The Battle of Franklin.
Three years ago my comrade, Rhett Thomas, and I were prospecting in the foot-hills of the Sierra Madre Mountains, in Wyoming. Thomas was an ex-Confederate soldier, a Mississippian. He was tall, slender, lean-flanked, thin-faced, black-eyed, and forty-two years old. On the evening of May 30th we sat by a blazing camp-fire in Bear-creek Valley. The dark, pine-clad highlands behind us resounded with the noise of falling water and the mournful sighing of the swaying pines. We sat silently looking at the fire, here dying down, there suddenly glowing into heat, as if it were alive and swayed by a gust of passion. The fire and the day recalled memories of the war.
"'Thomas,' I said, 'to-day is Decoration-day. Throughout the North, the graves of the men who fell in defense of the Union have been strewn with flowers The memories of the war are being recalled around thousands of hearth stones to-night. You never speak of the war. Break your rule to-night, and tell me a battle story.'
"Thomas looked at me inquiringly for an instant, and then said sadly:
"' I do not like to talk of the war. My father and brothers were killed in battle; our home was burned, our slaves freed, our lands made valueless. My friends and comrades were shot dead by the score. Other scores, weakened by starvation and hard work, and thinly clad, died. The memories of the war are exceedingly painful to me. But,' he added, as he shrugged his shoulders to my entreaty to talk, 'pile some wood on the fire while I cut a couple of pipefuls of tobacco, and then I will tell you of the fiercest battle I was in.'
"I piled logs high on the fire. We lit our pipes on the glowing coals; then, wrapped in our blankets, we sat on the ground, and I listened attentively to my rebel friend.
''I belonged to Joe Johnston's army,' said Thomas. 'We had ceased to talk of our victory at Kennesaw. The daily fighting during our long retreat before Sherman had been almost forgotten. Our lost opportunity on Peach-tree Creek—lost by the removal of Johnston—had ceased to trouble us. The loss of Atlanta, and thousands of our comrades who fell in the battle around that town, was still fresh in our memories. And fresher still was the recollection of the bloody assault on the two redoubts near Altoona, that were held by a couple of thousand Yankees.
"'We had lost Johnston, in whom we had unbounded confidence. Hood, whom we did not consider a safe soldier, was in command. We feared that some of the belief as to the fighting capacity of Northern men, held by the slaveholders before the war, lingered in his mind. We privates had promptly discovered that the Yankees were as efficient fighters as we for two days, and our superiors if the battle lasted three, four, or five days. We had a saying which was founded on fact; it was: 'Yankees must be whipped in two days, or they cannot be beaten at all.'
"' We marched north, south, east, west—in any direction Hood saw fit to lead us—and Sherman trailed after us. At Galesburg he tired of the pleasures of the chase, and abandoned us. We camped for a few days, then crossed the Tennessee River & few miles above Florence, and marched rapidly toward Columbia. Here -we had our first hard fighting in forcing the passage of Duck River. We pushed the Federals from the river, and then made a furious march, fighting as we went, so as to intercept the retreat of Schofield's army. We out marched them, and slept near Spring Hill. When we bivouacked we knew that we had Schofield in a trap, and that he was ours.'
"Thomas ceased talking. He looked gloomily into the fire for an instant, and then said regretfully:
"' Yes, we out marched Schofield, and then we slept, and while we slept Schofield marched by—marched within a half a mile of our camp-fires. I have never seen more intense rage and profound disgust than was expressed by the weary, foot-sore, battle torn Confederate soldiers when they discovered that their officers had allowed their prey to escape. Sullenly we fell into column, and resumed the chase. We pushed Schofield closely. He struck the Harpeth River at Franklin, where the stream makes a right angle. We were so close to Schofield that he did n't dare to attempt to cross the river, for .fear of losing, not only his trains but his army. The Yankees formed a battle line across the neck of land formed by the winding river. Their flanks rested on the water. Their center was on a low hill, where a couple of batteries stood in action.
"' We were on the ground early in the morning. The Yankees had just begun to break earth for an intrenchment. We could see their entire line, and judge correctly of their numbers. We outnumbered them over two to one. The Confederates, though tired and hungry, were keen to be led to the assault. We, one and all, prepared to fight at once, rather than to wait for an hour or two and be fed. After our bloody experience at Altoona we dreaded to attack earth-works manned by veteran Yankee infantry.
