Little Falls weekly transcript. (Little Falls, Morrison Co., Minn.) 1894-19??, 1897-01-01
STORIES OFF
NASHVILLE.

STANLEY'S The goth Of No
DEFENSE OF THE vember, 1864, was
49,, the day Of all others
FAoo when, if luck counts
at all in war, the Confederacy had a last
chance. AS result of his usual bold
tactics, Forrest dashed into Spring Hill,
Tenn, in the pathway of the army
which was to save Nashville from Hoods
40, 900 invaders. Spring Hill lies on
the Columbia pike, which connects Co.
lumbia, on the Duck river, with Nash
vile. Schofeld's army lay at Column
bia, holding off Hood on the south, fac
ing the alternatives Of defeat in battle
or retreat in face Of the enemy to Nash
vile. About noon of the 29th the adj
vance guard of Schofeld, 1000 strong
and led by General D. NJ. Stanley,
marched into Spring Hill at double
quick and began to fight with Forrest
for the mastery. Forrest was beaten,
md Stanley held the road open. At that
moment there was nothing to stay the
march of Hoods 100000 upon Nash.
Vile, Louisville and the north except
Stanley's array Of 1000 at Spring Hill
and mob Of unorGanized detachments
at Nashville with Thomas.
The hope Of the west lay with Scho-
field, and he was virtually cut off at
Columbia, for Hood had fanked that
barrier with his cavalry and Cheatham's
corps of infantry and was marching
boldly toward the pike between Stan
ley's isolated division and Schofield's
main force at Columbia. Hoods hope
the forlorn hope Of the south-lay in
placing a wall of bayonets across the
pike and shutting Schofield off from
Nashville. 1t was. only the turn Of a
hand whether Spring Hill should count
for more in history than Gettysburg or
Vicksburg. Calling Generals Cheatham
and Cleburne to his side, Hood directed
their eyes upon the pike, where Soho.
fields wagons under infantry guards
were moving from Columbia back to
Spring Hill. Said he to Cheatham:
General, you see the enemy there, re.
treating rapidly to escape us. Go with
your corps, take possession Of that pike
at or near Spring Hill. Do this at once.
, Confident that Schofield's army was
lost, Hood rode away to bring up anoth.
er corps, and returned to the scene at
dusk, only to find that Cheatham had
not put his line across the pike. He
ordered a division of Stewards corps
thrown across, but by that time Stan
ley had given the Copfederates sample
of genuine fighting that had stirred up
their caution. He had repulsed every
assault on Spring Hill. After reconnoi-
tering, Stewart let his men rest along
the pike. but not across it.
All the evening Schofield's men, hur.
rying away from Columbia, marched
along the pike under the 5<s of the
pickets Of Cheatham and Stewart. Hood
called upon Forrest to do the work the
infantry had failed in, but the troopers
would not advance. So from midnight
until daylight of the S0th schofield's
men retreated with superior numbers OF
their foes resting idly within earshot OF
their march.
sTEEDMAN'S COL General Steedmar
oRED PHA1ANx. opened aSei1 the n Dattle o., OF
and broke through the Confederate lines.
His command was provisional one,
chiefly Of colored troops, and its losses
in the two days. fighting exceeded those
of divisions and corps mastering from
two to five times the number. It has
been claimed for Thomas that he won
the fight against Hood with hastily Or
ganized troops, some Of them new to
the service. The two colored brigades
of Steedman, which did the most of the
work of his provisional detachment and
lost more than any three brigades Of
white soldiers at Nashville, had never
before been under fire.
Early on the morning Of the 18th,
when Thomas gave the long and an