. 23d A. C. 
 Battle of Nashville. 
 
 M.\J. ( .KX. ( lORDON < rRANGER, 
 
 or whom the Fort was named. 
 
 which had been in reserve the morning of the first day, was instructed 
 to move to the extreme right Hank, and connect with the right of Smith's 
 command. We took the fields near the 1 larding Like, and marched 
 around by the Hillshoro Pike. Couch's Division of the Twenty-third 
 Corps drove the enemy from their advanced works late in the afternoon 
 of the 15th, and took up position about a half mile in front of Smith. 
 Cox's Division formed on the right, and went into position before dusk 
 right under Hood's fortifications on Shy's Hill. There a strong line of 
 earthworks was thrown up at the edge of the cornfield near the wood- 
 skirted hills. Our skirmishers and the enemy's were within 100 yards of 
 each other, shielding themselves behind trees. 
 
 ( )ur artillery was placed where we could plant every shell right in 
 their embrasures. Capt. Cockerell, our Chief of Artillery, was an excel- 
 lent gunner, and the first shell he fired from one of our steel Rodmans 
 cut off the head of a Confederate giant who must have been quite seven 
 feet in height, for when we advanced in pursuit my horse jumped through 
 an embrasure and over his headless body, which was more than six feet 
 in length. 
 
 On the morning of the [6th we were confined mostly to artillery and 
 skirmish firing. About 3 o'clock in the afternoon Gen. Wood pushed the 
 Fourth Corps forward, supported by Steedman on the left, to try the 
 strength of the enemy's line, but were repulsed with great loss; Col. Post, 
 a brigade commander, being wounded. 
 
THE RETREAT FROM PULASKI 
 
 Maj. Gen. Jas. B. Steediv 
 
 Com. Colored Troops .1 
 other detachments at 
 Nashville. 
 
 Maj. Gen. James II. Wilson, 
 
 Com. Cavalry, Franklin 
 
 After noon. Gen. Wilson's cavalry, supported by Henderson's Brig- 
 ade of Cox's Division, moved around further on Hood's left flank. This 
 movement was made easier by reason of the absence of Forrest's cavalry 
 at Murfreesboro. This mistake of Hood's in allowing such a useful 
 branch as the cavalry had been in his support to be absent on this day, 
 contributed more to his easy defeat than any other single cause. It 
 enabled Wilson to dismount his men and crowd around in the rear of 
 Chalmers, who was supported by Govan's Brigade. 
 
 Here, with their repeating rifles, they kept up an incessant firing 
 which made Hood extremely anxious, not knowing but one-half of our 
 army was in his rear. In the meantime. Gen. Ale Arthur, of Smith's 
 Corps, had discovered that Bate's position had been weakened in looking 
 after the flank, and reported to Thomas that an attack on Shy's Hill would 
 probably meet with success. Thomas approved of the suggestion, and 
 rode over with his staff to where Gens. Schofield and Cox had made 
 their headquarters. From this point every move could be seen. McArthur 
 placed McMillan's Brigade in position for assault. The artillery from 
 
 
 Brig. Gen. John McArthui 
 Com. Div. 16th A. C. 
 
 '•'I 
 
 Srig. Gen. Jas. W. McMilla 
 
 Com. Brig. McArthur's Div. 
 
 16th A. C. 
 
TO NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE. 
 
 Brig. 
 
 ("■EN. 
 
 T.\s. W. Reilly 
 
 Com. 
 
 1st B 
 
 rig. 3d. Div. 23d 
 A. C. 
 
 Brig. Gen. Jos. A. Cooper, Brig. Gen. 
 
 Com. 2d Div. 23d A. C. Charles C. Doolittle, 
 
 Com. Brig. 3d Div. 23d 
 A. C. 
 
 all our advanced batteries opened with an intense fire on the hill, and our 
 skirmish lines were pushed to the utmost. McMillan's double line went 
 up the hill as steadily as troops in review. ( )eeasionally a rebel gun could 
 be depressed enough to make a gap in the line, but it would immediately 
 close up and press on in superb alignment. This was about 4 o'clock. 
 
 Gen. Thomas, the grand old hero, had dismounted from his horse, 
 and stood in the pouring rain watching the movement closely through his 
 field-glass. Steadily forward moved the lines; gradually they approached 
 the crest of the hill. All this time Wilson's rattling din of arms in their 
 rear was as continuous as hell's clamor ; now they were up to their works ; 
 only for a moment they hesitated, which was followed by a rapid ex- 
 change of fire, face-to-face, and a fierce hand-to-hand clubbing of rifles, 
 then the line broke. 
 
 Logan remained at Louisville. Thomas had been standing as rigidly 
 as a statue of bronze, but quietly turned to Schofield and said: "General, 
 will you please advance your whole line?" 
 
 The order was repeated to Cox, and the staff officers rode at a plung- 
 ing gait over the fields to the different brigades. But the orders were not 
 given to the troops ; they had been watching the movement, too, and 
 followed it without orders. It was one of those momentous occasions 
 when immediate action was justified, and time was too precious to await 
 formal instructions. From this point the whole of Hood's army crumbled 
 right and left. Their backbone had been broken two weeks before at 
 Franklin. There was no fight left in them. 
 
 No such stubborn resistance as when they repulsed our pounding 
 charges at Kenesaw and Lost Mountain. Their officers, of fine ability, 
 who held them with their lines with such tenacity during the Georgia cam- 
 paign, were lying cold and stiff on the southern banks of the Harpeth. 
 Without the leadership they could not stand, and pell-mell they scattered 
 over the Granny White Pike to the Franklin Pike, flying as if old what's- 
 
66 THE RETREAT FROM PULASKI 
 
 his-name was after them. Artillery stuck in the mud, cartridges, guns 
 and accouterments of every description bestrewing the ground, as though 
 they never again expected to have any need of them, but as if their only 
 thoughts were to put as much distance as possible between themselves and 
 the dreadful Yankees. Oh, it was a glorious picnic to rush them from 
 one hill to another, shouting all the way. Brave Walthall checked us oc- 
 casionally with his strong rear-guard ; but Wilson harassed his flanks 
 until he had to fall back again. Little heed was taken of time and ap- 
 proaching darkness. One officer was so carried away with enthusiasm 
 that he became separated from the staff and pushed over to the Fourth 
 Corps, who were in pursuit, and then on with the cavalry over the Brent- 
 wood hills, so that he did not find his way back to headquarters until 3 
 o'clock the next morning, and there found the General and staff stretched 
 out in the mud, each one having two fence rails for a bed, no blankets, 
 no fire, and a drenching rain to cool off the ardour of the previous day. 
 
TO NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE. 
 
A3SES5 
 
 °013 708 95