USA > Tennessee > The military annals of Tennessee. Confederate. First series: embracing a review of military operations, with regimental histories and memorial rolls, V.1 > Part 10
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After the " brilliant but disastrous movements" of the 20th and 22d, as they were styled by General Frank P. Blair, the siege of Atlanta went on, the Federal army continually extend- ing its line to the right, and feeling for the only road by which the Confederates obtained supplies. On the 28th General Hood attempted another flank movement, this time from the left. It too failed, but the failure was not due to the fact that the rank and file would not fight, but to the inaccuracy of his information. The enemy were found to be in far greater numbers and occu- pying a far stronger position at the point to be attacked than had been supposed. The following extract from the report of the operation made by Lieutenant-general Stewart explains the true cause of failure, and also does full justice to the rank and file: "On the 28th the enemy, by extending to his right, had nearly gained the Lick Skillet road. Loring's and Walthall's divisions had been relieved at the trenches, and it was expected
* "Advance and Retreat," page 183.
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that French's would be that night. As I understood the instruc- tions, General Lee, commanding corps, was to move out on the Lick Skillet road, attack the enemy's right flank, and drive him from that road and the one leading from it by Mount Ezra Church. My own orders were to move with the divisions named to the point where our own line of works crossed the Lick Skil- let road. French's division, when relieved, and one from some other corps, were to join us, and at an early hour next morning we were to move out upon that road, turn to the right, pass in rear of the enemy, and attack. On reaching the point indicated, Lee's corps was found to be engaged, and in need of assistance. Accordingly, Walthall's division was moved out-Loring's fol- lowing as support-and formed on Lee's left. It attacked the enemy strongly posted on a hill, and failing, after a desperate fight and heary loss, to dislodge him, Loring's division was placed in position along the Lick Skillet road, and Walthall directed to withdraw his in rear of Loring's." A Northern writer says of the operations on this day: "This change of the Army of the Tennessee was so threatening that General Hood threw two corps upon it .... with great impetuosity. Attacking again and again, they were repulsed with immense loss." *
The Federal cavalry under Generals McCook and Stoneman endeavored to seize the Macon railroad, and thus cut off supplies from Atlanta, and also to reach Andersonville and release the thirty-four thousand Federal prisoners confined there. Near Newnan, on August 1st, McCook's party were routed, nine hun- dred and fifty prisoners, two pieces of artillery, and twelve hun- dred horses, with equipments, captured by Wheeler's cavalry; and on the same day, near Macon, Stoneman and five hundred men were taken, and the remainder of his command dispersed, by the cavalry under Iverson.
Early in August General Hood sent Wheeler with forty-five hundred cavalry to endeavor to break up the road to Nashville by which Sherman's army was supplied. Forrest was ordered to cooperate in this attempt, and did so. But, although a great deal of damage was inflicted, the one great object in view-com- pelling the retreat of the Federal army for want of supplies- utterly failed.
On the night of August 25th the enemy withdrew from his
* Van Horne: "History of the Army of the Cumberland," Vol. II., page 125.
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lines in front of Atlanta, and began a flank movement around the Confederate left. In a few days it became evident that his aim was to seize Hood's line of supply near Jonesboro. Har- dee again was dispatched to that point, with orders to attack the enemy at an early hour on the 31st, and to drive them, "at all hazards, into the river in their rear." The corps commanded by General S. D. Lee was to cooperate. The attack was not made until two in the afternoon. It failed; the enemy had possession of the railroad, and during the afternoon of September 1st At- lanta was evacuated.
The army of General Hood halted at Lovejoy's Station, where it remained until the 18th, when it moved toward the West Point railroad, and formed line of battle near Palmetto. While in this position it was visited by President Davis, who, at his own request, relieved Lieutenant-general Hardee from further sery- ice with the Army of Tennessee, and also soon afterward decid- ed to assign General Beauregard to the command of the de- partments then commanded respectively by General Hood and Lieutenant-general Taylor, these officers to retain command of the troops in the field.
