No. 100.
Report of Maj. Gen. Darius N Couch, U S.
Army, commanding Second Division, of operations December 15-16, 1864.
HDQRS. SECOND DIVISION, TWENTY-THIRD ARMY CORPS,
Near Columbia,
Tenn., December 28, 1864.
SIR: I have the
honor to report that in obedience to the orders of the major-general commanding
the Army of the Ohio, this division moved from the line it occupied in the
intrenchments at Nashville at 7.30 a.m. December 15, upon being relieved by the
troops of General Steedman, and took position in rear of Maj. Gen. A. J.
Smith's corps, on the Hardin pike. At 1 p.m. advanced to within supporting
distance of Smith's troops, then engaged. Soon, after was directed by General
Schofield to push forward to the right of the former officer's line and engage
the enemy. The division marched rapidly nearly two miles, swinging around at a
right angle to the east, crossing the Granny White pike at 2.45 p.m., in line
of battle by brigades, in the order of Cooper, Moore, and Mehringer. Passing
Smith's extreme right more than half a mile, Cooper, assisted by a few hundred
dismounted cavalry, charged a high knob held by the rebels with infantry and
three guns, carrying it most gallantly. Moore, swinging to the left, aided in taking
a stone wall which flanked my position. In the meantime Mehringer, having been
thrown to the right and front to occupy a piece of woods, then received the
attack of a rebel column, which he completely repulsed in thirty minutes. A
brigade of General Cox's division was sent to support him, but it did not have
occasion to go into action. The Fifteenth Indiana Battery followed the division
and used its guns with good effect until night. My line was fortified after
dark, including the knob previously referred to, which proved to be a point of
vital importance to our success on the following day. On the 16th Wilson's
Nineteenth Ohio Battery was brought on the field from the intrenchments of
Nashville and held in reserve. Harvey at daylight occupied the knob fortified
during the night. This battery was the only part of my command seriously
engaged during the day, Cooper and Moore simply supporting General A. J. Smith
in his advance on the enemy's lines from 2 to 3.30 p.m.
The division
displayed great gallantry and dauntless courage throughout the action. Should I
commend the officers and men by name I would not know where to stop.
The captures were
200 prisoners, 3 guns, and 2 stand of colors.
Appended please
find reports of brigade commanders and lists of casualties.*
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
D. N. COUCH,
Major-general.
Maj. J. A. CAMPBELL,
Assistant Adjutant-General Army
of the Ohio.
_______________
* Nominal list
(omitted) shows 1 officer and 10 men killed and 11 officers and 126 men
wounded.
SOURCE: The
War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and
Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume 45, Part 1 (Serial No. 93), p. 369-70
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