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I recently acquired a letter written by a 117th Illinois Infantry soldier named Thomas A. Whitesides. It is dated Nashville, Tenn., December 6th, 1864. Whitesides wrote this letter to his wife who was living in Belleville, Illinois. This letter was written just six days after the Battle of Franklin (30 November 1864).
Thomas A. Whitesides enlisted August 12, 1862 as a Corporal. On September 19, 1862, he mustered into Company H of the 117th Illinois Infantry at Camp Butler in Springfield, Illinois. He mustered out on August 5th, 1865, having served nearly three years in the service for the Union.
Whitesides would have seen action with the 117th in places like Vicksburg (summer 1863); western Tennessee chasing after Nathan Bedford Forrest’s cavalry (Dec 1863); the Red River expedition and the Battle of Pleasant Hill (Feb 1864); the Battle of Franklin (30 Nov 1864) and the Battle of Nashville (Dec 15-16th, 1864).
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Nashville, Tenn
Dec 6th, 1864
Dear wife,
I seat myself to fulfill my promise in my last [letter]. I told you I would write the first opportunity. Thies [sic] few lines leave us well and I hope to find all of you the same. We have moved our position to the left and thrown up breastworks waiting an attack. Skirmishing is kept us all the while night and day by the picket. Shelling is quite common all along the line. I suppose hood [CSA Gen. John Bell Hood] is going to seige us out of here as he don’t advance only at night. They have thrown up [breast] works every night and still getting closer. Their line and ours are one mile of each other. Hood sent a flag of truce [end page one] yesterday wanting to exchange prisoners that were taken in the late battle [Franklin: 30 Nov 1864]. I suppose he is short of supplies and don’t wish to feed men that are not fighting for him.
The prisoners say they don’t get fourth rations and if they don’t take this place before long they will be without any as they are so far from base of supplies and no railroad to ship on. It is rumored round camp that Rosecrans is commencing with reinforcements for us. I don’t credit the report though I would like for some good General to get in the rear of them and close in so they would have to get up and dust. I see in yesterdays paper that Sherman had got through to the coast. I would be pleased to know he had released our prisoners at Antietam [probably means Andersonville]. [end page two]
I hear that Don Morrison has gone to France as he couldn’t stand for the Stars and Stripes to float over him.
Olive, I have been tempted to ask a favor of you for some time past and I fear you will not be so free to grant it. I will make all fair promises imaginable. I wish your photograph. I will pray for a half dozen and I promise to return it if you should call for it. Tell me at once if I can have it.
I must close for present.
I remain as ever your affectionate friend,
Thomas Whiteside
PS
Our Co [Company] is on picket tonight. I guess we may have a good time with the Rebs.
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Copyright 2009, The Civil War Gazette. All rights reserved.
The Federal Army suffered roughly 250 killed in the Battle of Franklin (30 November 1864). Most of these men were taken to Murfreesboro and interred in the Stone’s River National Cemetery.
Stone's River National Cemetery
O.R.–SERIES I–VOLUME XLV/1 [S# 93]
NOVEMBER 14, 1864-JANUARY 23, 1865.–Campaign in North Alabama and Middle Tennessee.
No. 1.–Report of Maj. Gen. George H. Thomas, U. S. Army, commanding Department of the Cumberland.
[The following section of Thomas' report relates specifically to the action at Franklin on 30 November, 1864.]
The withdrawal of the main force from in front of Columbia was safely effected after dark on the 29th; Spring Hill was passed without molestation about midnight, and making a night march of twenty-five miles, the whole command got into position at Franklin at an early hour on the morning of the 30th; the cavalry moved on the Lewisburg pike, on the right or east of the infantry.
At Franklin General Schofield formed line of battle on the southern edge of the town to await the coming of the enemy, and in the meanwhile hastened the crossing of the trains to the north side of Harpeth River.
On the evacuation of Columbia orders were sent to Major-General Milroy, at Tullahoma, to abandon that post and retire to Murfreesborough, joining forces with General Rousseau at the latter place. General Milroy was instructed, however, to maintain the garrison in the block-house at Elk River bridge. Nashville was placed in a state of defense and the fortifications manned by the garrison, re-enforced by a volunteer force, which had been previously organized into a division, under Bvt. Brig. Gen. J. L. Donaldson, from the employés of the quartermaster’s and commissary departments. This latter force, aided by railroad employés, the whole under the direction of Brigadier-General Tower, worked assiduously to construct additional defenses. Major-General Steedman, with a command numbering 5,000, composed of detachments belonging to General Sherman’s column, left behind at Chattanooga (of which mention has heretofore been made), and also a brigade of colored troops, started from Chattanooga by rail on the 29th of November, and reached Cowan on the morning of the 30th, where orders were sent him to proceed direct to Nashville. At an early hour on the morning of the 30th the advance of Maj. Gen. A. J. Smith’s command reached Nashville by transports from Saint Louis. My infantry force was now nearly equal to that of the enemy, although he still outnumbered me very greatly in effective cavalry; but as soon as a few thousand of the latter arm could be mounted I should be in a condition to take the field offensively and dispute the possession of Tennessee with Hood’s army.