On September 29th the Army of Tennessee crossed the Chat- tahooche at Pumpkin Town and Phillips's Ferry. A detachment of cavalry was sent to operate against the railroad between the Chattahoocheend Marietta. A corps was sent forward to tear up the road above Marietta and capture the garrisons at Big Shanty and Acworth, which was done. A division was ordered up the road to fill up a sixty-foot cut near Alatoona. Having no tools for such work, the commander decided to attack and capture, if possible, the Federal works and garrison at that place. Intelligence that Federal reinforcements were on the way from Rome induced him to desist and abandon the enterprise, when suc- cess was almost within his grasp. This movement upon his line of communication brought Sherman out of Atlanta with about "sixty thousand infantry and artillery and two small divisions of cavalry." Hood continued his march to the north as far as Dal- ton, intending to draw Sherman as near the Tennessee line as possible, compel him to divide his forces, and attack in detail. From Dalton he moved westward to the vicinity of La Fayette, where he determined "to select a position and deliver battle." He was deterred, however, by the unanimous opinion of those
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officers whom he consulted that it was not advisable to do so. The ground on which their opinion was based was, as he states it, "that, although the army had much improved in spirit, it was not in condition to risk battle against the numbers " of the en- emy. He resolved, therefore, to continue his march to Gunters- ville, cross the Tennessee, destroy the bridge at Bridgeport, and the railroad from that place to Stevenson, and attempt to over- take and defeat the army of Thomas and Schofield before it could reach Nashville. His purpose was then to march upon that city, reenforce his army by accessions from Tennessee, move on into Kentucky, take up a position from which to threaten Cincinnati, and continue to recruit his army from both Tennes- see and Kentucky. Sherman followed as far as Gaylesville, in Eastern Alabama, when he abandoned the pursuit, leaving it to Thomas to defend the line of the Tennessee. He returned to Atlanta, as he expressed it, "to sally forth to ruin Georgia and bring up on the sea-shore."
While the Army of Tennessee was encamped at Gadsden, General Beauregard, the department commander, arrived there for the purpose of ascertaining its condition and conferring with General Hood. The latter says that General Beauregard ap- proved his plan of a campaign into Tennessee, but required that Wheeler's cavalry, which had returned from its expedition into Tennessee, should remain in Georgia to watch the Federal move- ments in that State. Forrest was to supply his place in the Army of Tennessee. General Hood marched from Gadsden for Guntersville, but learning on the way that Forrest was near Jackson, and could not cross the swollen Tennessee into Middle Tennessee, he turned his course westward, intending to effect a junction with Forrest and cross the river at Florence. The army reached Tuscumbia October 31st. Here a delay of nearly three weeks occurred, because the railroads by which the army was to be supplied had not been repaired, as requested early in Octo- ber by General Hood. General Sherman's "march to the sea" began November 15th. On the 20th General Beauregard tele- graphed to Hood from West Point to "push an active offensive immediately." On the next day the Army of Tennessee took up the line of march for Middle Tennessee. The Federal force at Pulaski under Schofield made forced marches to reach Colum- bia in advance of the Confederates. General Hood found the
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enemy occupying an intrenched line, too strong for direct assault. He therefore determined on a flank movement by which he hoped to throw a large part of his army in the enemy's rear. A pontoon bridge was thrown across Duck River three miles above Columbia during the night of the 28th, and at dawn next morn- ing two corps and a division belonging to the Third Corps marched for Spring Hill. The remainder of the Third Corps was left " to demonstrate heavily against Schofield, and follow him if he retired." General Hood rode at the head of the column to within two miles of Spring Hill, as he claims, when orders were given to the commander of the leading corps to attack the ene- my who were passing on the pike leading from Columbia through Spring Hill to Franklin, and to take possession of the pike at Spring Hill. The other corps, with the odd division, was halted until near dusk on the south side of Rutherford's Creek. Gen- eral Hood, although present with the advance, complains that the order to attack was not obeyed, and that consequently the enemy escaped. On the other hand, there appears some ground for the belief that the main body of the enemy had been thrown forward from Columbia to Spring Hill, and was already in po- sition behind intrenchments, ready to receive the expected attack. The corps in rear was not ordered forward in time to reach the front during daylight, and of course too late to take part in a battle.
