The National tribune., 1905-11-23
wAGNER's MEN.
slight Loss Sustained by the Brigade
Before the Works Were Reached.


Editor National Tribune: 1 have read
Capt r. e. Rice's account of the battle
of Franklin with intense interest. In
general he gives a vivid picture of that
awful fight. but, using the figure he
employs in his first paragraph, 1 must
say that he furnishes some more chaff
for the future historian to blow away.
He challenges correction, and 1 accept
the challenge. The spirit of his article
statements placed beside his for the
future historian to consider.
In the first place. I want to say that
l probably saw as much Of the battle
of Franklin as any one man. This may
seem at first glance like Boosting, but
there is no boastine in it. 1 actually
saw little Of the fight No one man
saw much of it. l did not see the bat
tie from the standpoints of Gems. Scho-
field, Cox. Stanley or Opdycke or Capt
Rice; but they did not see the battle
from my standpoint. either. My regi-
IRENE right of the two brigades left
out in front through the blunder of
some one. My company was D. and
since the regiment had only few over
hundred in line, l was pretty close to
the extreme right of the advanced line.
Our position was Of necessity little
closer to the Notifications than the CEN
ter was, and when we fell back we nat
urally reached the Notifications first
| crossed the breastworks just east of
the locust grove SO often mentioned.
The works were then practically de-
serted. We stopped there and began
firing. I fired several shots before the.
rebels got up to our haStily-constructed
Notifications. I cannot tell how the
line gave way. Men seemed to be
leaving the works on each side Of me,
and back I went. I went as far as the
= o.,fa II IN
ment that sent us back to the front,
and this movement seemed spontane-
Gus. I was with those who restored
the line. / remained on the firing line
till 10 o'clock or later. After the last
charge had been made and we had
waited to see whether the fighting
would be renewed, l leaned my head
against the works. was so thoroughly
exhausted that I soon fell asleep. At
last one Of the picket line shook me
and woke me up. Then / was aston
ished to find that our army had crossed
the river and only picket line was
keeping up the firing. AS passed be-
hind the Carter House my heart was
moved by the large number of wounded
lying there. They did not seem to real
ize that they were to be left to the care
of the enemy.
I have given this personal narrative
to show that I was in the fight from
from my Enfield.
Many things that I mention now
must be given from testimony. Much
of what Capt. Rice has written was the
opinion Of others A few things that
he has said cannot be sustantiated from
that has been written about the fight.
Gen. Cox's book came out in 1882, not
in 1890, as the Captain says. That was
70 years ago. l reviewed the book at
the time, and had an interesting corre-
spondence with Gen. Cox concerning
the correctness Of some Of his state
ments. also had some interesting let
tiers from Gov Porter. Of Tennessee,
who was the Chief Of Gen. Cheatham's
stan. Gems. Cheatham and Porter both
confirmed my opinion on disputed
points. Their testimony was worth more
than any opinion that might be ex-
pressed by our men. They viewed the
battlefield in all it's horrors a few min
utes after our men crossed the river.
When / wrote my account of the
fight more than % years ago, I had this
to say concerning Opdycke's men:
All unite In rendering to Col. OPP
dycke and his brigade unqualified praise
that they have received was fairly
won."
That was my opinion 40 years ago,
20 years ago, and 1t is my opinion to-
day. But think Capt. Rice's claim
that "Opdycke's Brigade alone, unaided,
retook and restored the line" is pre-
posterous. heartily agree with the
Captain that 'the general sentiment at
the time Is the best criterion" It GER
tainly was the opinion Of the Second
and Third Brigades at the time that
they were In the heat Of the fight, not
simply in the retreat, but in the contest
that ragged with such fury about the
i he 80
their being present raised until Gen.
Cox's book came out Is years after the
fight. Gen. Cox, in speaking of the two
brfgades, says: HE (Wagner) rallied
the disorganized brigades at the river,
but they were not again carried into
correspondence that I had with Gen.
Cox. Now, let us look at the actual
just before the rebels make
their charge. Strickland's and Reillys
Brigades held the center on each side
Of the pike. Opdycke's Brigade lay a
snort distance in the rear, as a reserve.
Wagner's other two brigades lay in
front. When Wagner's two brigades
fell back the rebels followed close at
our heels. In fact, 1T was a race to see
which would reach the works first.
What was the situation one minute
after the rebel line broke our center?
The two brigades Of the Twenty-third
Corps and Wagner's two brigades had
fallen back Is or 80 yards. This is GER
tafnly true Of Wagner's men. Col. OPP
dycke's Brigade was charging up the
pike to restore the line. Here, then,
were five brigades in the vicinity of the
pike, and some Of them, or all Of them.
restored the line. Gen. Cox would have
us believe that two Of those brigades
extricated themselves from that con-
fused mass and quietly retired to the
river In the rear, while the other three
brigades restored the line. Capt. Rice
would have us believe that one brigade,
Opdycke's extricated itself from that
mass and restored the line, "alone, un-
aided" Is 1t not more reasonable to
suppose that men from all five Of the
brigades restored the line? II the honor
of restoring the line does not belong to
all five Of the brigades, must not much
of the honor belong to the two brigades
that suffered most heavily? The ques-
ton OF loss is an argument absolutely
Let us examine It. IL
suppose that Gen. Cox had access to
the official records and gives them cor
rectly. He says that the Union loss was
2.326, and adds that more than 1000
were In the two brigades Of Wagner.
Where did these two brigades suffer
this loss loss almost as great as all
the rest OF the army together? They