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Graphic Account of the Battle of Franklin
[From a Private Letter]
To students of the Civil War in the Western Theater, the date November 30, 1864, looms large, as it is the anniversary of the battle of Franklin, Tennessee. This one battle nearly destroyed the Confederate Army of Tennessee as an effective fighting force, and caused thousands of casualties that the South could ill afford to lose at that stage of the war.
The five Mississippi brigades that fought at Franklin were particularly hard hit; they suffered approximately 1,277 killed or wounded on that bloody field. McGavock Cemetery at Franklin is the last resting place for the Confederate soldiers who were killed at Franklin, and among them are 424 Mississippians who are forever absent from their homes. The following letter was written by a soldier who witnessed the battle of Franklin and sent his account to an unidentified newspaper. While the name of the soldier who wrote this reminiscence is unknown, from statements made by him it can be determined that he belonged to Major General Henry D. Clayton's Division, which did not participate in the battle, but witnessed it from their reserve position on the edge of the battlefield. The following clipping is located in the J.L. Power Scrapbook at the Mississippi Department of Archives and History:
Franklin, Tenn., Dec. 1st, 1864.
Again I thank God that I am spared, that I was not a participant in the terrific battle fought in Franklin yesterday, beginning at 4 P.M. and lasting until midnight. I walked over the field this morning, and my heart sank with sadness at the horrible sight, surpassing in slaughter and slain all my conceptions of such a terrible scene.
“We have gained a victory” they say, but ah! such a victory! God grant I may never again behold our victorious banners so deeply dyed in blood – the blood of the noblest and bravest men who ever battled in freedom’s cause. I have no heart to paint the awful picture; no language can do justice to the glorious men who so nobly fell on this bloody field, which will immortalize the valor of Confederate soldiers.
I saw the fight from the top of a hill about two miles distant for the first half hour; then our division was moved up within supporting distance of Johnson’s, about a half mile from the field of battle. We were in position just at dark, and we remained there all night, shivering over a handful of fire, anxious spectators of the battle, but exposed only to a few stray missiles. I could see nothing, on account of the smoke at first, and afterwards the darkness. The corps of Cheatham and Stewart, and Johnson’s division, were engaged. The enemy numbered about 18,000 – the 4th and 24th army corps – under command of Gen. Schofield, and had two lines of breastworks, the second very strong – the strongest I ever saw, with abattis, [sic] artillery and head logs.
I have not learned much of the details and therefore cannot give you any description of the battle. Cheatham was on our left, Stewart on the right – Johnson, under Cheatham temporarily, was on the extreme left.
Our men drove the enemy from the first line without faltering and captured over a thousand prisoners, and then attacked the second and strongest line, about 400 yards in rear of the first. The ground was an open, level field, the line was less than a mile in length. The enemy occupied the town of Franklin with their flanks protected by a little river – (Big Harpeth) – their line of battle was in front of the town. Our men reached the second line of breastworks, and in some places were repulsed, but in many they drove the Yankees from them, and in others our men were in the ditches on one side, whilst the enemy were on the other, for hours in the night – and thus the deadly conflict raged until the Yankees withdrew and retreated a little after midnight: I suppose I saw a thousand dead Confederates on the field, nine-tenths of whom lay in the Yankee ditches, and on the breastworks of the enemy where friend and foe lay side by side, enemies in death. The horses of our field officers, with their riders’ fell upon the breastworks and in the ditches.
If there has been any suspicion of the cowardice of the troops of this army, nobly, heroically have they placed their courage beyond dispute. As to who will stand foremost in this bloody tragedy, it will be difficult to tell – where all contributed so freely to the bloody sacrifice. But first on the roll of fame, as he was first in the rank of the slain, and ‘in the hearts of the soldiers’ will be the name of Patrick Cleburne. He commanded two lines of battle. Duty and custom did not require him in person to lead the charge; but his zeal for the cause, his pride in the character of his Division, and his genuine bravery caused him to go with the foremost; and he fell with the bravest whilst mounting the inner works. His body fell into the hands of the enemy, but they left it in Franklin.
Maj. Gen. John C. Brown, commanding Cheatham’s old Division, was wounded ( not dangerously) and of his four Brigadiers two (Gist and Strahl and all staff of the latter) were killed; one (my schoolmate and friend, Jno. C. Carter, was very dangerously wounded, and one (Gordon) was captured unhurt. To-day the Division was commanded by a Colonel. Brig. Gen. John Adams was killed and I have heard frequently that Gen. Granberry was also killed. Gen. Quarles is wounded. I know not how, and a Captain commands his brigade to-day. Gen. Manigault slightly wounded. I saw General Deas on the field this morning, slightly wounded (flesh) in the calf of the leg – he said he would not be long away from his post, if at all.
