USA > Ohio > In the 50th Ohio serving Uncle Sam : memoirs of one who wore the blue > Part 12
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"Columbia is a very pretty little town, situated on the south bank of Duck River. There is a large fort here, mounting eighteen guns. The fort is situated so as to command the town and sur- rounding country. We are camped on a beautiful hill, overlooking the river. There is a large spring near camp, that would supply General Sherman's army, which is a fine thing for us, and we appreciate it very much.
"Well, 'Uncle Abe' was elected all right. George B. will have to wait awhile. Maybe he can get there later. We wanted no change till this trouble is settled. Time enough then for a change.
"General Hood is down here south of us somewhere, not far off. Rumor says he is headed this way, so we may have a visit from him before long. Well, if he comes, we will do the best we can. I hardly think we have force enough down here to face him in a general engagement, but I suppose General Scofield knows what he can do. Sherman sent him here to look after Hood, and I presume he will do it.
"I don't know just where any of them are, but they are south of here somewhere.
"The last letter I wrote you, we were in camp at Spring Hill, eleven miles north of here, but we did not remain there but a few days until we were sent on here.
"Everything is in such an unsettled condition down here at present, it is impossible for me to tell where I may be when I have the opportunity to write you again, but rest assured I will write whenever the opportunity presents itself, and I have anything of importance to write.
"This leaves me in good health, and trusting you all are anjoy- ing the same God's blessing."
Little did I dream when I penned the above lines what the
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future held in store for me. What a blessing it is that we cannot read our future ; if we could, what miserable beings we would be sometimes ; but the Father above has so ordered it that men and women may be happy right up to the moment that calamity over- takes them.
Death even often overtakes persons with a smile on their face, yet I have read of quite a number of soldiers that have had a warning or premonition of death before going into battle, but this is the exception, and not the rule.
Had I known at this time what I was to experience in the next five months, I certainly would have written a great deal different from what I did, but I am thankful that the future was a sealed book to me at the time.
General Hood at this time had his army at Florence, Alabama, and General Scofield had his little army at Pulaski, Tennessee, consisting of a part of the 23rd and 4th Corps, and Sherman about this time was leaving Atlanta with his army on his grand march to the sea.
General Hood, on or about the 21st of November, began his march northward, and by a flank movement compelled General Scofield to fall back to Columbia, reaching the latter place Novem- ber 24th, barely in time, General Cox says in his book, to keep General Hood from heading him off.
We remained in our position at Columbia until the 24th, when the enemy's movement on our left flank forced us to abandon Columbia and retire to the north side of Duck River.
Strickland's 3rd Brigade was placed in line with the rest of the two divisions to guard the crossings of the river. A large crowd of contrabands crossed the pontoon while we were here, fleeing from Hood's army. I never saw them any more. I do not know whether they escaped the enemy or not.
Here we remained till the evening of the 29th, the Johnnies in the meantime amusing themselves at intervals by pitching a few shells at us, and quite often a minie ball would come buzzing by like a hornet, hunting for a bluecoat.
As I know nothing of the movement of other troops, only what I have learned from history, I will confine myself to the 3rd Brigade, until we arrive at Franklin.
The 3rd Brigade drew away from the line at Duck River, with the 2nd Division, at dark on the evening of the 29th, and started for Franklin.
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Speaking for myself, I did not know at that time that General Hood was threatening our rear at Spring Hill, and I doubt if there were many in our ranks that did understand the position of the- two armies at that time.
As we drew near to Spring Hill, we heard some firing in our front. The 3rd Brigade was at once thrown into line of battle in the fields to the left of the pike, and advanced some distance- in that position. Finally, as everything quieted down in front, Colonel Strickland ordered the brigade by the right flank, and we filed out across the pike into a field to the right, the 50th Ohio being in the lead.
Off to the right of the pike between a quarter and a half mile was a long string of camp-fires that I supposed were the camps of the 4th Corps. Imagine my surprise then when I learned that they were Confederate camp fires, and here was Scofield's little army marching along, hampered with a long wagon train in good. rifle range of their camps, and they were making no effort to stop. him.
