Awful Scenes of Carnage: A Buckeye Recalls Franklin
William Wesley Gist was barely 15 years old when he participated in the Battle of Franklin. The Hocking County, Ohio native had enlisted as a private in Co. D of the 26th Ohio Volunteer Infantry on March 23, 1864; the regiment was home on veteran's furlough and Gist lied about his age (he had just turned 15) to join up. He served with the regiment through the Atlanta campaign and penned the following account of Franklin late in life. The 26th Ohio, as part of General George Wagner's Division, was one of the unfortunate regiments way out in front of the Union entrenchments that was forced back into the works by the Confederate assault.
Gist's account was published in the January 1916 issue of Confederate Veteran.
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| Private William Wesley Gist, Co. D, 26th Ohio Volunteer Infantry Following the war, Gist attended Ohio State University and the Union Theological Seminary, being ordained a minister in 1881. He soon moved to Iowa and served as a Congregational Church minister for the remainder of his life. He died June 8, 1923 at the age of 74. |
No one who took part in the battle of
Franklin can ever forget those awful scenes of carnage. They will not fade from
memory. A participant in the great historical event who has read the various
conflicting reports of those high in commands wants to view the whole field and
note the relation of his particular command to the rest of the army. At the
time no one knew what was taking place excepting what came under his own eyes.
No strategic generalship was displayed on either side. Indeed, there was little
chance for this. Hood inspired his officers to strike a terrific blow. Those
officers inspired their men to risk everything, and their valor has never been
surpassed. All who came across that open field on that November afternoon were
heroes. It takes heroes to repel heroes. No battle was ever fought in which of
the value of the individual soldier was more manifest. He met the demands of
the hour largely without orders from a superior. The bravery of both armies is
the common heritage of our united country, and all are proud of it. Yet the
battle of Franklin cannot be viewed by itself: it was one of a series of
stirring events. The critical time for the Federal army was not at Nashville
nor Franklin but Spring Hill.
"No battle was ever more truly won by those in the ranks." ~ Private William W. Gist, 26th Ohio Veteran Volunteer Infantry
When Sherman started for the sea, he took five corps with him
and left the 4th Corps and 23rd Corps under Thomas to
meet Hood. Those in the ranks thought it would be a big task and we found it to
be such. Thomas had made a special request that the 14th Corps, with
which he had been identified from the organization of the army, be granted him,
but Sherman refused the request. Thomas went to Nashville and began hurrying up
needed reinforcements. In November the 4th Corps was moved to
Pulaski and we had a few days’ rest, almost the first rest of a portion of our
command since the 1st of May. The two corps first came together at
Columbia. Those in the ranks did not know anything about Hood’s movements. When
we began to move north, we naturally knew that the Confederates were advancing.
There were but two major generals in the command: David S. Stanley commanding the 4th
Corps and John Schofield commanding the 23rd Corps. Stanley outranked
Schofield in date of commission, but the latter was given temporary command
because he was head of a department. After throwing up temporary works at the
edge of Columbia, we soon crossed to the north side of the river. The booming
of cannon indicated clearly that once more we were face to face with our old
antagonist.
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| Bullet hole from the Battle of Franklin at the Carter House farm office in Franklin. (Photo courtesy of John Banks) |
That Hood outgeneraled Schofield at Columbia is plainly to be
seen. In fact, he threw the bulk of his army practically in the rear of our
army and made the situation critical indeed for us. On the 29th of
November, the Second Division of the 4th Corps started for Spring
Hill to guard the wagon train and artillery. We had a forced match and it was a
little difficult for one boy of 15 to keep up. This command under Wagner was
Sheridan’s old division. Stanley, the corps commander, was present. My
regiment, the 26th Ohio [led by Captain William Clark], was stopped a short distance from Spring
Hill to guard a road. Our company had marched as flankers, but it was not
stopped with the regiment and it formed a part of the skirmish line east of the
village. The regiment numbered only about 120 men. Our division drove Forrest
out of town. Our command was spread out in the form of a semicircle on the east
side of town and it was really only a skirmish line. A large part of Hood’s
army was in striking distance and began to press our thin line back. Stanley
had the artillery of the corps massed on an elevation and it did some splendid
work in shelling the advancing foe.
