No. 240.
Report of Maj. Gen. Henry D. Clayton, C. S. Army,
commanding division, of operations November 20-December 27, 1864.
MAJOR: I have the honor to submit the following, being a report of the operations of this division in the campaign north of the Tennessee River, embracing a period from the 20th of November to the 27th of December:
On the 20th of November the line of march was taken up from
Florence, Ala., in the direction of Nashville. The division reached Columbia on
the 27th without incident worthy of mention, except the usual bad roads and bad
weather incident to the season of the year. Here the enemy, having massed his
forces from Pulaski and other neighboring points, was found strongly
intrenched.
On the 29th, the enemy having withdrawn across Duck River,
the balance of the army was moved to the right, leaving Stevenson's division
and my own to confront him at this point. Preparations were made for crossing
the river, which was accomplished on the evening of the 29th and the morning of
the 30th of November. Moving rapidly up the road to Franklin we came up with
the balance of the army at Spring Hill, and all soon moved on to Franklin,
which was reached late in the afternoon of that day. We found that bloody and
disastrous engagement begun, and were put in position to attack, but night
mercifully interposed to save us from the terrible scourge which our brave
companions had suffered.
On the following morning this division, being in front,
resumed the march to Nashville, where it arrived in front of the enemy's works
on the 1st of December, and, driving in his vedettes, took position, which was
established as line of battle of the whole army. From this time until the
morning of the 15th was spent in almost incessant work upon lines of
intrenchments, of which four were constructed by this division.
Upon the morning of the 15th the engagement was begun by the
enemy, who attacked the extreme right and left of the army and demonstrated
along my front. It becoming necessary to send re-enforcements to the left, my
line was extended in that direction until Stovall's and Holtzclaw's brigades
were deployed to cover the whole front occupied by the corps in the morning,
and Gibson's brigade, which was upon the left, was taken out of the trenches
and thrown back perpendicularly to check the advance of the enemy, who was
sweeping down the lines from the left. This maneuver and night stopped the
farther progress of the enemy. About midnight this division was moved back and
took position on what is known as the Overton Hill, four miles from the city,
upon the extreme right of the army, conforming to the position already taken by
the left. Here breast-works were constructed.
The enemy made their appearance early on the morning of the
16th, and soon developed along our whole line. Having placed several batteries
in position along my front with concentrated fire upon the Overton Hill, which
was mainly occupied by Stovall's brigade, the enemy opened a terrible fire,
which did considerable damage to that brigade and very materially injured
Stanford's battery, which was in position on the left of Stovall's and right of
Holtzclaw's brigades. At 1 p.m. the enemy, having driven in the skirmish line,
made a vigorous assault upon portions of Gibson's and Holtzclaw's brigades,
which was subsequently renewed twice along my whole front, except the extreme right
of Stovall's brigade. One of these charges was made by negro troops. In these
assaults the enemy suffered great slaughter, their loss being estimated at
1,500 or 2,000 killed and wounded. It was with difficulty that the enthusiasm
of the troops could be repressed so as to keep them from going over the works
in pursuit of the enemy. Five color-bearers with their colors were shot down in
a few steps of the works, one of which, having inscribed on its folds
"Eighteenth Regiment U.S. Colored Infantry; presented by the colored
ladies of Murfreesborough," was brought in. About 4 p.m., while the
division was thus in the highest state of enthusiasm, I received a message from
the lieutenant-general commanding corps, through Lieutenant Hunter,
aide-de-camp, that he would expect me to bring off my division in order. I
inquired when, what was going on upon the left, and whether I should do so at
once, but could get no information. I turned to a staff officer and directed
the batteries to be ready to limber up, and ordered Brigadier-General Stovall,
who was standing by, to be in readiness to move out in order, but to wait until
I could make an effort to bring off Stanford's battery. I then saw the troops
on my left flying in disorder, and it having been reported to me that
Stanford's battery was so disabled as to make it impossible to bring it off, I
ordered the Eufaula Light Artillery to withdraw, and so soon as it had begun to
move directed the same orders to be given to the several brigade commanders.
The whole army--except this division, Pettus' brigade, of Stevenson's division,
and the Thirty-ninth Georgia Regiment, of Cumming's brigade, also of
Stevenson's division, which had a short time before been sent to me as a
support and held in reserve—was then in complete rout. Some confusion existed
even in these commands, though scarcely perceptible in Stovall's brigade and
the Thirty-ninth Georgia Regiment, above referred to, which latter deserves
great credit for the manner in which it responded to my appeal to halt and
check the advance of the enemy's skirmish line, which had then reached the top
of the hill. Having gone about half a mile I found' the Eufaula Light Artillery
about to move off from a position in which it had been halted. Halting the
Thirty-ninth Georgia Regiment as a support to the battery, I ordered it to
continue the firing. Sending my staff to halt the division, and Lieutenant
Jones, aide-de-camp, especially to Brigadier-General Stovall to halt his
brigade and put it in position, I soon after ordered the battery and regiment
supporting it to withdraw, and rode off to take command of the division. Too
much praise cannot be awarded the officers and men of this battery for the
coolness and deliberation with which they managed their guns under these trying
circumstances. Upon coming up with the division, being unable to find
Brigadier-General Stovall, I ordered Col. A. Johnson, the senior colonel, to
take the command and halt it in a position which I indicated. In a few moments
the whole division and Pettus' brigade were in line. This occurred in about one
mile of the breast-works. Night soon coming on, Holtzclaw's brigade was placed
across the road, with skirmishers in front, and the balance of the command
moved off toward Franklin. About 2 o'clock at night it was halted seven miles
from Franklin and bivouacked until 5 o'clock. Daylight on the morning of the
17th found us in position at Hollow Tree Gap, five miles from Franklin,
Stovall's brigade and a section of Bledsoe's battery being upon the right and
Pettus' brigade upon the left of the road, and the other two brigades in rear.