Gen. Deas told me that Lieut. Col. Armistead was very dangerously wounded through the breast, and he feared he would die; also, that Maj. Tom Prince was shot through the foot, and might be obliged to have a portion amputated.
Our brigade was ordered into town on guard duty at once. This evening we moved out a mile and a half on the Nashville road. Gen. Clayton thinks we will rest tomorrow, and probably for several days. Our dead are to be buried, and our wounded cared for. I suppose the enemy have retired to Nashville, and that they will not offer any resistance this side of that place. We are within eighteen miles of Nashville. We hold the battle field. Col. Murphy, of the 17th Alabama, was wounded on the breastworks of the enemy, (not dangerously, it is hoped.) captured and carried off by the enemy, who removed all their wounded, as they had railroad and turnpike.
Capt. McMillan, 17th Alabama, was shot through the wrist and thigh. Lieut. Baldwin, son of Dr. Baldwin, (Deas’ Staff) was mortally wounded, and I hear that all of Quarles’ staff were either killed or wounded; also that Captain Alfred Gardner was wounded in the neck. I think there were no other casualties amongst the General officers, and I have heard of no others amongst your acquaintances. Gen. Sharpe is wounded. I hope I will be able to go back to the hospitals, 4 miles, in the morning to see Gen. Quarles, and learn something more about the fate of our friends and acquaintances.
Cockrell’s brigade – I think the bravest in the world – were nearly all killed and wounded. Gen. Brantley told me he had lost half of his, and Gen. Deas (whose brigade acted with noted gallantry, erasing all former charges against them) said he lost more than in any previous battle of this year. John Lyon is unhurt. It is late; I close for tonight and finish in the morning.
Dec. 6th, 11 A.M. – I was disappointed in my expectations of going back to see Gen. Quarles and other friends on the morning of the 2d. We moved at daylight that morning from our position near Franklin, and took position around Nashville, within four miles of the state house. We are now investing the city, as we were invested in Atlanta; so I had no opportunity of sending you a letter or of making further inquiries about our friends. I have since learned that Gen. Sharpe is only very slightly wounded; both he and Gen. Deas are now with their commands. Gen. Quarles was badly wounded in the right hand, and his right arm broken above the elbow. Gen. Cheatham says he saw Gen. Quarles on the 2d, that he had very high fever, but it was thought he would save his arm – Brigadier General John C. Carter, my friend, has died of his wound. General Manigault’s wound is in the head, bad, but not dangerous.
Capt. Starke Oliver was shot through the calf of the leg, grazing the bone. He behaved most gallantly. Gen. Cockrell is also wounded. The horse of Gen. John Adams was killed with his hind feet in the Yankee
breastworks, his fore feet over them in the act of crossing, and with nostrils dilated. Gen. Adams, being wounded several times, was endeavoring to go to the rear, when he was killed – shot eight times. The loss in Deas’ brigade was less than at first supposed. They captured the second line and held it during the night. The day before yesterday this brigade was especially complimented by Gens. Cheatham, Stewart, Lee and Edward Johnson. The latter said he had been in thirty-five battles, and that Deas’ brigade was as good a fighting one as any in the world. I have heard that Capt. Shute, A.D.C. to Gen. Quarles, was killed. I cannot hear anything concerning Mr. Munford. I am well and comfortable, and will write more, as we send off a mail to-morrow.
The battle of Franklin left scars on many of the Mississippians who survived that terrible day; When writing a memoir of his Civil War service, Corporal Abner J. Wilkes of the 46th Mississippi Infantry was moved to say "Then we made an attack on Franklin. Oh! My God from heaven, it rained fire and brimstone for some time if it ever did in the world." (A Short History of My Life in the Late War)
General John Bell Hood had bled his army white at Franklin, but when the Union army retreated to Nashville, he pursued with the Army of Tennessee, now numbering only 24,000 effectives. The Mississippi commands with his army had been reduced to hollow shells of their former selves; the largest surviving unit was Lowrey's Mississippi Brigade, which numbered only 1,047 men, the size of a single regiment at the beginning of the war. The Confederacy was running out of time and men, but in the few months of life it had left, the Mississippians in the army continued to fight with the ferocity they had shown at Franklin, Tennessee.
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