November 30, 1864
Battle
of Franklin
Tennessee
--In
one of the simplest and most devastating battles of the war, which only lasted
a few hours on the evening of Nov. 30,
The C.S. Army of Tennessee broke its back on a smaller Federal
army. Maj. Gen. John Schofield, with
about 28,000 men, have (overnight) dug out and erected earthworks that stretch
from riverbank to riverbank of the Harpeth River, as it bends to cover the town
of Franklin on two sides. He decides to
defend with the river at his back, because he does not have pontoon bridges
sufficient to cross his army to safety before the Rebels catch up, and he needs
time to repair the existing bridges. The
Federals await what surely will turn out to be a disastrous attack over two
miles of open ground.
In
the morning after Spring Hill, as Gen. Hood discovers how the Yankees have escaped in a most
spectacular and unlikely fashion, he berates his generals and orders them to
prepare an assault over open ground against the Federal positions. Many of his officers felt as if Hood ordered
this assault as a punishment for his derelict officers and men. Gen. Forrest argues with Hood that if he had
an infantry division to supplement his cavalry corps, he could cross the
Harpeth and outflank the Yankees. Hood
refuses to consider it.
 |
| Modern re-enactors commemorate Schofield's march past Hood at Spring Hill |
After
Hood arrives on Winstead Hill, south of town, at 1:00PM, he decides to send in
Stewart’s corps, plus much of Cheatham’s corps.
Altogether, he has six infantry divisions, a bit more than 20,000 troops,
detailed for the attack. They are
supported by two divisions of cavalry on each flank. But Gen. Lee’s corps, and most of the army’s
artillery, is still on the road from Columbia.
Hood will not wait: with only two batteries to support the attack, his
troops step off at around 4:00PM, less than an hour before sunset. The Confederate lines unfold themselves “as
if for dress parade,” according to one witness, with 125 regiments and their
colors adding to the scene. The brass
bands in the gray ranks play song after song as the lines moved forward.
 |
| from a contemporary print: the two-mile route from Winstead Hill to Franklin |
As
the gray lines cross the field, they attack and overwhelm a forward line held
by Gen. Wagner’s Federals, the remains of which retreat to the main line. Three divisions of Union infantry hold the
line which centers on the Carter plantation and cotton house. A Union soldier describes the sight:
Soon we noticed the right of Stewart’s command wrapping around Conrad’s left, and then our men rose up and the break commenced. It was a grand sight! For the moment we were spellbound with admiration, although they were our hated foes. . . . 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. . . .
 |
| The Confederate advance |
As
the Confederates near the main Federal line, the first Federal volley fires,
“and the long line of gray went down like over-ripe grain before a blast of
wind and hail.” Blasts of artillery firing canister from the Union works do ghastly work on the once-fine Southern ranks. At one point, the Rebels
breach the blue line, and several defending regiments break and flee: the
Federal line is broken. Two Union
regiments, formed from Unionist Tennessee and Kentucky men, counterattack and
stem the gray tide.
 |
| Re-enactors stage the Battle of Franklin. |
Behind
the Carter House, where the focus of the struggle was, Col. Opdyke and his
brigade of Illinois men charge forward into the gap, and break the back of the
Confederate break-through for good.
As the Rebels are pressed back, hundreds are caught on the Union side of the fortifications, and surrender. At this point, the Rebels cannot retreat, but are trapped on the outside of the earthworks, while Federal rifle fire is too dense to allow a retreat. In addition, the structure of the Union earthworks allow enfilade fire on any Rebels sheltering on the outside of the walls. So, both sides fight each other from each side of the same earthen wall. Many of the Southerners have it tougher: as they tried to approach the Federal lines, heavy clumps of cheval-de-frise (sharpened stakes) impeded their advance, and along a large portion of the line, dense hedges of thornsome Osage Orange bushes grow, nearly impenetrable. The deep ditch in front of the earthworks becomes filled with dead and wounded Confederates; their comrades stand on top of them, loading and firing, or handing up rifles to those at the top.
D.H. Patterson remembers that “two lines of men fought with but a pile of dirt between them. In firing, the muzzles of the guns would pass each other, and nine times out of ten, when a man rose to fire he fell back dead.” Another soldier noted that many men had both hands shot off. The fighting goes on until long after dark, and finally stops around 9:00PM.
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| Bullet holes that remain in the buildings at the Carter House |
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| The climax of the Confederate attack, with Opdyke's counterattack |
As the Rebels are pressed back, hundreds are caught on the Union side of the fortifications, and surrender. At this point, the Rebels cannot retreat, but are trapped on the outside of the earthworks, while Federal rifle fire is too dense to allow a retreat. In addition, the structure of the Union earthworks allow enfilade fire on any Rebels sheltering on the outside of the walls. So, both sides fight each other from each side of the same earthen wall. Many of the Southerners have it tougher: as they tried to approach the Federal lines, heavy clumps of cheval-de-frise (sharpened stakes) impeded their advance, and along a large portion of the line, dense hedges of thornsome Osage Orange bushes grow, nearly impenetrable. The deep ditch in front of the earthworks becomes filled with dead and wounded Confederates; their comrades stand on top of them, loading and firing, or handing up rifles to those at the top.
 |
| Detail of the fighting in the Union center, around the Carter House |
D.H. Patterson remembers that “two lines of men fought with but a pile of dirt between them. In firing, the muzzles of the guns would pass each other, and nine times out of ten, when a man rose to fire he fell back dead.” Another soldier noted that many men had both hands shot off. The fighting goes on until long after dark, and finally stops around 9:00PM.
Confederate
commanders are shot down in large numbers. Gen.
Cleburne, the most celebrated battlefield commander in the Army of Tennessee, is dead, and fourteen of his regimental and brigade commanders are down. In Brown’s division, he has been wounded, in addition to all four of his brigade commanders: Generals States Rights Gist, Otho
Strahl, John C. Carter, and George Washington Gordon. Entire formations of infantry are blown down
by point-blank canister fire from the Federal artillery.
Hood’s
last resort is to take the only reserves he has on hand---Edward “Alleghany” Johnson’s
division from Lee’s corps, just arrived---and to send them forward in a bid to break an
already-strained Union line. But the
Union line is not in the least strained, and Johnson comes back after one
attack with heavy casualties.
Fourteen
Confederate generals are casualties: 6
dead, 7 wounded, and one captured. The
six dead generals were Cleburne, Adams, Gist, Carter, Granbury, and
Strahl. The field is a dreadful sight: the dead are packed so thickly
along one portion of the earthworks, the corpses were all standing upright,
including one dead officer on his dead horse.
It remains one of the most harrowing stories of war.
After
dark, as the Confederates are gathering and burying the dead, Schofield has
finished the bridges, and he and his troops withdraw quietly and safely across
the Harpeth River and march up to Nashville.
Union Victory.
Losses: Dead Wounded Capt/Missing Total
U.S. 189 1,033 1,104 2,326
C.S. 1,750 3,800 702 6,252