What did it all mean? Someone was making a huge mistake, but it proved very lucky for us that the mistake was made. But let us go back and follow the 3rd Brigade.
Colonel Strickland, as I have said, led us across the pike into, a meadow, and out towards some haystacks, that we could see between us and those camp fires, with the intention, I think, of putting us in line of battle, near those stacks.
The Colonel was riding at the head of the brigade, and as he- neared the stacks he was halted by a picket. I did not hear all the conversation that occurred between them, but I did hear Colonel Strickland say : "It's all right, my boy ; I want to put my brigade- in position here."
A comrade of the 50th, who was near the Colonel and had been listening to the conversation, now spoke up and said, "Colonel, that's a darned rebel you are talking to," and with that the rebel picket fired on us.
Several shots were fired on both sides, and a new regiment just. in rear of the 50th, that had been assigned to the 3rd Brigade,, became excited and fired a few shots, right up through the 50th,. and that caused some little confusion, which soon passed off, and we withdrew from the meadow into the pike and resumed our march toward Franklin.
I never learned whether Colonel Strickland had orders from
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his superiors to place the 3rd Brigade in line of battle by those stacks, or whether he was taking us there on his own responsibility.
I did not see any other Union troops nearer than the pike. Two hostile armies are rarely situated as were Hood's and Sco- field's that night at Spring Hill, Tennessee.
General Hood had been maneuvering and watching for a chance to throw his army in the rear of Scofield and cut off his line of retreat ever since his advance northward from Florence, Alabama, and now the longed-for opportunity had arrived.
He had the greater part of his army at Spring Hill, and it would have been an easy matter, if I understand the situation, to have formed a line of battle in front of Scofield's retreating column and have placed them between two fires, front and rear ; but instead of making use of the opportunity he now had, his army was put in bivouac, and from all appearance were sleeping soundly, while along the pike but a few hundred yards distant tramped the weary little army of General Scofield's, handicapped with a long wagon train.
But General Hood seemed to be under the impression that he had the blue-coats trapped, and so he slept peacefully on, dreaming that all he would have to do in the morning would be to demand Scofield to surrender his army. But imagine his surprise when he awoke and after rubbing the sleep out of his eyes he reached forth, expecting to put his finger down on the Yanks, but found that they, like the Irishman's flea, were not there.
Ah! General Hood, you must have been a sound sleeper, for it is said that some of the Yanks lit their pipes at your camp fire that night, but be that as it may, you slept away your golden oppor- tunity.
You have nothing to show for the strenuous efforts you made to bag Scofield's army but the skeletons of a few burnt wagons, that forest men captured and burned.
Without meeting with any more adventures, the 3rd Brigade marched on into Franklin, where we arrived about sunrise. We were halted, and after getting breakfast were placed in line of battle, the 50th Ohio being on the left of the brigade.
The left of our regiment rested on the Columbia and Franklin pike. We were immediately put to work, building breastworks. A little to the right of our regiment was a grove of young locust trees, and we used some of the brush in front of our works. Immediately in front of our regiment, and also to the left of the
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pike, in front of General Riley's brigade, was a clear field nearly a half mile across, without a brush, stump, tree or stone to protect an enemy advancing on us.
Our line of battle ran from the Harpeth River above the town of Franklin, on our left; to the Harpeth River below the town, on our right. The main line of battle was manned by the troops of the 23rd Corps, except on the right below town, where there was some of the 4th Corps placed in position.
Also the batteries in line were from the 4th Corps, as I think the 23rd Corps batteries were all sent across the river. The 4th Corps troops were rear guards from Spring Hill to Franklin.
Directly after noon rations were issued to the 50th, and, if I remember rightly, Company "K's" rations had not been divided among the men yet, when the battle opened, but were lying in bulk in rubber blankets back of our works.
While encamped back at Columbia, Comrade Alexander McCradie of Company "K" was detailed as a safe guard for a citizen of Columbia, but when we had to fall back, he took his place in the Company again, and while I was busy at work on the rifle pits he had cooked dinner for him and me. And as he had some flour, he had baked up quite a stack of slapjacks, and he and I sat down and ate a hearty meal of slapjacks and molasses, coffee and bacon, and I will say just here that that was the last square meal I got till the following March.
