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The 4th and 23rd Corps (U.S.), respectively served at Franklin.
Here’s some background the 23rd Corps during the Civil War:
Lenoir; Blue Springs; Campbell’s Station; Knoxville; Mossy Creek; Dandridge; Walker’s Ford; Strawberry Plains; Rocky Face Ridge; Resaca; Cassville; Dallas; Pine Mountain; Lost Mountain; Culp’s Farm; Kenesaw ; Chattahoochie; Decatur ; Siege Of Atlanta; Utoy Creek; Lovejoy’s Station; Columbia; Spring Hill; Franklin; Nashville; Fort Anderson, N. C.; Town Creek; Wilmington; Kinston; Goldsboro.
General Burnside was assigned to the command of the Department of the Ohio in the spring of 1863, his district including Kentucky and East Tennessee. The Ninth Corps left Virginia at this time and was assigned to his command; but, having planned an active campaign in East Tennessee, and needing additional troops, he organized the Twenty-third Corps from the regiments then stationed in Kentucky.
This new corps was formed April 27, 1863, with Major-General George L. Hartsuff in command. Generals Julius White and Milo S. Hascall were assigned to division commands.
The proposed campaign in East Tennessee was postponed, as the Ninth Corps was ordered to Vicksburg, to reinforce Grant’s army; but in August, the Ninth Corps returned to Kentucky, and the advance of the Twenty-third commenced. The Second Division (White’s) made its rendezvous at New Market, from whence it marched on the 19th, arriving at Loudon, Tenn., on the 4th of September. General Longstreet’s Corps had been detached from Lee’s Army, and, in October, 1863, marched into East Tennessee to drive out Burnside’s Army of the Ohio, as the united forces of the Ninth and Twenty-third Corps were then designated. The fighting was continuous, minor engagements occurring almost daily, and on November l6th a spirited battle occurred at Campbell’s Station, in which White’s Division was actively engaged. Burnside moved next to Knoxville, which place was invested and finally assaulted by Longstreet, but without success. At Campbell’s Station, and at Knoxville, the corps was commanded by General Mahlon D. Manson.
In August, 1863, Mahan’s Brigade of Indiana troops was assigned to the Third Division. These regiments were recruited for six months’ service only, and returned to Indiana in February, 1864. They served in East Tennessee, and were present at Blue Springs and Walker’s Ford.
On the 4th of April, 1864, Major-General John M. Schofield was assigned to the corps, and he commanded it during the Atlanta campaign, which was the most eventful period of its existence. In the spring of 1864, Hovey’s Division of Indiana troops, newly recruited, joined the corps at Charleston, Tenn., and was designated as the First Division. The Second Division was commanded by General Henry M. Judah, and the Third Division by General Jacob D. Cox, with which organization it started on the Atlanta campaign. But on June 6, 1864, the First Division was broken up and divided between the other two divisions. While on the Atlanta campaign, General Judah was succeeded by General Hascall in the command of the Second Division. The greatest loss of the corps during that campaign was sustained May 14, 1862, at the battle of Resaca. It also encountered some hard fighting near Kenesaw and at Utoy Creek.
After the fall of Atlanta, and while Sherman’s Army was wending its way to the Sea, the Twenty-third Corps joined Thomas’ Army in the Tennessee campaign against Hood. The corps was still under the command of General Schofield, while the two divisions, Second and Third, were commanded, respectively, by Generals Ruger and Cox. These two divisions contained 30 regiments of infantry and 4 batteries of light artillery. Their returns for October 31, 1864,–just before starting on the Tennessee campaign–show 10,624 officers and men present for duty. The corps was actively engaged at the battle of Franklin, but at Nashville it was largely held in reserve. In the latter action, Ruger’s (2d) Division was commanded by Major-General Darius N. Couch.
In January, 1865, the corps moved from Nashville, via Washington, to North Carolina, Cox’s Division landing at Fort Fisher, February 9, 1865. Moving up the river, the corps fought at Fort Anderson, and at Wilmington, February 21st, capturing the latter place. In the meantime, another division was formed, and designated as the First Division, with General Ruger in command. This division was actively engaged in the victory at Kinston, N. C. (Wise’s Forks), which resulted in the occupation of Goldsboro. General Cox succeeded Schofield, the latter having been promoted to the command of the Army of the Ohio, which, since the arrival of the Twenty-third Corps in North Carolina, comprised two corps–the Tenth (Terry’s) and Twenty-third. On the 10th of April, 1865, the Twenty-third Corps numbered 14,293 present for duty, and was composed of three divisions –Ruger’s, Couch’s, and Carter’s. It remained in North Carolina while Sherman’s Army, with which it had made a junction at Goldsboro, marched northward to Washington. The corps was discontinued on August 1, 1865, many of the regiments having been mustered out before that.
