New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1864-12-08

crossing the Nashville pike and covering ihe iord III
front OF the town On tie 2sth the troops were en-
gagged in throwing ND line Of temporary WORKS
and IN watching closely Tie Mo'eHe"s u INV
enemy
Definite Intelligence REACHED oar commanders on tie
Goth that the enemy had crossed his infantry on orr
left AT Hughs Mill ard that his cavalry vas moving
forward on the LewishGig pike. The situation grew
Interesting and our danger ihfeatemhf, nAI sn,rn3
was marching in Inc parallel with onr line OF retreat
TO intercept and cut Us of al Spring ihli.
Troops at once put in motion anu exhausted as
thew we've by tiTcsome night marches and vcarisome
labor in the trenches pushed forward toward SpiHS
Hn. Rapid marching enabedus to avoid battle nm
advantages Of position against US TO say The least
did net altogether prevent disaster
The head Of our coGmn reached the Town lst III 'hc
to deploy ard prevent titburns diyisionthc epcn!
adyancc-from entering. Rebels began imnedlaiei!
to form their lines soI battle, and pushed forward
heavy line Of sairmisLers During the whole afternoon
We fought ard held them in cheek Just before sunset
il was discovered that hood Was matsihe ieh''i. On
our right and pushing ont his lnos evidently 10 uHk
on a general engagement Gen. Bradley bngaue WiS
attacked in considerable force. and was coHlfcN"o,
after stubborn resistance, in which he lost +" hhDei
of men and vas b!mstH NOaiueo AZ INC el' ~ '''"'
10 the inner line. 1870
During tie n. gh Of the Goth Cheathams Whole corps
encamued parallel 10 and within two hundred yards c
the main road along which it was necessary to pass our
columns artillery and trains. The enemy was GER
FANNY either unaware Of his advantage or feared !"
risk battle here. At1l H., with Cox ana kugeT III
advance the column took up the Inc OF nlaich |r
rankin The position one Of great peru indeed.
II seemed that tie army could only be e1trcated al the
cost of abandoning our artillery and trans lhe eem!
lev in such close proximity 70 o~ line II retreat mat
it appeared almost an impossibility 10 save me me
trains IL was determined TO make the ehoft III MI
hazards. The liyelong night tie Rebel cavalry con
tiuued TO Lnirass us GashiDg suddenly on tio Ualh
capturing or destroying wagon or So or hhoo'ie
down the artillery horses and delaying tie column. Al
was nj ght Of fearful anxiety for commanders invoV
ING In failure shonld disaster overtake us, TIE most
dreful consequences. Night generously enwrappcd US
and screened partially nom the enemys view Inc cor
unn with the entire artillery and supply trans, save
perhaps not TO exceed fifteen wagons escaped oh we
nerilos situation and our r.guard sk!imsbed With
the Rebel advance as ii LEFT the town az dh!Dlcah Our
advance reached Franklin AZ dayb ana COX troops
al once set 10 work constructing aud strengthening
lines of works protect the passage Of the troops and
trains 10 the north side OF Haiiefh
BATTLE OF franklin.
Such il the account Of the Tennessee campaign pre-
ceding tbe hattie Of Franklin. l have already icle'
Craphed you great length concerning this rangunaT
contest and if were sure ny dispatches would feacb
you in any reasonable length of time, would no' st
% all night long after spending the day on horseback
TO write abohcr account of 1t. do not kno" That
can make any more ineligible now than Nheh Nis'
wrote about IL but rs II VIII Inquire hereafter Us ON
Of the most remarkable struggles Of the war; perhaps
an account rather carefully written may moi pe
ont Of place will observe however that as the Dat
Tie was fought late yesterday evening ana inc army
has been marching almost co3tlnual. ever hhce ~ las
been impossible up this hour "a obtain accurate ana
detailed reports OF the operations OF the vaons dl
visions and brgades general statement Therefore
],
all tie intelligent reader expects.
TYPOGRAPHY.