The position of the 50th I have already stated was on the right of the Columbia pike, and if I remember rightly, the Carter house, where General Cox, the commander of the lines that day, had his headquarters, was a little to our right rear. The other regiments of our brigade that day were the 72nd Illinois, who joined us on the right, in the front or main line, the 44th Missouri and the 183rd Ohio, and they were our supports in the second line behind us.
The 44th Missouri and the 72nd Illinois belonged to the Army of the Tennessee, but were temporarily placed under Strickland to fill the places of two regiments of our brigade that were at that time with General Cooper at Centerville.
The 183rd Ohio was a new regiment that had just come out, and was also placed under Strickland's command, so that the 50th Ohio was the only regiment of the original 3rd Brigade present.
As soon as General Hood realized at Spring Hill the morning of the 30th that Scofield's army had passed him in the night, he started his army in rapid pursuit, but the 4th Corps troops skir-
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mished with them, and held them in check until late in the after- noon, when all the 4th Corps had come within the lines, except Conrad's and Lane's brigades of Wagner's division.
Those two brigades were placed in line a quarter of a mile in our front, Conrad's on the left of the Columbia pike, and Lane's on the right. That placed Colonel Lane's brigade in front of our 3rd Brigade.
There were also two guns of a battery, with those brigades in front. From history I have learned that Kimball's Division of the 4th Corps, consisting of three brigades, was our extreme right flank below town, resting on the river, and Opdycke's brigade of Wagner's division had come within the lines and were held as a reserve back of our second line. We have already seen where Lane's and Conrad's brigades were.
The balance of the 4th Corps crossed the river and went into line on the north side to protect the crossings. Such was the situation late in the afternoon when we in the main line saw the enemy begin forming for attack in front of Lane's and Conrad's brigades.
The afternoon was clear and the sun was shining brightly, and as the Johnnies wheeled into line and took their position we could see their murderous guns glistening in the bright November sun- shine like polished silver.
CHAPTER XVIII. Battle of Franklin-Mad Rush at the Center-Captured by the Enemy-A Hot Place.
We watched the Confederates file off to their right, their guns at right shoulder shift, and form into line as coolly as though they were going on dress parade.
.. And we saw them move forward. Mitchell's two guns were playing on them with shell and canister, mowing great gaps in their ranks, which they immediately closed up and came on.
Finally the cannoneers wound up with a charge of canister, limbered up and came in. General Cox says they came in at a leisurely trot, but if my eyesight and memory are not at fault they came in with their horses on the lope, and when they had reached about half way from where they had been in line to our main works, the rebs fired a solid shot at them that struck the pike just
ยท
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behind them, and the ball went bounding over our heads into town.
It was a good line shot, but fell a little short.
All eyes were focused on Lane's and Conrad's brigades when the rebs began to advance, expecting them to retire within our lines and give us a clear field, as we all expected them to do, and as they should have done.
But alas ! sad to relate, someone had blundered again, and those poor, brave boys were kept out there firing on the enemy until they were almost surrounded, and when they did start to retire, it was too late, as the enemy were swarming among them.
The rebs, quick to see their advantage, raised the cry, "Let's go in with them; let's go in with them," and so the rush for the center of our main line became a confused mass of blue and grey, wedge-shape, entering our works at the pike, and pressing outward to right and left of the pike, overwhelming the 50th Ohio and a part of Reiley's brigade.
Reiley's line was immediately restored by his troops rallying and charging back from his second line, but the rebels held the line taken from the 50th Ohio till the end of the fight.
Sixty of the 50th Ohio were surrounded and captured in the front line by the rebs; the balance of the regiment rallied in the second line and fought bravely on till the close of the battle.
Many of those brave boys out in front were killed and wounded in the mad rush for our lines, and a number captured.
The reader will remember that at the opening of the battle Opdycke's brigade of the 4th Corps was lying in reserve in rear of both lines.