“The shame, the folly, the outrage, seemed too great to believe, and we half hoped to wake up from it as from a dream.”
- Jacob D. Cox, fought at Franklin at General rank.
Major-General Stanley (right), commanding the Fourth Federal corps, in his official report stated that:
“In view of the strong position we held, nothing appeared so improbable as that they would assault. I felt so confident in this belief that I did not leave General Schofield’s headquarters until the firing commenced.”
Major-General Cox, (bottom right) commanding the Twenty-third corps, and in active command of the Federal line of battle, undertakes to account for the attack made by General Hood thus:
“
His exasperation at what he regarded as a hair’s breadth escape on our part from the toils in which he thought he had encompassed us at Spring Hill had probably clouded his judgment. He blamed some of his subordinates for the hesitation which he seems himself to have been responsible for, and now, in an excitement which led him astray, he determined to risk everything upon a desperate assault.”
The same eminent author, referring to the assault made by Cleburne and Brown on the Federal center, says:
“They were seen coming in splendid array. The sight was one to send a thrill through the heart, and those who saw it have never forgotten its martial magnificence.”
Source: Confederate Military History Volume 8:
Tennessee Chapter X
Also read:
- Wikipedia article on Jacob D. Cox
Maj.-Gen. B. F. Cheatham.
“On the morning of the 4th of December,” says General Cheatham, “I went to the headquarters of Gen
eral Hood, and referring to his note and the criticism that had evidently been made by some one, I said to him, ‘A great opportunity was lost at Spring Hill, but you know that I obeyed your orders there, as everywhere, literally and promptly.’ General Hood not only did not dissent from what I said, but exhibited the most cordial manner, coupled with confidence and friendship.”
At daylight Cheatham’s corps passed through the village of Spring Hill, and between 1 and 2 o’clock p.m. the army reached the vicinity of Franklin, and Stewart’s and Cheatham’s corps were put in positions. The enemy was heavily intrenched and was superior in numbers and equipment. On the morning of the battle, General Schofield, commanding the Federal army, had behind his works 23,734 infantry and artillery, and his cavalry numbered 5,500. Maj.-Gen. J. D. Cox, U. S. A., upon whose authority these figures are given, states in his history of the battle of Franklin that Hood delivered the assault on the Federal lines with “two or three hundred less than 24,000″ men, and gives Forrest’s strength at 9,000. Maj.-Gen. John C. Brown reported that on the morning of November 29, 1864, he had not exceeding 2,750 men in his division, the largest in Cheatham’s corps, and the three divisions did not exceed 6,000. Smith’s brigade of Cleburne’s division was not present. Stewart’s corps after Allatoona was less than 7,000, and with Johnson’s division of Lee’s corps, the assaulting column did not exceed 16,000 men. General Forrest stated in his official report that the entire cavalry force under his command was about 5,000.
Bate’s division was on the left, Brown’s in the center, Cleburne’s on the right. General Bate says his line “charged the works of the enemy. 
My right got to the works (the second line) and remained there until morning;’the left was driven back. The enemy’s works were strong and defiant, constructed on a slight elevation, with few obstructions in front for several hundred yards. The works to the left of Carter’s creek turnpike were not strong, and with a vigorous assault should have been carried; a fact, however, not known until next day.” Bate’s division sustained a loss of 47 killed and 253 wounded. Capt. Todd Carter (right), on staff duty with Smith’s Tennessee brigade, fell mortally wounded near the enemy’s works and almost at the door of his father’s house.
No more magnificent spectacle was ever witnessed than the advance of the two divisions commanded by Cleburne and Brown; no two divisions of the army were ever led with greater skill and gallantry; no generals of division were ever supported with better ability by brigade, regimental and company officers. The troops were veterans who had never failed to respond to orders, although discouraged by recent and frequent disasters; and fully alive to the desperation of the assault about to be made, they advanced with noble courage. Before troops of equal numbers in the open field they would have been irresistible, but to attack intrenched troops, superior in numbers, advancing over an open plain without cover, was a disregard of the rules of war, a waste of precious lives, and a wrecking of an army once the pride and hope of the Southwest.