About 8 a.m. the enemy's cavalry made their appearance, driving in our own
cavalry in a most shameful manner, a few pursuing them even through the line of
infantry and cutting with their sabers right and left. A few shots from the
infantry, however, drove them back, with the loss of a stand of colors. About 9
a.m. they again advanced upon this position, when we succeeded in capturing
about 100 men, with their horses, and another stand of colors. At about 10 a.m.
we were withdrawn from this position and crossed Harpeth River a few miles from
this place. After some slight skirmishing we were relieved by Major-General
Stevenson's division. For the particulars of the capture of seventy-five
officers and men of Holtzclaw's brigade, and a like number from Gibson's
brigade, I refer to the reports of their respective brigade commanders. For
this occurrence I think no one to blame but our cavalry, who, all the day long,
behaved in a most cowardly manner. It is proper, however, that I should make
one bright exception to this general remark: I refer to the case of Colonel
Falconnet, commanding a brigade, who, when about to cross the Harpeth River,
seeing the enemy charging upon Gibson's brigade, drew his revolver, and
gathering less than 100 brave followers, dashed upon the enemy, more than
twenty times his number. After having been relieved, as above stated, by
General Stevenson, the division was moved on slowly, halting occasionally so as
to keep within a short distance of his command. Six miles south of Franklin,
the division being at a halt in the road, I learned that the enemy were moving
around General Stevenson. I immediately placed my command across the road,
Stovall's brigade, Col. R. J. Henderson commanding, on the right, Gibson's in
the center, and Holtzclaw's, Col. Bushrod Jones commanding, upon the left.
Hearing considerable firing in the rear I ordered Colonel Jones to move
Holtzclaw's brigade forward in line of battle, keeping his right resting on the
pike, so as to render any assistance that might be necessary to General
Stevenson. Having given some general instructions to General Gibson as to
keeping out skirmishers and scouts, I directed him to take command of the two brigades,
and with my staff rode up the pike to communicate with General Stevenson. Upon
coming up with Colonel Jones I learned that the enemy in large force was
forming upon his left as if for the purpose of charging. I then rode forward
and informed General Pettus, whose brigade was near by, of the disposition I
had made for his support, and started back to where I had left General Gibson
with the two brigades; when in about 100 yards of the left of General Gibson's
command, which rested upon the pike, I saw a column of cavalry moving obliquely
and just entering the road a few paces in my front. An infantry soldier of my
command, recognizing me (it being then quite dark), ran up to me and whispered,
"They are Yankees." Turning my horse to the left, so as to avoid
them, I moved rapidly to the right of General Gibson's line, and after narrowly
escaping being killed by several shots fired at me through mistake, I
communicated the information to General Gibson, who promptly wheeled his
brigade to the left and delivered a volley which scattered the enemy, killing
many of them. I then, at the suggestion of General Gibson, moved back these two
brigades behind a fence, in order to better resist a charge and also for
greater security against firing into our own men. This position was scarcely
taken when the enemy again began to move from the left upon the pike in our
immediate front. Demanding to know who they were, I was promptly answered,
"Federal troops," which was replied to by a volley, killing several
and again driving them off, leaving a stand of colors, which was secured. The
enemy having finally retired and the firing having ceased, I communicated my
intentions to General Stevenson and moved off my command.
In this affair, so trying to both officers and men, all
behaved in the best possible manner. While I cheerfully concede all that is due
to General Stevenson's division in checking the advance of the enemy and thus
helping to save the army, without entering into anything further than the above
brief recital of facts, I believe it is not claiming too much to say that this
division, by preventing the enemy from massing in his rear, saved that
division.
I tender to Brigadier-General Gibson especially my cordial
thanks for the part performed by him on this occasion, and also to Colonels
Henderson and Jones, of whose brigade commanders I may say, without reflecting
upon them, that their commands lost nothing by their absence on this trying
occasion.
After moving back a few miles the division bivouacked for the
night and resumed the march on the following day for the Tennessee River, which
it reached at Bainbridge on the 25th of December, after a most painful march,
characterized by more suffering than it had ever before been my misfortune to
witness.
H. D. CLAYTON,
Major-General.
Maj. J. W. RATCHFORD,
Assistant Adjutant-General.
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. 697-700