History tells us that when the break occurred at the center he led his gallant brigade forward and did heroic service in helping to clear the enemy out, that had got between our first and second lines, and I have no doubt that they did.
Some writers have gone so far as to say that it was Opdycke's brigade that saved the day at Franklin. Now, while I am per- fectly willing to give those brave men all the credit that is due them for their noble service they rendered that evening, yet I do say without fear of contradiction that I think the day would have been saved if Opdycke's brigade had not been there, for I do not think the enemy would have been able to have broken entirely through the second line, for as far as I can find out, the second line stood firm, and those that left the main line rallied there and fought with them.
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Besides, I have no doubt that quite a number from Lane's and Conrad's unfortunate brigades stopped at the second line and fought until the danger at the center was over. Quite a large number of the enemy got in the open space between the two lines in the front of the Carter house, but a deadly fire from the second line, where the 44th Missouri and 83rd Ohio were, and where the 50th Ohio had rallied also, soon cleared them out.
I know this to be the fact by being in a position where I could see it with my own eyes. I stoutly maintain, and always have, that had those two brigades withdrawn within the lines when they saw the enemy forming to charge, and given us a clear field, the rebs would not have broken our lines at the center.
Why did they not break our lines on the right and left flanks? For the simple reason that our troops there did not have to con- tend with the confusion that we did. They had a clear field for it, where we in the center dared not fire till our troops got in, and then it was too late, as the rebs came right in with them, and simply overwhelmed us.
I shall now give the reader a little of my own personal ex- perience. I had stood and watched the rebs form into line for the charge; had seen Mitchell's two guns come in, and was now watching those two brigades in front; saw the smoke of their muskets as they fired into the faces of the advancing enemy. Saw them break for our lines with the grey coats right among them. From that on till they reached our lines it was a confused mass of blue and grey, in a mad rush for our lines.
Rebel flags and Union flags were fluttering in the breeze ; rebel officers were waving their swords and calling their men to come on. Away on our left the ball had already opened; the crash of mus- ketry and the boom of artillery and the bursting shells could be plainly heard above the yelling of the hordes in our front.
But now, see, they have reached our lines ; they swarm through the works on the pike, and over the works on top of us, Yank and reb together .. I heard Lieutenant Pine say: "Boys, we have got to get out of here." A glance shows me the colors going back ; I think it's time for me to go, but ah! I am too late; a big Johnnie Reb, with musket pointed at me, that looks as large to my eyes as a twelve-pound cannon, says: "Yank, I'll take care of you," so that settles the business for me.
My captor and I got down low in the ditch to avoid the storm of lead, which now began to sweep over us from all parts of the
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compass. A reb jumped upon the works beside a fine-looking young Confederate officer, brought his musket up to his face and fired at Pete Pecheny, our Sergeant Major, his ball cutting the Sergeant across the bridge of his nose.
This enraged the young officer, and he said to the man: "If I see you do another cowardly trick as that, I will cut you down in your tracks with my sword-firing on a man after he has sur- rendered."
The officer jumped down, took a few steps toward the Carter house, turned and flourished his sword, and urged his men to come on, and then fell, pierced by a Yankee bullet.
Now the music was by the full band on all parts of the line. Pandemonium reigned supreme, and in almost less time than it takes me to relate it, the space between the two lines was cleared of everything, except dead and wounded soldiers.
The crashes of musketry exceeded any that I heard in front of Atlanta, Georgia. One wounded rebel fell on my feet and another on my left shoulder, their life's blood soaking and staining my clothing to the skin.
The enemy clung stubbornly to the outside of the works, out of which they had lifted the 50th Ohio. The prisoners and their captors occupied the inside. After dark the rebs ordered us all to get over on their side. The first time, my captor and I kept quiet, but the second time they threatened to fire on us if we did not come over, so then my captor said we would have to get over, and we did, and I want to say we were not long about it, either, for our second line were keeping up a deadly fire on those works from three directions, so you may judge it was not very healthy on top of those works at that time.
If it had not been for my captor, I would have remained where I was, as the ditch was full of wounded rebs, and being dark, I knew they would not fire into that ditch, for fear of killing their wounded.