''' Now we had Schofield's army cooped. They could not retreat. The river was behind them. We knew that if we attacked at once we could kill them, or capture them, or drive them into the river. But we also knew that if Hood allowed them to throw up an earth-work, it mattered not how slight, that they would most tenaciously hold that defense. They were desperate men. Their only chance was to fight, and fight, and still fight. In the open we could have crushed them in an hour. Once covered, we knew that they could not be crushed; and we privates, who had fought these men for three years knew that they would fight to the last man, almost, once they were warmed to their work.
"'As we stood in column waiting for our orders, I saw the corps and division commanders crowd around Hood, who had ridden onto the field. I dropped out of the ranks, and drew near to the group. They were inspecting the Yankee line. I heard Cleburne, approved and fearless fighter, urge Hood to order the assault at once. I heard other general officers advise him not to waste time, not to allow the Yankees time to cover themselves. Hood refused to order the assault, saying the troops were tired and hungry, and needed food and rest, and he added, contemptuously: 'In ten minutes we can drive the Yankees out of any works they can throw up in two hours. They can not hold that line.' Cleburne shook his head negatively at this, but Hood was firm. When I saw Cleburne, who was ever keen for battle, shake his head, I was discouraged. If Cleburne dreads the work it must be hopeless, I thought.
"'The men were ordered to cook breakfast, and obeyed sullenly. The Yankee earth-works steadily grew as we looked on. Two hours passed, and they were finished, and the Yankee infantry sank out of sight behind them. Them came marching and countermarching on our part. It was four o'clock before our dispositions for the assault were made. From the position I was in I could plainly see the Yankee line. It seemed to be deserted. Now and then the head of a man would appear above the works, or an artillery man would crouch behind a gun, and gaze in our direction.
"' We were formed for the assault. The plan was to launch several columns against.the line, and endeavor to break it at different points, while the real attack would be made on the little hill where the two batteries stood. Our artillery went into action. Some dismounted artillerymen were formed behind us. These were to follow us closely, and when we had captured the Yankees' guns, they were to turn them and pulverize the flying Yankees. It was a good idea, and the artillerymen laughed gleefully at the picture they had conjured. It was well they had their laugh first.
"'All was ready; we arose, and dashed forward. Out of the ground rose the Yankee pickets, and, firing once, they ran for their earth-works. As we screamed out the charging yell, the Yankee troops rose up from behind their works, and their rifles fell into a horizontal line; the Federal artillerists sprung to their guns; we instinctively pulled our hat-brims down as though to protect our faces, and dashed into the open. Instantly we were met by a storm of bullets and canister that caused us to stagger as our dead and wounded comrades fell against us. . We wavered badly, then gathered ourselves and pushed on, firing as we went. The powder-smoke hung on the field; through rifts in it we could see the Federal gunners spring nimbly to and fro from the Napoleon guns. The responsive flash of the guns as the lanyards were pulled would be followed by the rip of canister as it flew past and through us, tearing great gaps in our ranks, cracking men's bones as pipestems, and knocking brave men dead with great holes in their bodies. The zip, zip, zip, of flying rifle-balls was a mighty and steady hum, as though the empty cylinders of countless threshing machines were revolving at full speed all around us.
"'Steadily the veteran Yankee infantry, who had to hold their line of earth-works or take to the water, loaded and fired. Our men fell by the hundreds. We staggered on through this storm of bullets and canister for five minutes. We had not reached the Union line. Then we heard exultant shouts to our left, and through the drifting smoke caught a glimpse of our battle-flags planted on the Federal breastworks on the hill; and as we saw the men clad in gray clamber over the works and disappear, we redoubled our efforts to take the line in front of us. The fire did not slacken a particle. Its defenders paid no attention to the disaster that had overtaken their center. As we drew closer, the parapet, reddened in the smoke and the fire, resembled the fury of hell in its intensity.
"' Then, loud above the battle's roar, sounded the charging cheer of the Yankee troops, and we knew the Confederates who had broken the Federal center were being called upon to make good their success by meeting the charge of the Yankee reserve. Could they withstand it? Promptly came the answer. There was a solid crash of musketry from that portion of the line, and in an instant the remnants of the victorious Confederates swarmed out of the captured works and ran for cover. Instantly the earth-works were manned by a double line of blue-coated infantry, who shot down the flying Confederates by scores.
"' We pressed on. We were so close to the works that some of our men fell into the ditch. And we could see the eyes of the Yankee infantry as they looked over their rifle sights. Their faces were pallid, their jaws set, and their eyes blazed with battlelight. I never before saw such rapid handling of artillery. It seemed to me that I could hear No. 1 impatiently tap the sponge staff on the blackened muzzles of the brass guns as he called for canister, and more canister, and still more canister. We were sufficiently near to feel the wind of the guns.