Source: Confederate Military History Volume 8:
Tennessee Chapter X
“Early in the day Mr. F.B. Carter had asked me, with some anxiety,whether he had better remove his family from the house and abandonit. Without knowing how large the family in fact was, I advised not to leave the house unless it should become certain that a battle was imminent; for whilst my headquarters tents were in his door-yard, there was no danger of annoyance from the men of my command. If the house were abandoned, it would be impossible to answer for the safety of its contents. But if there were to be a battle, the very focus of it would certainly be there, and it would no place for women and chidren. I thought it most probable at that time that Hood would not attack in front. The very thoroughness of our preparation to meet an assault was a reason why he should not make it. It seemed wise for the family to remain as they were till they saw that a battle was about to open, and then to hasten to the village.”
- U.S. Brig.-Gen. Jacob Cox
Citation source: Eyewitnesses at the Battle of Franklin, Logsdon, p. 3.
Current look of Fountain Branch Carter’s Civil War era home,
looking east toward Columbia Pike, Franklin, Tennessee.
“Located in historic Franklin, the Carter House was built in 1828 and completed in 1830 by Fountain Branch Carter. The Carter property included a farm of 288 acres, where Carter, a gentleman farmer, raised cotton, corn, wheat, and rye. He owned twenty-eight slaves who lived in the seven slave cabins on the property. In 1860, at the beginning of the Civil War, Carter’s worth was sixty-two thousand dollars.
The house is constructed of bricks, glass, and squarehead nails, which were all made on the farm. The wood in the house is mostly tulip poplar, said to deter termites. The house contains many decorative elements, including ashlar treating, graining, marbling, and wall paper. The house represents the home of a wealthy planter of the mid-1800s. The kitchen, smokehouse, slave cabins, and farm office still stand.”
Citation source: The Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture (online)
FROM NASHVILLE
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The Position of the Opposing Armies.
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NO FIGHTING SINCE WEDNESDAY
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Hood Demonstrating Toward Murfreesboro
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Further Details of the Battle of Franklin
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THE REBEL GENERAL CLEBURNE KILLED
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The Rebel Loss Fully Six Thousand — Our Loss One Thousand
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GEN. THOMAS MASTER OF THE SITUATION
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Nashville, Friday, Dec. 2
I have received full accounts of the late battle at Franklin, and its antecedents, which was one of the the most brilliant in its general results of the war. For three days sharp skirmishing was kept up during the retirement of our army from Duck River to Franklin, during which time a multiplicity of exploits and successes resulted to the Federal arms.
Gen. Cox conducted the rear guard, and on the 29th ultimately achieved a splendid victory over the rebels at Spring Hill, while General Wilson’s cavalry gained a series of important successes over Forrest’s advance, under Roddy, on the pike between Turner’s and Spring Hill.
During the afternoon of the 30th ultimately the rebel army was sorely pressed under Hood, who had Cheatam’s and Stewart’s corps, and a portion of Dick Taylor’s command, numbering in all over 22,009 men. Owing to Cox’s gallant check at Spring Hill, and portion of the Fourth and Twenty-third Corps were enabled to gain Franklin early in the day, where they threw up a line of breastworks, extending from one end to the other of the curve in the river, behind which our entire infantry command took position.
At precisely four o’clock (afternoon) the entire rebel force made a charge, and succeeded in making a temporary break in our centre, commanded by Wagner. With characteristic impetuosity the soldiers composing Cheatham’s Corps dashed into the breastworks, and cooperating with the attacking party on their left, attempted to envelop and destroy our right. In the nick of time the troops of Wagner were rallied, and throwing their whole force on the rebel column, drove back the storming party in great disorder, capturing several hundred prisoner. Four hours after the rebels charged on these lines, but were repulsed as often with great slaughter.
The rebels numbered at least two to our one, as nearly half of the Fourth and Twenty-third Corps were in reserve. The rebels loss in killed is three times ours, while their wounded is at least six times as large as ours. The wounded of our men are mostly in the head, arms and body.
The artillery fire of the enemy was great precision, but their ammunition consisted chiefly of shot and shell, while for two hours immense quantities of more murderous missles were hurled with fearful fury into the rebel lines. All the attempt of the rebels to gain a permanent advantage were frustrated, and at dark the Federal position was uncharged, while the rebels retired, under cover of the woods, south of the Columbia pike.
The rebel loss, as before stated, is fully 6,000, including over 1,000 prisoners, an unsual number of whom were officers. Our loss reached a total of about 1,000.
An artillery duel was kept up till nearly midnight, when our troops commenced crossing Harpeth River, bringing all our trains and paraphernalia over in safety before daylight.