But my guard still had his twelve-pounder, and I thought per- haps he might use it on me if I were stubborn, so I hustled over with him. Then he left me, and he may have been killed for aught I know, as I saw him no more. I lay down beside a wounded Confederate Captain.
The rebs in the line soon dwindled down to a mere skirmish line, and they were using the cartridges taken from the boxes of
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their dead and wounded comrades. The oblique fire from our lines had thinned them out rapidly.
Word was passed along the line for the commanding officer of their brigade, and word came back that he was dead or wounded. Word was passed for the next ranking officer, and received the same answer, and this was repeated with like results until it reached the wounded Captain by my side. Then he spoke up, and said : "Men, this won't do; we must either surrender or run," but it seemed sure death to attempt to cross that field at that time, as the boys in blue were sending a death-dealing storm of leaden hail across it from right, left and front.
The Captain said again : "Men, won't some of you please hoist a white flag ?" "If I were able to get up, I would do it myself, for we are getting all cut to pieces by this terrible cross-fire." But his men did not heed what he said, but still kept firing.
I felt very much like I would love to do the Captain that little favor if I only dared, for I knew I was in great danger of being killed by my own comrades, as I was lying on the bank back of the works, and could hear the balls strike the wounded that were lying near me.
When the Captain realized that his wishes were not being com- plied with, he hollowed three or four times at the top of his voice : "We surrender ; we surrender ; we surrender," but of course our men did not hear him, for they were making too much racket them- selves.
Now, reader, if you happen to be a comrade, perhaps you can imagine my feelings at this time. I was a prisoner of war in the power of a mere handful of the enemy, while within a stone's throw of me were hundreds of my friends and comrades, and yet I could not get to them.
Visions of Andersonville Castle, Thunder and Libby prisons passed in panoramic view before me, and oh! how I wished that I could get to Colonel Strickland and tell him the facts, as I knew they existed; had I now been on the other side of the works, I certainly would have tried to crawl to our lines.
Surely, I thought, our men will certainly come back and retake this line; and realizing if they did I was in a very dangerous posi- tion where I was, I crawled up to the works, picking up a rebel blanket on my way, and wrapping it around me, lay up against the earthworks as close as possible, and waited for developments.
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I heard the rebs make two or three charges on their left, but I did not know if they were successful or not.
I had marched all the night before, worked nearly all day, and now fatigue began to tell on me. Laying up against that clay bank with the messengers of death buzzing over my head, I forgot my troubles, and fell asleep.
How long I slept I do not know, but when I awoke there was not a gun firing along the entire line. A few of my friends, the enemy, were still holding the line. I got up and crawled over the works on what had been our side at the beginning of the battle. One of the rebs asked me where I was going. I do not remember what reply I made him. It was very dark, and I suppose he thought I was one of his comrades, as he paid me no further atten- tion.
I walked on in the direction of what I supposed was the Carter house, and I came to a man leaning with his arms on a fence; a paling fence, I think it was. I took him to be a citizen, as he had on a white shirt, and the white shirt bosom was what drew my attention to him, as it shone quite plainly in the dark.
I went to him and inquired if the Yankees were all gone, but he did not seem to want to talk, and finding I could get no direct answer out of him, I walked out to the pike and started down into town.
I did not get far before I met "Mr. Johnnie Reb." He was unarmed, and so was I. We began to question each other, and I am afraid that neither one of us was particular to stick close to the truth in our answers. However, Johnnie seemed to suspect me. He would not pass me at close quarters, but flanked out into the middle of the pike and passed on.
I did not get much further until I ran afoul of the patrol guards from the rebel General Brown's division, and as I thought it would not be good military tactics for one unarmed Yank to tackle Hood's army, though he only had a remnant left, I surren- dered the second time for that night, with as good grace as I possibly could.
They took me back through what had been our lines, and as we passed through on the pike it was quite dark, but I glanced to the right and left where the fight had been severe, and as far as my eye could penetrate through the darkness, and it seemed to me as though the dead were lying in heaps.
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