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| Colonel John Q. Lane 97th Ohio |
Our little regiment met for a short time the attack of a line
of battle, and was scattered toward the pike, losing three of our orderly
sergeants. In the forced march I had not been able to keep up. As I started to
join the company on the skirmish line, I was pressed into service to help carry
a wounded man back to an ambulance. When I started again to join my company, I
was ordered by an officer to help form a line for the defense of the artillery.
There were not more than a dozen of us and our resistance would have been
feeble indeed. Fortunately, darkness came to our relief and we did not fire a
shot.
Parts of our scattered regiment came together after dark and
we made just two stacks of arms. I heard Stanley congratulate the captain
commanding the regiment that his command had not been captured. We were then
moved just east of the village and lay in line of battle. We were not allowed
to talk or to build a fire. We could see the Confederates walking around their
camp fires and they seemed hardly more than half a mile away. It was a gloomy
night. I belonged to a mess of non-commissioned officers. Our orderly sergeant
had been shot through the body and was left near a house on the skirmish line.
Two weeks later we learned that he died that night. Soon after dark the advance
of the main army reached the village on the way to Franklin. As they saw the
camp fires south of town, they began to cheer, thinking they were about to go
into camp. Word was quickly passed along the line that those were Confederate
camp fires and silence was maintained as they passed along. The actual fighting
at Spring Hill did not amount to much, but the one division under Stanley and
Wagner made such a show of force that Hood did not press the fight.
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| A historical marker along the Columbia Pike denotes the line held by the two brigades of General George Wagner's division, including Colonel John Lane's brigade. Gist reported that the 26th Ohio mustered only 120 muskets at Franklin. (Photo courtesy of John Banks) |
Our rest that night was not very refreshing. Before daylight,
we were ordered to retire quietly to the highway and march toward Franklin.
According to the custom of marching armies, the command in advance one day
drops to the rear the next day. So our division was the rear guard. Opdycke’s
brigade was in the very rear and had to meet the feeble attacks on the retreat.
We marched as rapidly as possible and no unusual thing happened in our part of
the line. When some two miles from Franklin, we formed a line of battle, facing
the south or southeast. We were not only tired but very hungry as we had had no
opportunity to cook a meal since the morning before. We hastily built little
fires and began to make coffee, but we had to fall in and change our position
nearer town as I recall. In the meantime, the Rebel cavalry appeared on a road
parallel with is and our battery sent a few shells in that direction. Later we
moved back until we were about a third of a mile from our works. Soon the
Confederate army appeared in battle array on the hill in front of us, and it
would have been a grand sight had it not indicated a bloody conflict. We gathered
what rails and logs we could fins and made a low barricade. We had no
entrenching tools. We knew nothing about the disposition of the troops
excepting our two brigades of Wagner’s division left out in front. Opdycke’s
brigade had moved back into town. Nearer and nearer the Confederates approached
with the precision of dress parade and our hearts beat rapidly. We wondered why
we were not moved back to the works. It was plain that someone had blundered;
Wagner has been made the scapegoat. He had his responsibility and he was to
blame to some degree; but those over him were more to blame in the very nature
of things.
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| The 26th Ohio anchored the right flank of John Lane's brigade of Wagner's division at the Battle of Franklin on November 30, 1864. (American Battlefield Trust Map) |
With wonderful precision, the Confederate forces came forward
for the conflict, their approach over the widest open field than an army ever
charged over. Our right flank was refused to some extent and our regiment was
on the extreme right. This brought our part of the line a little closer to the
works than the others. We stood or kneeled with loaded guns in hand, eyes to
the front, watching the advancing line. The lines were within easy range of
each other, but not a gun was fired from our part. We wondered why we were left
out in that exposed position. At last we heard yells and firing at the left and
saw that our lines east of the pike had given way and was running toward the
works, closely followed by the Confederates. Our whole line did the same. Lane
says that five of our regiments came back with loaded guns, and I know this to
be true so far as those about me were concerned. I jumped over the works just
east of the locust grove near what proved to be the Carter house. Finding the
works empty, we stopped and as soon as men seemed to be in, we began to fire as
rapidly as possible. Soon a cloud of smoke hung over us and nothing was
distinct.
An incident happened at this time that I now mention for the
first time. We had fired several times in quick succession and as I lifted my
gun to shoot again a man jumped on the works almost directly in front of me and
shouted, “Stop firing, boys; the men are not all in yet.” I was a little
horrified at first to think that we might have begun firing too soon and
dropped my gun. Instantly there was a commotion at our left in the direction of
the pike. I turned my eyes in that direction and saw the line giving way and
the Confederates pouring over the works. I have wondered about the man who
jumped upon the works and I am inclined to think he was not one of our men, but
one of the Confederates.