The army then retired to within four miles of this city, at which point our frontline confronts the enemy. The falling back of the army is in accordance with the programme, and the battle at Franklin, although of the most brilliant kind, was an impromptu affair, and brought about owing to the necessity of checking the rebel advance to secure a safe crossing of the river by our troops.
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LATER
Nashville, Friday, Dec. 2
Additional reports received increase the magnitude of the late victory at Franklin. Thirty stands of colors were captured by our forces. The Forty-ninth Indiana captured five, the Eighty-eighth Illinois three, Reilly’s old brigade eight, and the Twenty-third Corps captured four.
Gen. Stanley, commanding the Fourth Corps, had a very narrow escape, having had a horse killed under him, and was shot in the right shoulder, the ball travelling the back and going out of the left shoulder. He is in the city, and though suffering considerably, is still attending to duty.
It is confirmed that Gen. Cleburne, of Tennessee, is killed.
Gen. Kimball, commanding the Second Division of General Stanley’s Corps, in the heat of the battle passed a rebel Major-General, who told him he was mortally wounded. His men succeeded in carrying off his body.
It is believed that Hood’s main army is threatening Murfreesboro. Forrest’s rebel cavalry is demonstrating on our front and right flank.
Commander Fitch is here with a fleet of boats and Iron-clads. Sufficient forces have arrived to insure not only the safety of Nashville, but another Union victory, is case of a battle, under any circumstances.
The military men all unite in the opinion that Gen. Stanley and Schofield conducted the retirement from Pulaski in the face of the enemy with admirable skill, and crowning all with a magnificent Union victory at Franklin.
Background to the Battle of Franklin (Wikipedia, 12/3/06)
Franklin followed the Battle of Spring Hill of the previous day. The Confederate Army of Tennessee, commanded by Lt. Gen. John Bell Hood, had failed to destroy part of the Union force in Tennessee, allowing the Union Army of the Ohio, commanded by Maj. Gen. John M. Schofield, to escape. Hood had hoped to destroy Schofield before he could link up with the Army of the Cumberland, commanded by Maj. Gen. George Henry Thomas, farther north in Nashville, Tennessee. That combined Union force would be over 60,000 men, almost twice as large as Hood’s army. As the armies met at Franklin, however, Hood had approximately 38,000 men to Schofield’s 32,000.
Rippavilla Plantation in Spring Hill
Schofield’s advance guard arrived in Franklin at about 6:00 a.m., after a forced march north from Spring Hill. Brig. Gen. Jacob Dolson Cox, a division commander temporarily commanding the Union XXIII Corps (and later governor of Ohio), immediately began preparing strong defensive positions around breastworks originally constructed for the First Battle of Franklin in 1863. The defensive line formed approximately a semicircle around the city, from northwest to southeast; the other half of the semicircle was the Harpeth River.
Schofield’s decision to defend at Franklin with his back to a river seems odd. The reason was that he had insufficient pontoon bridges available to cross the river; the bridges had been left behind in his advance to Spring Hill due to lack of wagons to transport them. Now he needed time to repair the permanent bridges spanning the river and calculated that the breastworks were well positioned and adequate to delay Hood’s inevitable assault.
By noon the Union line was ready. Counter-clockwise from the northwest were the divisions of Maj. Gens. Nathan Kimball (from the IV Corps), Thomas H. Ruger (XXIII), and Cox (XXIII). Two brigades of the IV Corps division under Brig. Gen. George D. Wagner were forward, screening the Confederate approach. Brig. Gen. Thomas J. Wood’s division of the IV Corps was posted north of the Harpeth. Schofield planned to withdraw across the river by 6:00 p.m. if Hood had not arrived by then.
The Federal (Union) Army consisted of 22,000 infantry / approx 5,000 cavalry
- 23rd Corps (Army of Ohio) commanded by Jacob Cox
- 4th Corps (Army of the Cumberland) commanded by David Stanley
The Federal Army had arrived in Franklin around 1:00 that morning. Major General John M. Schofield led the operation and woke up the Carter Family, commandeering their home as his headquarters. At that time, the Carter Farm consisted of 288 acres on the south edge of town bordering the Columbia Pike.
Their cotton gin was located 100 yards from the house where eventually the main line of Federal breastworks were constructed. The Federal line commander was Cox who supervised his army in a defensive position surrounding the southern edge of town. He used the existing breastworks built in 1863 and constructed others on the west side of Columbia Pike. About 60 feet from the Carter House, near their farm office and smokehouse, were the inner breastworks.
Content source: The Carter House Museum
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