No. 177.
Report of Col.
Leander Blanden, Ninety-fifth Illinois Infantry, commanding Second Brigade,
of operations
December 15-16, 1864.
HEADQUARTERS SECOND
BRIGADE, THIRD DIVISION,
DETACHMENT ARMY OF THE TENNESSEE,
In the Field,
December 21, 1864.
SIR: I have the honor to submit the following report of the
part the Second Brigade of the Third Division, Detachment Army of the
Tennessee, consisting of the Eighty-first and Ninety-fifth Illinois Volunteers
and the Forty-fourth Missouri Volunteer Infantry, took in the battle of
December 15 and 16, at Nashville, Tenn.:
Awoke the men without reveille at 4 a.m., and moved out of
camp at 6 a.m. Left the Forty-fourth Missouri Volunteer Infantry on the
Charlotte pike as a reserve and to support a battery. Arrived on the Hardin
pike 8 a.m., and immediately formed in column by regiment in rear of the First
Brigade, in which manner we moved forward. About one mile from this point the
command deployed and moved forward about three-quarters of a mile. At 3 p.m.
the command changed direction to the left, and in crossing the Hillsborough
pike, and for about one-eighth of a mile afterward, the command was under a
severe fire from a four-gun battery situated to the left, distant about half a
mile, and enfilading the entire line. Here the command was formed on the left
of the Third Division battery, where it remained until after dark, when the
command was formed in column by regiments in rear of the First Brigade. During
the night the Ninety-fifth Illinois Volunteers threw up breast-works in front
of the battery. At 5 a.m. December 16 the command moved in rear of the battery
to the right on the Hillsborough pike, and during the day was held in reserve
to the Twenty-third Corps, and situated on its extreme left. At 4 p.m. the
command moved forward into and occupied the works left by the Twenty-third
Corps, when it moved forward, where the command remained during the night.
The list of casualties in the command was extremely light,
viz: Killed, none. Wounded, Sergt. John Kennedy, Company A, Ninety-fifth
Illinois Volunteers, knee carried away by a cannon-ball or unexploded shell;
primary amputation of the thigh. Missing, none.
Too much praise cannot be awarded to the officers and men
for their coolness, steadiness, and courage while under the severe artillery
[fire] at the Hillsborough pike.
I have the honor to
be, sir, most respectfully, your obedient servant,
L. BLANDEN,
Colonel Ninety-fifth
Illinois Volunteers, Commanding Brigade.
Col. J. B. MOORE,
Comdg. 3d Div., Detach. Army of
the Tennessee.
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. 502
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