The Horrors of War on All Hands: The “Fighting Parson” of the 79th Illinois Recalls Franklin

Colonel Allen Buckner of Illinois was accorded the nickname of “The Fighting Parson” for his key role in driving home the successful attack of the Union army at Missionary Ridge. A former Methodist minister in Illinois, he led his 79th Illinois into action at Franklin a battle-scarred veteran. Buckner had fought at Pea Ridge with the 25th Illinois, and led the 79th Illinois through Stones River, Chickamauga, and Missionary Ridge. He had just returned to the regiment having been severely wounded months before at the Battle of Rocky Face Ridge at the outset of the Atlanta campaign. But Franklin proved “the most terrific battle I ever saw,” Colonel Buckner later wrote.

His regiment, assigned to Colonel Joseph Conrad’s brigade of General George Wagner’s Second Division of the 4th Army Corps, was in the outer line of Union works on the afternoon of November 30, 1864, a position Buckner stated that his regiment should never have been placed. “We had hard fighting before, but now the horrors of war were on all hands,” he wrote. “Our game was in our immediate front and charging all along the line. Our boys had passed beyond the realm of scare and excitement into the region of cool deliberation. We had several ranks on and behind the little fortifications working like majors, some loading and handing guns to the men who had the best positions, they firing and returning the guns to be reloaded.”

Colonel Buckner’s memoir of Franklin originally appeared in the March 19, 1890 edition of the Western Veteran published in Topeka, Kansas.

 

Colonel Allen Buckner took command of the 79th Illinois in the midst of the Battle of Stones River after its original colonel, Sheridan P. Read, was killed on the field. Buckner would lead his regiment through the end of the war, earning the sobriquet of "The Fighting Parson" for his heroism at Chickamauga and Missionary Ridge. He missed most of the Atlanta campaign after being shot through the body at Rocky Face Ridge, but returned in time to lead his regiment at Franklin and a brigade at Nashville. Returning home to Illinois after the war, Buckner devoted the remainder of his life to ministerial work, moving from Illinois to Kansas in 1871. He served as a the chaplain of the Kansas State Senate for 8 years and as trustee for Baker University. Colonel Buckner died in his sleep at the home of his son-in-law in Mt. Vernon, Iowa on November 9, 1900 at the age of 70. 

          The most terrific battle I ever saw or read was that of Franklin, Tennessee. Our army was falling back to Nashville. General Hood was in command of the Rebel forces and General Thomas of the Union army. Our troops consisted of the 4th and 23rd Army Corps of the Army of the Cumberland with a small cavalry force. The object of General Hood was to counteract Sherman’s march to the sea.

          On the evening before the battle, we had a skirmish at Spring Hill nine or ten miles below Franklin. Our people built fortifications and made a show of fight until midnight; the campfires of both armies were close together. At 1 a.m., we muffled our artillery wheels and slipped out, trains and troops reaching Franklin in the early morning. The trains were hurried across the Harpeth River over two small bridges. The Rebel army was close at hand.

          At about noon they were forming on a line of ridges or hills from one to two miles in our front. Our first line of breastworks was in the shape of a half circle reaching from the river below to the river above and just in front of town. As soon as the necessary dispositions were made, the larger part of the 4th and 23rd Army Corps were placed behind these slender works. Two brigades of the second division (4th Corps) were stopped 800 yards in front of the first line; one of these brigades was placed on the right and the other on the left of the Columbia Pike with orders to fix bayonets and stay as long as possible.

          Our brigade, the Third, built a line of works in a hurry but the brigade to our right did not build such works as we did. Our skirmishers and those of the enemy were now engaged while the whole Rebel army was moving steadily and with great precision down the slopes to the right and left as far as we could see. It was evident that nearly the entire army that Sherman had been pressing from Dalton to Atlanta in the spring and summer was now in our front. General Thomas being back at Nashville, General Schofield was in immediate command with headquarters on the north bank of the Harpeth. General David Stanley was in command of the 4th Corps and with us on the field.

At about 3 p.m. the enemy was sufficiently close to the outer line to be reached very easily. The day was still and clear; we opened with terrific effect and continued until the enemy was on us. Our smoke rose in such dense clouds that I did not observe their presence until they were on the 51st Illinois to my right. I ordered my regiment to retreat, supposing other regimental commanders did the same as we had no order from the brigade commander. A great many of our noble men were killed and captured at these works. Afterwards, we learned that we had dealt death and ruin in the enemy’s ranks but we should never have been left in the front of that great army to be run over thus.

This detailed view from the American Battlefield Trust's map of Franklin shows the initial position of the 79th Illinois near the center of Wagner's line in front of Franklin. Struck by Cleburne's division around 4 p.m., the 79th fell back north along the Columbia Pike through the center of the Federal position with the Rebels hard behind them. The fight for the second line of breastworks would last well into the night. 

Without blame to the noble men who were waiting to receive the shock, quite a number of our boys were killed by their comrades as we came in. The Rebels were jubilant, officers swinging their hats and swords while shouting, “Break that line and it means Nashville and the Ohio River!” An opening was forced near our center on the Columbia Pike and the enemy rushed in. It seemed to me for a few moments that we were to be overwhelmed, but in the nick of time, the brave Colonel Emerson Opdycke of the 125th Ohio came with one of the brigades of the second division (which had been held in reserve) to the rescue and the enemy was crowded back at the point of the bayonet and our lines re-established.

We had hard fighting before, but now the horrors of war were on all hands. Our game was in our immediate front and charging all along the line. Our boys had passed beyond the realm of scare and excitement into the region of cool deliberation where every move was steady and at the same time quick with a consciousness of what must have been the result had we been crushed.

We had several ranks on and behind the little fortifications working like majors, some loading and handing guns to the men who had the best positions, they firing and returning the guns to be reloaded. Our artillery was mowing fearful swathes in the enemy’s ranks; their charges were frequent but our boys met them with bayonets, turning them back in confusion. For 800 yards in front, the dead and dying were lying thick.

These charges were kept up until 10 p.m. when the enemy drew back. We had sent a great many prisoners and most of our wounded to the rear. We left a thin skirmish line at the works and the army marched back to Nashville that night and the next morning. Our loss was very heavy but that the Rebels was simply awful. The enemy followed us with a weak hand to Nashville where in a few weeks Pap Thomas literally annihilated that army. But they got their death blow at Franklin.

 To learn more about the Battle of Franklin, please check out the following posts:

Source:

“A Terrific Battle,” Colonel Allen Buckner, 79th Illinois Volunteer Infantry, Western Veteran (Kansas), March 19, 1890, pg. 1

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