Close 10 the town OF Franklin fIns the Btrpefh
River OF inconsiderable dimensions at this place al
though il afterwards wdens iuio, by means ins'g-
niGcan; stresI--and flowing northwestwardy empties
into tie Cumberland near the ceiebiated noa,S c We
sane name. just ss 1t approaches the town q" rank
In the river bendg sharply toward the .ouih' ana
sweeping Iound Ia graceful curve soon tnfhs n"iH
again and then resumes its original course. Within
this bend is situated TIE town,
Near where the stream makes its DETECTION toward
the south the Mon forces had constructed fort ana
placed in the came few guns OF iarge csnIe rd a
well 10 Of the turnpike coming from Nssh'lir' ore
built (or were the hrst not far from the.iort the sec
oud nearer the middle OF the curve.
Across the neck Of the peninsula our forces had con
structed line OF tolerably good heid works. which
we're s, further strengthened after we fell back Ia
them In our retreat from Columbia. Into these we
retired on the approach Of Hoods army which had as
before Indicated been pressing ms quite closely al the
way from Columbia and Spring Hill. IL was perhaps
two O'clock H. H. Of Yesterday when IL became evident
that the Rebel advance must be checked or we should
be IN danger OF losing artillery. ard perhaps con
siderable portion Of our baggage tram Beside,, al
though We had from the first intended TO fall back 10
Nashville and light for the mastery OF Tennessee near
that city, si would not DO TO risk having our col
umns broken while we were in retIrat' nor was pFu
den, 10 form or lines around Nashville III the VeI}
teeth OF the enemy and while he should be pressing
Our retiring force Hence 1t was that General Schohed
resolved 20 make stand at Franklin and by ami oi
stem and determined fighting 10 dampen tbs ardor oil
Hoods advance and give US opportunity 10 take mp
position around Nashville at our leisure
Had the enemy allowed III to pass the Ha'peth qui
ety he would have avoided tie terrible slaughter oi
his troops which ensued Had he attacked Us earlier,
before our works were sufficiently strengthened be
might have been more successful IL his efforts ~ break
our lines. Had he waited until more cohsideraoc
portion of our army the river he might have
or destroyed the rest As IT was he attacked
lust at time when perhaps We were better prepared
than AT any other 10 infc most damage upon him.
IL win De understood that our works were scarcely
more than prdgchead and that IL was our intention
20 abandon them as the bn!k Of our army win
our artillery and trains safe upon the north side
Of the Harpeth.
Scbo6elds little erny consisted Of such portions Of
The Fourth Corps Qien. ID. ). Stanley and OF the
Tweniytbird Corps Gen. COP as the 6eorgh cam
paieu Ind spared together with number Of new re
cruits for each and y few regiments that recent!
entered the service. 1t viii do no harm 10 Wchtoh
this now: because since the arrival OF Gen A. d.
Smiths troops from the Mississippi and vi zen Shed
mans from Chattanooga things wear very di1erent
aspect indeed. The Rebels viii md the task OF con
tending with the army now assembled aroma Nash
vile a matter of more difficulty than that OF Eehtihe
Scho6eld's feeble legons--athoush even they them
selves admit thai they received tefIpis ofuDp"s III
doing hGf.
INDICATIONS OF BATTLE.
The afternoon OF the last day Of November Wa clear
coudess and warm. The sun shone our, mol ibGeeu
v IN that brilliance which you often witness Ia ONO
but with the subdued uster characteristic OF sunshine
in Tennessee The water Of tie Harpeth sparhied IN
the UQlt. and long column Of blue coated soldiers
continued steadily TO cross from the ,onh 10 te norm
bank Of the river The Rebels who lad been pressing
IA 80 closely all the way from Columbia and spring
I thai we had no time either 70 rest OF sleep seemed
10 hayo made up their minds 10 let US pursue inc re-
mainder OF our Journey in peace. For short period
there was less firing than there had been since daylight
ZEN T. j. Woods division of the Fourth Corps Stan
ley's) had already crossed the river. wien suddenly,
along the turnpike leading 20 Columbia, ana upon ths
crest OF line Of low hills. which in manhersncicied
on, position were seen thousands of graybackt aud
"hniternuts 1preparing TO advance upon our worhs
WngneIs Diysion Of the fourtn uoips wns ,,rts