The next morning the army resumed its march toward Frank- lin. The enemy were found in line around the place, strongly intrenched, with open ground in front, and at some points an abatis of osage-orange or locust. The two corps and the odd division that had made the flank movement from Columbia the day before were disposed around the place in order of battle. The remainder of the Third Corps was held in reserve. About four o'clock the order was given by General Hood to advance, and the most furious and desperate battle of the war in the West ensued. The enemy's first line was swept away, and the main line broken at one or more points, but restored by a most determined charge. Nothing but the line of intrenchments separated the combatants, and of course retreat in this situation was impossible. The struggle continued with more or less violence until nine o'clock, after which the fire slackened and ceased, and about three in the morning the enemy quietly withdrew, leaving his dead and
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wounded on the field. Never was any field fought with more desperate courage on both sides than this ill-fated one of Frauk- lin. Both armies lost heavily. On the Confederate side, among the killed were Major-general Cleburne and Brigadier-generals Gist, Adams, Strahl, and Granbury; among the wounded, Ma- jor-general Brown, Brigadier-generals Carter (mortally), Man- igault, Quarles, Cockrill, and Scott; Brigadier-general Gordon captured.
The Federal commander at Nashville had in his department an effective strength of eighty thousand, while the Army of Ten- nessee was now reduced to twenty-three thousand and fifty-three. On December 1st it crossed Harpeth River and marched toward Nashville, where line of battle was formed on the 2d, and in- trenchments thrown up. On the 15th the enemy, in greatly su- perior numbers, moved out from their "elaborate fortifications," and attacked Hood's line on both flanks, the main assault being directed against his left. Toward evening the infantry outposts and unfinished works on the left were carried. During the night a new position was selected and occupied. The following morn- ing a general attack was made along the Confederate front, which was repulsed. In the afternoon the enemy concentrated a num- ber of guns on an exposed point, and massed a body of infantry against it. Under cover of the artillery fire, this body charged and broke through the Confederate line, which soon afterward gave way at all points. At first, of course, there was more or less confusion; but order was soon restored. The army re- crossed the Tennessee at Bainbridge during the 26th and 27th of December, and by the 10th of January, 1865, was in camp in the vicinity of Tupelo, Mississippi. Soon afterward, General Hood, at his own request, was relieved from further duty with the Army of Tennessee, and General Beauregard assumed com- mand. The effective strength of the army at Tupelo was found to be eighteen thousand five hundred infantry and artillery and twenty-three hundred and six of Forrest's cavalry. The disas- trous campaign into Tennessee, which virtually closed the war in the West, had cost at least ten thousand men. The army had marched and fought in the severest midwinter weather, often suffering from the want of food and clothing. Yet, amid all the hardships and discouragements of the campaign, the troops from Tennessee remained in great part true to the cause they had es-
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poused, and a third time left their State in the hands of the ene- my to follow the fortunes of the "Southern Cross." The condi- tion of the army on its arrival in Mississippi is graphically pictured by an eye-witness-the Hon. Robert A. Hill, United States District Judge-who at that time resided in Tishomingo county. In an article written by him for a New York periodical, in which he pays a tribute to the humane character of the Fed- eral General Thomas, he says:
" The crisis was drawing near when Hood's army retreated. The whole body of it passed through our county in the most deplorable condition that any large body of troops were in, on either side, during the war. They had but little to eat, and that of the very worst kind, for either man or beast; and as for shoes and clothes, they were in no better condition. About one-third had not a shoe on either foot; about one-third old shoes or boots, many of them tied up with strings; the balance very well shod. Their clothes had not been washed for weeks. When the army reached the county, they pretty well scattered-especially the cavalry-and took what would sustain themselves and horses as they passed, for which they could not be blamed, except for the waste which some committed."
While the Army of Tennessee was making its campaign into Tennessee, General Sherman was accomplishing his "march to . the sea." His army set out from Atlanta November 15th. There was of course no force of any consequence to oppose him. The railroads were destroyed, and the army subsisted off the coun- try. On December 21st Savannah was evacuated by the Con- federates and taken possession of by the Federal army. About the Ist of February, 1865, this army began its campaign from Savannah northward, and by the 11th of March had reached Fayetteville, North Carolina. General Robert E. Lee had been appointed General-in-chief of the Confederate armies. In the latter part of February he directed General Johnston "to assume the command of the Army of Tennessee and all troops in the Department of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, and to 'concentrate all available forces and drive back Sherman.'"
