The Washington herald., 1914-12-06
opdycke Saves the Day.

| check them. II seemed probable that al
would be lost in another five minutes.
Opdycke Saves the Day.
Fortunately indeed was wagner's order
to opdycke TO fight where he dawn
pleased" Now, with the tide of battle
going strongI-- against the Federals
when the Confederates had seized Their
cannon on the abandoned works and
turned them against the eeifing army,
Opdycke, without orders, threw his men
into the breach.
In company with the Twelfth and Six
teenth Kentucky regiments, the only
other troops in reserve, this band Of Fed
erals dashed upon the men Of Hoods
army and checked their advance. Gaining
an inner line of works that Gen. Cox
| had thrown up early in the day, these
1 troops hung on till the first panic sub
! sided. Then, with reformed ranks. the
men who but a moment before had fed,
! pushed back the enemy at the point OF
| the bayonet, reoccupied the defenses and
| regained the batteries.
1T would hardly be possible to frame
| language that would do more than jus
| tice to the magnificent conduct OF Emer-
son Opdyke's brigade and Laurence II.
| Rousseau's Twelfth Kentucky. and John
+. Whites Sixteenth Kentucky, and
their commanders, in that battle" wrote
| Gen. Schofield
Opdycke. on horseback, headed his men
| in their charge upon the vastly superior
! number of Confederates. His revolver
! spoke out many times before it broke
| early in the fray; his horse was shot
under him; but seizing a musket and
welding it as a club the colonel main
! tanned his place in the van and fought
| on with his soldiers.
Lieut.. Coils. White and Rousseau like
wise were distinguished for their gRllan-
try, the former being severely wounded
| in the face but maintaining place with
his men, and Gen. Stanley, who at the
| first sound of battle had ridden TO the
front from Schofield's headquarters, and
who came up just in time to place him
self at the head OF some OF Opdycke's
regiments was in the thick of the combat
, His horse fell wounded. Stanley had
scarcely risen from the ground when he
was struck in the neck by a Confeder-
ate bullet This wound bled profusely
but the general remained upon the field
till the close of day, when he was obliged
to relinquish command OF the Fourth
Corps to Gen. T. J. Wood.
Hoods Omcers Cut Down.
The regaining of the Federal lines did
not end the bloody struggle. Many times
that day the Confederates dashed across
the open ground in the face of a deadly
fire from the muskets and artillery, only
to be sent reeling back with shattered
ranks.
On that field Gen. Hoods army was
stripped OF its best and bravest COM
manders.
Gen. Pat CIeburne, the hero Of a
!, ~ 81
nowned leaders of the Confederacy, fell
dead at the head OF his division in the
first half hour. His body was found in
the ditch in front of the Federal para
pet. Brig. Gen. Hiram B. Granbury. of
CIeburn's division. was also killed.
Gen. J. c. Brown, commanding a divi-
sion was severely wounded. All four
of his brigade commanders were elm
inated-Gen. Otho Strahl killed. as was
his successor, Col. F. f. P. Stafford
Gen. George W. Gordon captured early
in the fray: Gen. S. r. Gist, whose name
had figured in many hard-fouGht battles,
shot down while heading a charge: and
Gen. John c. Carter badly wounded
Gen. John Adams. OF LorinE's division
dashed upon the Federals, forming a
conspicuous mark upon his charger. His
horse leaped TO the crest of the breast
works. when man and beast fell mortally
wounded. Another OF Loring's brigadiers.
Gen. Thomas NJ. Scott, was badly wound
ed. Gen. Arthur NJ. Manigault, OF John
sons division was killed.
Homecoming of Capt. Carter.
When the day was done the field of
Franklin presented one Of the most hor-
rible scenes of war that the West had
ever seen. Not even at Chickamauga had
the killed and wounded so completely
carpeted the ground.
Far inside the Federal lines the field
was dotted with men in gray. who had
fought bravely to hold the ground they
had gained in the first desperate attack.
In an old farmhouse just inside the
parapet, an aged man named Carter and
two daughters had sought safety in the
cellar from the hail OF shot and she'll
that tore the ground around their home
Terror stricken and helpless, their
thoughts and prayers were not alone for
themselves: for in Hoods army was a
son and brother whom they had not seen
in many months.
At night. when the strife was done and
the field became quiet save for the pitt
full cries Of the wounded, the girls went
out to minister to the last wants OF the
dying. Almost at their door they found
the cold form of the brother for whom
they had been waiting Capt. W. NJ. Car
ter. serving on the staff of Gen. Tyler of
Bates division, had led the van over the
Federal works. only to fall de ad before
his home.
The Confederate losses OF the day have
been variously given. According to most
reliable testimony they were approx
mately 1000 killed. wounded and missing.
including about 700 prisoners taken by
the Fsderals.
The Federal losses were 1S9 killed. LOB
wounded and 1,1O4 missing. total Of 2, ,S26.
Gen. Cox wrote that more than 1000 Of
tbat number were from tn, two brigades
of Gen Wagner, which had been posted
in front OF the main lines.
Twenty-Five Confederate battle flags
were taken by the Federals.
These losses do not include those Of
the cavalry While the infantry of the
Gen Forests Confederate cavalry cross
ed the Harpeth River, three miles up
stream Ceastl and were met by the Fed
erals under Gen. Wilson, in a hard battle
the Confederates were driven back across
the stream with considerable loss.
The success of Wilson's cavalry un-
doubtedly saved the Federal wagon trains
and much of the artillery, for Forrest
was bent on getting in Schofield's rear
and capturing them.
Gen. Schofield was not on the battle
field at Franklin. According to some ac-
counts, including his own narrative. he
was at a fort on high ground north Of
the Harpeth River when the battle OPEN
ed, and remained there to view the prog
ress Of the fight. Other testimony tends
to show that he was at DR.. Cliffs house
in Franklin, when the first attack was
r'ade. and that he Immediately mounted