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| Pockmarked and scarred by the torrent of bullets than flew on the evening of November 30, 1864 stands these two buildings on the Carter House property, the epicenter of the battle. The brick building is the smokehouse while the white building is the farm office. (Photo courtesy of John Banks) |
Our line was carried back a few rods and I went to the rear of the Carter house. This was doubtless about the time that Opdycke made his famous charge to restore the line. I saw nothing that looked like a charge, as those advancing had to divide in two parts to pass the Carter house. The line that I was in seemed to surge back as those at the pike gave way and then to move forward to what must have been the second line of works. The line was now restored and there was no break in it again. Men from several regiments were intermingled and every man knew that the supreme thing was to hold the works and every man did his duty. Had we been in separate commands under the eyes of our own officers, we could not have done more.
No battle was ever more truly
won by those in the ranks. The officers did all that there was for them to so.
They ran back and got us ammunition and spread it on the works before us, so
that we could fire rapidly in time of need. A hundred wagonloads of ammunition
were expended, giving some indication of the amount of lead that went over that
field of carnage. Numerous charges were made, some say as many as thirteen, but
I do not know. Frequently those who had dropped behind our works in a charge as
there came a lull in the firing would ask permission to come over and
surrender. We always told them, “Drop your guns and climb over.” The Rebel yell
would ring out vigorously as each new attack was made. Then there would be
nothing heard but the continuous roll of musketry and the awful booming of
cannon. The guns of the combatants almost flashed into one another’s faces.
Then we would yell with all the energy we could command. There was a Yankee
yell as well as a Rebel yell, and we always thought we put more volume into our
yell than did our opponents across the works. To me, their voices seemed
pitched on a higher key than ours.
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| Carter House and outbuildings |
Actual incidents under my observation were not numerous. I
recall that a colonel of one of our commands jumped on the works and called on
the line to follow him. The line was composed of men from several commands and
we knew that a charge by a small portion of the line would be absolutely
foolish; that the thing for us to do was to hold the works, and we did not
respond. A ball pierced the man and he fell a few feet to my left. It was my
impression that he was from a Missouri regiment, but Cox says it was Colonel Joseph Stockton of the 72nd Illinois. Stretcher bearers came from the rear
and asked for the officer who had been shot. I wondered at the time how it was
known back in the rear.
I saw no officer of high rank after the fight began. Cox says
that we went along the line to inspect it. I saw no officer on horseback after
we reached the works, but this is no evidence against their being present.
There was no need of orders. It is my opinion that after Opdycke gave orders to
his brigade, Stanley, Cox, and Schofield could have mounted their horses and
galloped to Nashville and the battle would have terminated just as it did,
except there would have been no one to order a retreat at midnight. This is no
reflection upon the officers. The men in the ranks saw what was to be done and
did it.
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| Tattered flag remnant belonging to the 26th Ohio Veteran Volunteer Infantry |
Late at night when the firing
had ceased, I was so tired that I leaned my head against the works to rest.
Near midnight a picket shook me to see whether I was asleep or dead. He said,
“Do you know that the army is across the river?” I did not, but I started at
once for the rear. As I passed back of the Carter house I saw the line of
wounded lying there. They did not seem to realize that they were soon to be
prisoners. Those slightly wounded had doubtless been removed. Almost as soon as
I gained the others side of the river, I met a man of my company. He had a
sharpshooter’s rifle and had gone back into town to mold some bullets and had
taken time to refresh himself with coffee. The long and nervous strain of
battle had exhausted me completely. As I recall, I would walk about a quarter
of a mile and throw myself on the ground and fall asleep. My comrade would let
me sleep three or four minutes then rouse me for the journey. This continued
for most of the night. Toward morning I became more awake and my comrade drowsier,
and I had to wake him several times. As I marched along by a command after
daylight several remarked that I must have been in the thick of the fight as my
face was black from the smoke of the guns. I soon stopped at a small stream and
made a hasty toilet. It was about noon when I reached our line drawn up south
of Nashville. I threw myself upon the ground without a blanket and slept till
the next day. Commanders and privates were alike exhausted.
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| Reunion photo of the officers and men of the 26th Ohio Volunteers in 1875. |
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