The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-10-24
THE BATTLE or rnAxk1Ix.
Sen' CoHs Recent Account or II vigorously
Handled by Gen. stanley.

named Tho Battle OF Franklin" Like his
FORMER COOK, THE March 10 tho Sea. Franklin
ana Nashville this book is given to show that
Cox is n great General, and. In short, much OF n
hero. and to do this hc has to clcar the ground.
as IL were, Of tho commander OF the Fourth
corps who seemed to stand In his way.
Iho controvcrtcd points, as hc terms them,
are simply these: that Gen. Stanley hold no
omman over tho troops which fought in the
line of battle at Franklin, but that he. Cox.
commanded the whole line; md, secondly, that
"cn. Stanley was wounded carly In the battle
ana retired entirely from tho scene, and had
hotnlns moro 10 do with the matter. This
natter proposition is included in the first, for II
Gen. Stanley had no command, tho incident of
his being wounded or what became Of him is
wholly irrelevant.
CONS long rgumcnt Is we'll put and worthy
OF the late Dean OF the Cincinnati Law School.
My answer shall he brief.
If any one will turn to the War Records, Vol.
NV, part l., serial No. 90, he will find three re.
ports by Gen. Cox: First. dated Nashville, Dec.
=, ls0l; "Maior.Gen. Stanley, who had been III
during tho forenoon, came up with Opdyke's
brigade aud assumed command OF tho Fourth
Corps"
Again: NASHVILLE, Tenn. Jrn. 10, 1865.
"Mnjor.Gcn. Stanley. commanding the Fourth
Corps, who had been i'll the great part OF the
day, came on the fold on hearing tho sound of
battle, and arrived in time to take active part
in the effort to rally WaEncr's men, but was
soon wounded AID his horse shot under him."
Again: "NAsuviLLE, Tenn. Jan. 12, 1868.
II took no mma of the Fourth Corps, Eek
cepting Opdyke's brigade, after Gen. Stanley
came on tho field, and have no official report OF
this part of the engagement"
Nov, | would be thoroughly willing TO rest
the case right here, solely upon Cox's evidence,
but ] must call attention to the comic aspect of
n man, thirty.thrcc years after the event, writ.
ing n book OF $50 pages to prove that his own
official reports made at that time are false.
The report Of Dec. =, now in the Record office,
and in Co.'s own handwriting tnot copied by II
clerk. was honest. and meant for the truth.
There is no fault to find with it save tho words
assumed omman of the Fourth Corps" |
commanded the Fourth Corps all the time and
had nothing to assume.
His second report. Of Jan. 10, 1864, is irrclc-
want and has no bearing upon the question.
Cox had by this time evidently thought out n
scheme OF rascality and was clearing the field.
The report of the 10Th OF January il true, cx-
cepting the words "Opdykc's brigade l will
explain this further on. Cox is II literary man
of ability, and I believed in him for many years.
He is a man that you have 10 be educated UP
TO. and il takes just such an experience as
mine to learn his tricks. When he wrote TO
me at Fort Clarke, Tex. 1891, / still believed
in Cox. | had been then fourteen years on the
frontier and had lost all thought of the war.
Ondvlc.s hr;r,,lc or1 no, bo r,ot onar,..,,
Rrigodc advorcin, ,,ho, u. ,nJo 20 ,ho ,i,,a
Emf 7 cnrcd li,,,c ,b,,t tho r,o,tor ,hor ihod
ridden In from, of ondvtc.s brir,1o no :, wor,
to the fight, and tho cnntv honor nf coum,nd.
ing it aftcrward was so small that if it pleased
Cox let him have il: and | agreed to his nine
prono.itions. Tho scheme i crnningIy Ia;d
ana l VIII rctcr 10 IL hereafter.
When CoX's book. March to the Sea, Frank.
lin and \,shviu. " c,n,. M, Ihono, q, &c.
.,ana o.. r." @ ~ wv" So" ~ ""t,
staho zen. 'oN' ana whch zen. stones article
In the war papers series came ont. wholly
taken from information give, nv Gov 7 det.
~..a, - ,'N' l '''
l wrote to Gen. Schofield. then in New York
city. and received the following answer.
II u.a ~ >. -. ,oi.o"n's ""s"tf:
~ SoFERSoRs ISLAND, I
NEW YORK CITY, Sept. ., 1887. }
tonio. Terus.
DEAR Gryrpn. yonr ,o,to- ~ uc on u,.
received here Sept. 3. From my best recollec
ton and from examination OF my records.
la We no doubt Gen. Cox quotes in the appendix
10 has Franklin anu Nashrilic' the only or
ders given by Inc at Franklin which could be
co,s.-,c1 nc n,oc;,r , =, a..
.,''I"' Il, p"e1"s any part I. your corps 'he
foufth' uhder ms command. These orders di'
rected Gen. kimball, commanding your load,
ING ,livisinn and cant RriIoor ,ri.h r"n-
me uii' ""u N"p'. '""ser. Win iohf
hatteriess OF artillery, to report to Ien. Coz
for position on the line
Those orders were give, i, III. ,o,u,a
"e 'tuei' WIZ gwen III 'he morning,
whch You were understood by me 10 be with
your rear guard retarding the ad vance of ths
cn.uv opI borco M. n, tho hon, - ~,
.""'' ~ o,.o nv w 'no nenu Oh your COL
uHh. MY recollection is, and l infer the same
from their language. that tho orders had ro ,or
epcc solely tn tho nesting of tho tronns - :,
drsirnStrI linz as tbev - al 'a n u Inc
49, tho n - ~; aiiinvi az rIailkiih
senior ofIcer tbcn nr - - IT. t,3bn.; VINO was IN,
,,hh nv orha IL u pIcS,n, a. lnat point. HOW
:, r t,ou ~ .pns.lu.u " ven: NoN, &c
ri ny .ihn nnmSant 'nut ne FeierS TO MN
which snppntn n" NAV "i lnna ,hs S mhS' hI
"m ~, q a ~ a, u lie mn lily mean slmply Inc
,neni 'NN'' w" o'ose"' 'here a' the mo
":!0f course Il was mot ;rto,dod hr !.
viva ~ ~ "aS ,nicnutu os me 70 dc
pportion of vomrc ornS wbi;nb ,ni inht" u OF Any
r0toho" ;, Huua .p,pS Mnitn IniRnt ne wlthii
rcneh q, Your 9ruets, bnt you WI doubtless
, ,yhi,h ~ had n, ~ q ~ " ennon. on me enemy