In the meantime, the Army of Tennessee, after resting a few weeks at Tupelo, where a large proportion of the men were fur- loughed by General Hood, had been ordered to Augusta, Geor- gia, and thence to North Carolina. The only force General
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Johnston was able to collect for the purpose of impeding the progress of General Sherman consisted of the few thousands left of the Army of Tennessee and the troops under Hardee, which had composed the garrisons of Savannah and Charleston. In addition to these were some five thousand under General Bragg at Goldsboro, belonging to the Department of North Car- olina, and four thousand cavalry commanded by Lieutenant-gen- eral Hampton. General Sherman's army numbered seventy-five thousand. As the troops belonging to the Army of Tennessee arrived at Charlotte, they were forwarded by railroad, via Greens- boro and Raleigh, to Smithfield. By the 18th of March nearly four thousand of them had reached that place. General Bragg had also arrived there with four thousand seven hundred and ser- enty-five North Carolinians, and Lieutenant-general Hardee was at Elevation, some fifteen miles distant. On that day General Johnston was informed that the Federal army was marching from Fayetteville toward Goldsboro on two different roads, which were supposed to be ten or twelve miles apart, opposite the vil- lage of Bentonville. The Federal right wing was reported half a day's march in advance of the left. General Johnston, there- fore, determined to attack the enemy's left wing when it should reach the point in its route opposite Bentonville. Orders were · accordingly sent to the troops at Smithfield and Elevation to march immediately for Bentonville, and to bivouac the night of the 18th between the village and the road on which the Federal left was marching. Owing to the distance they had to march, the troops from Elevation did not arrive until the morning of the 19th, when a position was occupied which lay mostly to the north of the route pursued by the Federal left. General John- ston placed Hoke's division of Bragg's troops on the left, its center on the road on which the enemy were approaching. The Army of Tennessee was placed next, and on the right of the line one division of Hardee's command; the other was order to the assistance of Hoke, who was assailed before the entire Confederate line could be formed. The attack on Hoke was soon repulsed. An assault was made next on Loring's and Clay- ton's commands belonging to the Army of Tennessee, which was firmly met and promptly repelled. A charge was then made by the Confederate right wing, including Hardee's troops and those belonging to the Army of Tennessee. The enemy had thrown
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up intrenchments, but the Confederates charged over them and drove back the Federals upon their second line. Again the troops of the Army of Tennessee were assailed, the chief effort this time being directed against the command of Brigadier-gen- eral Pettus; but the attack was speedily and easily repulsed, and the action ceased, except that desultory firing continued until night. Early next morning it was ascertained that the Federal right wing had crossed to the road on which the left had marched. By noon the two wings of the Federal army were united in John- ston's front. Repeated attacks were made on his left-Hoke's division-which were effectually repelled. On the 21st a Fed- eral corps passed Johnston's left and pressed rapidly toward Bentonville in rear of his center and on his line of retreat. The leading division of this corps was attacked simultaneously by a small Georgia brigade of infantry-Col. Henderson commanding -- the Eighth Texas cavalry regiment, a small body of cavalry reserves, and a part of Allen's Alabamians. These attacks were made in front and on the flanks, and, notwithstanding the great disparity of numbers, threw the enemy into confusion, and drove him back on the route by which he had advanced. Before day- break of the 22d Johnston's army retired across Mill Creek by the bridge at Bentonville. A rear-guard was posted by Wheeler to hold the bridge. Soon after eight o'clock the Federal advance appeared, and made repeated attempts to force the passage, but failed, "after brave efforts, in which three color-bearers fell within fifty feet of the Confederate rear-guard."* By evening the Confederates reached Smithfield, where they went into biy- ouac until the 10th of April.
