Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1916-11-15
Near Franklin, Tenn.

ness set In. Have made twenty miles
today.
Near Franklin, Tenn.
Sunday, November 81, 1864.
We enjoyed another good nights
sleep, but dreamed. / dreamed of
being taken prisoner by the "rebs."
We got up at daylight ard soon after
had breakfast ready. Before we were
through getting breakfast, a drove
of unmilked cows came along, and
the boys had milk for their coffee,
while | had an extra large cup of
, bread and milk. All the morning the
road was filled with refugees hasten
ing towards Nashville-some in wa
CONS or carts; some on horses or
mules; but most of them were a-foot,
all well-loaded with blankets, bundles
and other things. At $50 p. M, our
advance marched out and we were
soon on the road. 1t rained some to-
day, but not enough to bother us any.
The roads were good and the wagons
lightly loaded so we made excellent
Roadway. We passed through town
called Spring Hill, little after noon.
We had to ford some good sized
streams, as the bridges were all de-
stroyed by the "rebs" a year ago,
and had never been repaired. Towards
night we went into camp, with the
rattle of musketry in our ears. We
are about two miles north of Column
bus. Occasionally we can see the
flash of our cannon followed by the
their laundering voices, as they send
shot and shell towards the rebel lines.
The musketry fire is quite heavy at
times, especially about eight o'clock.
To our left we can see a large fire,
probably house. We passed two
trains today belonging to the Fourth
Corps, containing over a hundred wa
CONS each, besides several smaller
trains; several droves of beef cattle,
and large numbers of refugees (most-
ly colored), all making for Nash
vile. We came about twenty miles
today.
Near Columbia, Tenn,
:. Monday, November %, 1864.
n | passed rather a restless night on
account of illness, but felt some bet
ter this morning. There was some
pretty heavy musketry firing during
the night, and the news just came to
us that the "rebs" had driven our
men from the town and were now oc-
cupying the same. Troops were con-
tinually passing us all the forenoon,
going from our right to our left, and
in our rear, and forming in line about
twenty rods from where our train was
standing. 1t began to look as if the
"rebs" were going to get us into a
tight place if they keep on. l put a
ridge pole on one of our wagons and
fastened the covers on some of the
others; then fixed tail gate; wrote
in my diary, and did other numerous
things until noon. At 2:30 p. m, we
got under way and went back mile,
crossed Carriers creek and into a
bunch Of timber, where we found a
cleared space and there halted, find
ing water and rails a-plenty for our
immediate needs. | read some. Our
men were massing their forces just
little ways from where we were
.z1mped this morning, on the north
46e of Duck river, in an effort to
stop the "rebs" if they attempted to
cross the river.
Tuesday, November 20, 1864.
A brisk southerly wind sprang up
during the night, drying up the mud
to a great extent, and the weather is
quite warm. / took bath and
changed my clothes and washed them.
We heard some cannonading this
morning and musketry fire at times.
We have but little work to do on the
wagons. Al Z.UO -. III, we IeStiscu
orders for all the old teams to drive
to the railroad for ammunition, and
in an hour the rest of the train re-
ceived orders to harness and hitch up.
There was some heavy firing about
noon. At 4:30 p. m, the road being
open, we moved out and went in the
direction of Nashville, retreating in
earnest. The road has been full OF
wagons and troops moving to the
rear all day. We made slow progress
on account of the roads being filled
up so. At dark we heard that the
rebel cavalry had attacked our train
at Spring Hill, but that our men drove
them off. As we drove along in the
dark we We're startled by volley OF
musketry on our right, which was
soon followed by another; but as we
Y ,.dE1not hear any bullets whistling, we
comluded that the firing was done
by our troops. A mile further on and
few bullets began to whiz over
our heads-just enough to make the
wagonmasters and mule drivers dis
mount on the leeward side Of their