'"I looked back. We had not advanced far. The dead lay in windrows. Wounded men were staggering over the field, and falling,in ones, twos, and threes, as they came together for aid between the lines of dead. The men hesitated. They realized that they could not carry the works. Their line officers tried to hold them. They staggered a few feet nearer the Federal line, firing wildly the while, to be scorched by the hot breath of cannon and rifles. They wavered badly, tried to hold on, then broke and ran for cover. We were under fire for about ten minutes, and onethird of our division (Reynolds's) was killed or wounded.
"' Stunned, bewildered, and horribly disappointed, we gathered in a protected position and were speedily reformed. We were allowed to rest for awhile. Of course, the planned simultaneous attack by several columns had failed. Of course, they did not get off together. They went in one after the other, and they were all whipped. Again we were formed into charging column. Our officers briefly explained the necessity of carrying the works. We swore to take them or die in the attempt.
"'Ah!'”said Thomas, “it is easy to swear to do things when you are not under fire; but hard, exceedingly hard, to accomplish them. We rushed to the assault again, again to be met by a fire the heat of which warped us out of line. It seemed to me that the air was so full of bullets that I could have caught some by simply grabbing on either side or above me. We advanced close to the works, and again we broke and fled for cover. The Yankees, now thoroughly angry and merciless, began to shoot at every living object within range of their rifles. Wounded Confederates who moved a leg or an arm were instantly selected as targets and were literally shot to pieces.
“Darkness descended and still the battle-torn Confederates were formed into charging columns, and launched against the Yankee works. We advanced, stumbling over our dead and wounded. The latter shrieked as we trod on their mangled limbs. Powder smoke hung over the field in clouds which reflected the lurid fire that blazed along the Yankee parapets.
“Eight o'clock, nine o'clock, 9.30, and we are still fighting, still dying, still trampling our dead and wounded comrades into the earth. Then we gave it up. We had made five desperate charges. Pat Cleburne's men had made six, and he fell dead while leadingthe last. Every general officer in the army, excepting Hood, was killed or wounded. Our losses had run high up in the thousands. We stacked our arms and lay down. All night our wounded comrades crawled off of the field and sought comfort and rest and water among their unhurt brothers. Men with one leg trailing on the earth behind .them, others with shattered shoulders or torn entrails, or ghastly flesh-wounds, or with smashed jaws, or with eyes shot out, would crawl, walk, or be led into our ranks, where they would sink beside us and murmur: "lam glad to get home to you; it was. hell itself, boys." And they would sink into sleep or death.
“We were awake early the next morning, to discover that the Yankees had crossed the river during the night, and were probably well on their way towards Nashville. We were mighty glad they had gone. Hood seemed to be stupefied at the disaster that had befallen us. He allowed his discouraged army to remain in camp by that bloody battle-field. The men, already dispirited and doubtful of his ability as a commander, were permitted to roam at will over the corpse-strewn field. I never before or after saw such a frightful battle-ground. Many of the dead were shot to shreds. And I saw scores of men who had been wounded— legs broken, probably—who had put their thumbs into their mouths and had chewed them into shreds to keep from crying, coward-like, as they lay exposed to the merciless fire of the Yankees, waiting for death to keep them from voicing their fear.
“Franklin was the only battle-ground I ever saw where the faces of the majority of the dead expressed supreme fear and terror. Dead men's faces were drawn away. Their eyes were wide open and fear-staring. Their very attitude as they lay prone upon the ground, with extended, earth-clutching fingers, and with their faces partially buried in the soil, told the tale of mental agony they had endured before death released them. And then the chewed thumbs, showing the direful necessity they had to brace themselves to receive death, was inexpressibly affecting.
“The repeated disasters we had encountered under Hood had dampened our ardor. The unwise rambling of our men over the battle-field of Franklin broke their spirit. We could not fight at Nashville; we lost that fight because the specter of Franklin, livid with distorted features, with blood-streaming wounds, with ghastly, horror-stricken eyes, chewing and crunching its thumb, stalked among us. It was in the columns as we marched; it rode astride of the Napoleon guns; it sat by our camp-fires; it stood in the trenches at Nashville; it lay in the rifle-pits o'nights.”
Thomas ceased talking and looked intently and sorrowfully into the fire as though he were searching for the faces of the comrades he had lost. I did not intrude on his grief, but quietly rolled myself in my blankets and lay down—not to sleep, but to think of the horrors of the war, and of the bloody fields of Virginia, on which I had worked at the cannon's muzzle.
"FRANK WILKESON." [private Co. K, 4th Regiment, US Artillery (regulars)