General Johnston gives fourteen thousand one hundred in- fantry and artillery as the total strength of his force in the ac- tion of the 19th. The cavalry were not engaged, as one division of it was employed in watching the enemy's right wing and the other was unable to cross Mill Creek, which had been rendered impassable by recent heavy rains. The Federal army exceeded seventy thousand, half of whom were present on the 19th, and all on the afternoon of the 20th.
On the 22d and 23d the Federal armies commanded by Gen- erals Sherman, Terry, and Schofield were united at and near Goldsboro. Their combined strength was amply sufficient to
* Johnston's Narrative, page 392.
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fight the armies of both Lee and Johnston should they effect a junction. This, however, was not to be. There had been enough blood shed. On Sunday, the 9th of April, 1865, General Lee and his army surrendered to General Grant at Appomattox Court- house, Virginia. On the 10th General Sherman put his army in motion from Goldsboro toward Smithfield and Raleigh. Gen- eral Johnston ordered his troops to march to Raleigh and thence to Greensboro. They were halted in the vicinity of the latter place until terms were finally arranged between Generals John- ston and Sherman by which an end was put to the war within the limits of their respective commands. The following are the Terms of a military convention entered into this 26th day of April, 1865, at Ben- nett's House, near Durham's Station, North Carolina, between General Joseph E. Johnston, commanding the Confederate Army, and Major-general W. T. Sherman, commanding the United States Army in North Carolina:
1. All acts of war on the part of the troops under General Johnston's com- mand to cease from this date.
2. All arms and public property to be deposited at Greensboro and delivered to an ordnance officer of the United States Army.
3. Rolls of all the officers and men to be made in duplicate, one copy to be retained by the commander of the troops, and the other to be given to an officer to be designated by General Sherman. Each officer and man to give his individ- ual obligation, in writing, not to take up arms against the Government of the United States until properly released from this obligation.
4. The side-arms of officers and their private horses and baggage to be retained by them.
5. This being done, all the officers and men will be permitted to return to their homes, not to be disturbed by the United States authorities so long as they ob- serve their obligation and the laws in force where they may reside.
(Signed) W. T. SHERMAN.
Major-general Commanding United States Forces in North Carolina. (Signed ) J. E. JOHNSTON,
General Commanding Confederate States Porces in North Carolina.
On the 27th General Johnston announced to the army under his command the fact that he had made this convention for the purpose of preventing the further and useless effusion of blood and the devastation of the country. By the 2d of May all the necessary papers had been prepared and signed. "On that day," says General Johnston, "the three corps and three little bodies of cavalry were ordered to march to their destinations, each under its own commander. And my military connection with those matchless soldiers was terminated by the following order:
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GENERAL ORDERS NO. 22.
Comrades : In terminating our official relations, I earnestly exhort you to ob- serve faithfully the terms of pacification agreed upon, and to discharge the obli- gations of good and peaceful citizens as well as you have performed the duties of thorough soldiers in the field. By such a course you will best secure the comfort of your families and kindred, and restore tranquillity to our country.
You will return to your homes with the admiration of our people, won by the courage and noble devotion you have displayed in this long war. I shall always remember with pride the loyal support and generous confidence you have given me.
I now part with you with deep regret, and bid you farewell with feelings of cordial friendship, and with earnest wishes that you may have hereafter all the prosperity and happiness to be found in the world.
(Signed) J. E. JOHNSTON, General.
Official :
(Signed) KINLOCK FALCONER, A. A. G."
These words are worthy of the great captain who wrote them and of "those matchless soldiers" to whom they were addressed. The noble Army of Tennessee was disbanded. The men who composed it returned to their homes to resume the avocations of peace, and to build up again the broken fortunes of family and country. They had made a gallant fight against overwhelming odds for what they believed to be sacred rights and constitutional liberty. The contest was decided against them. They accepted the issue in good faith, and have followed to the letter the ad- vice of their beloved commander "to discharge the obligations of good and peaceful citizens as well as you have performed the duties of thorough soldiers in the field." No country has ever produced braver and more intelligent and chivalric soldiers, or more industrious, law-abiding, and honorable citizens, than were the men who surrendered with the Confederate flag. The earth has never been watered by richer or nobler blood than that shed by those who fell beneath its folds.
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