The enemy followed closely after General Schofield’s rear guard in the retreat to Franklin, and upon coming up with the main force, formed rapidly and advanced to assault our works, repeating attack after attack during the entire afternoon, and as late as 10 p.m. his efforts to break our line were continued. General Schofield’s position was excellently chosen, with both flanks resting upon the river, and the men firmly held their ground against an overwhelming enemy, who was repulsed in every assault along the whole line. Our loss, as given by General Schofield in his report transmitted herewith (and to which I respectfully refer), is, 189 killed, 1,033 wounded, and 1,104 missing, making an aggregate of 2,326. We captured and sent to Nashville 702 prisoners, including I general officer, and 33 stand of colors. Maj. Gen. D. S. Stanley, commanding Fourth Corps, was severely wounded at Franklin whilst engaged in rallying a portion of his command which had been temporarily overpowered by an overwhelming attack of the enemy. At the time of the battle the enemy’s loss was known to be severe, and was estimated at 5,000. The exact figures were only obtained, however, on the reoccupation of Franklin by our forces, after the battles of December 15 and 16, at Brentwood Hills, near Nashville, and are given as follows: Buried upon the field, 1,750; disabled and placed in hospital at Franklin, 3,800, which, with the 702 prisoners already reported, makes an aggregate loss to Hood’s army of 6,252, among whom were 6 general officers killed, 6 wounded, and I captured. The important results of the signal victory cannot be too highly appreciated, for it not only seriously checked the enemy’s advance, and gave General Schofield time to remove his troops and all his property to Nashville, but it also caused deep depression among the men of Hood’s army, making them doubly cautious in their subsequent movements.
Not willing to risk a renewal of the battle on the morrow, and having accomplished the object of the day’s operations, viz, to cover the withdrawal of his trains, General Schofield, by my advice and direction, fell back during the night to Nashville, in front of which city line of battle was formed by noon of the 1st of December, on the heights immediately surrounding Nashville, with Maj. Gen. A. J. Smith’s command occupying the right, his right resting on the Cumberland River, below the city; the Fourth Corps (Brig. Gen. T. J. Wood temporarily in command) in the center; and General Schofield’s troops (Twenty-third Army Corps) on the left, extending to Nolensville pike. The cavalry, under General Wilson, was directed to take post on the left of General Schofield, which would make secure the interval between his left and the river above the city.
Casualty reports
Dr. Chris Losson, a guest speaker at the 2008 Franklin’s Charge Symposium, talks about how and why Civil War veterans’ groups were started after the war.
Dr. Chris Losson, an author and teacher, discusses the unimaginable task for soldier and civilian alike to process the death, suffering, and carnage after the Battle of Franklin.
This is an excerpt from a lecture Dr. Losson gave at the June 2008 Franklin’s Charge symposium in Franklin, TN
Dr. Chris Lossom, an author and teacher, ponders the effect the defeat at Franklin (30 Nov 1864) had on the Confederate Army of Tennessee at the Battle of Nashville, two weeks later.
This is an excerpt from a lecture Dr. Lossom gave at the June 2008 Franklin’s Charge symposium in Franklin, TN
Dr. Chris Lossom, an author and teacher, talks about the harvest of carnage following the day after the Battle of Franklin (Dec 1st 1864).
This is an excerpt from a lecture Dr. Lossom gave at the June 2008 Franklin’s Charge symposium in Franklin, TN
Franklin, Tennessee, probably only had a population between 750-900 residents in 1864. That includes children. The Battle of Franklin resulted in up to 10,000 casualties: killed, wounded, missing, etc. Franklin residents banded together on the morning of December 1st, 1864, and opened their homes, churches and businesses to tend to the incredible suffering and carnage. One of those homes was that of John and Carrie McGavock.
Historian Eric Jacobson recounts that challenge in this video.
Also: see this video of Dr. Chris Lossom talk about the carnage after the battle too.
The next day after the battle, December 1st, Patrick Cleburne, and three other Confederate Generals were brought to Carnton and laid out on the back porch. Jacobson eloquently tells the story. What about his Kepi? His pistol?
The bodies of Confederate Generals Cleburne, Adams, Strahl and Granbury were laid out right on this porch on the morning of December 1st, 1864.
This is the authentic Kepi worn by Cleburne the day he was killed.
Image of Cleburne’s Kepi courtesy of the Tennessee State Museum, Nashville, TN.
Want to know more?
Read the incredible true story of what happened to the once-lost pistol that belonged to Patrick Cleburne.
The divisions of Cleburne and Brown made the assault upon the Federal works around 4:30 pm. The shock-attach was so powerful it knocked three Federal regiments on their heels. The Rebels nearly landed a knock-out punch at Franklin. But Emerson Opdycke’s Brigade staunched the flow and saved the day for the Federals. In the assault, Cleburne was shot through the heart.
A historical marker on the site where Cleburne’s assault and death took place honors the fallen Confederate hero. Recently, the Franklin community – through the leadership of Franklin’s Charge – recovered a one-acre piece of ground that was part of the epicenter of this assault. Read about the historic event.
Cleburne’s death was a devastating loss for the Army of Tennessee. The December 3rd edition of The New York Times headlined, “The Rebel General Cleburne Killed.”
Pistol image is used by permission of the Layland Musuem, Cleburne, texas.
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